Josefina Maro
Dance and Robotics

As part of her residency at villa\wigman, the Argentinian performance artist, choreographer and producer Josefina Maro, who lives in Leipzig, explores the relationship between dance, body and technology. Since 2017, her work has focused on exploring this relationship, in particular experimenting with robots and digital devices that can perceive the human body and generate different stimuli for it. The interaction with robots and electronic devices creates a different body geography that allows her to explore and question what it means to dance and choreograph for her body.

Her practice has expanded in recent years, from an exclusively dance background to learning 3D printing and Arduino programming for the development of self-built electronic devices. Her understanding of choreography and movement itself has expanded with these new languages and knowledge. Her research interest lies in further exploring this path to create new digital and robotic devices to extend and explore the body for performative purposes.

As part of the TANZPAKT residency in Dresden, she will work with new devices that she is developing herself together with Salvador Marino, Dr. in evolutionary biology and multimedia artist, and which feature simple robotic technology. One of her research questions is: Can connecting and experimenting with technology be a way to break the idea of a natural body?

Workshops – April 17th–19th, each 10 a.m.–11.30 a.m.

Each workshop will begin with a dynamic and sensitive warm-up before diving into improvisational exercises. Each day will be spent working in individual and collective dance scores that focus on exploring and expanding each participant's movement language by allowing the body to be influenced by other, different stimuli from the sound and environment. This involves working with touch and ways of supporting each other. Transposition techniques will also be used to play with different materials (sound, objects, words, drawings, etc.) that can become a source of inspiration for the movement. Towards the end of each workshop, Josefina Maro will offer those who are interested the opportunity to play with some of the robotic devices she works with during her research at her TANZPAKT residency.

Admission is free. All three workshops can be attended separately on individual days only. The workshops are open to anyone who is curious about movement, regardless of their level of knowledge. However, you should bear in mind that the course involves touching, exposure (dancing in front of others) and a certain degree of self-awareness of your own body and your own limits. Registration via PN on Insta or Facebook to the Villa or via e-mail to: frieda.pirnbaum@villawigman.de

Josefina Maro. 1993. Argentinian choreographer, performance artist and producer. Since 2018 she is based in Leipzig, Germany, where she develops her research and work as an independent artist in solo and collective projects. In 2017 she founded together with Dr. Salvador Marino the duo project Post-Organic Bauplan. Since 2021 Josefina has been part of the interdisciplinary collective Wisp Kollektiv e.V. She is producing and curating the performance and music cycle called FILOSAMENTE that takes place at SLUG Gallery, Leipzig. Recently she has been invited to participate in: DanceWEB Program from Impulstanz  Festival (Vienna), Movement Research at the Judson Church (NYC), Residency CYENS Thinker Maker Space (Nicosia), among others.