A syncretic inter(un)disciplinary Venezuelan dance artist based in Cologne, Maria Mercedes Flores Mujica questions cultural hierarchies and knowledge production and reception. Her works explore the intersections between trans- & hyper-culturalism, displacement, and experienced corporealities through the research of folklore. Using empowerment-oriented and pleasure driven body practices, aesthetics of the informal, collage & superposition, but also folkloric music and dances from Venezuela, she creates performative ecosystems that bloom on and off the stage.
She has collaborated with artists such as Hend Elbalouty, MD Kollektiv, Dana Caspersen, Rafaele Giovanola, Darko Dragičević, Britta Lieberknecht, Sabina Perry, Michélle Murray, Özlem Alkis, Marina Abramovic, Willi Dörner and more. In 2024 she received the NRW KulturSekretariat Tanzrecherche scholarship and became a resident of K3 Choreographic Centre in Hamburg for a choreographic creation La Vacabose.
Project: The day that love died, This solo performance explores forms of individual and collective grieving in displacement and possible rituals of mourning from a distance and alone. Working with cooking, massaging and storytelling as remembrance tools, it will propose a travel through nostalgic and ecstatic moments and flavours shared in the past with a passed loved one.