Maria Ferreira Silva had her first stage experience at 6 years old at the CUF building in Barreiro, in the suburbs of Lisbon, under teacher Fernanda Mafra. She studied at Escola de Dança do Conservatório Nacional and subsequently at P.A.R.T.S. (Brussels) with the support of Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian. After a decade working as a freelancer, she resumed and completed her master's degree in New Performative Practiced at the Stockholm University of the Arts in 2023.
Between 2010 and 2012, she co-created the duet Light as a Feather, Green as an Apple with dancer and choreographer Veli Lehtovaara, presented at Festival Alkantara, at PACT and at Kaaitheater, among others. For this piece, she received support from P.A.R.T.S. As a performer, she has worked with Willi Dorner in Bodies in Urban Spaces; Daniel Linehan/Hiatus in Gaze is a Gap is a Ghost; Radouan Mriziga in 3600; Renan Martins de Oliveira in Viaduto; Benjamin Wandewalle in Studio Cité; and Maud le Pladec/CCNO in Democracy, Concrete, PRESSION (together with the Ictus Ensemble), and Twenty-Seven Perspectives.
Maria highlights her artistic collaboration with choreographer Trajal Harrell, which began with their work in the project O Medea. Together with Harrell, she has worked as a performer and rehearser at Schauspielhaus Zurich in the following pieces: The Köln Concert, Maggie the Cat, Friend of a Friend, Monkey off my back or the cat’s meow, The house of Bernarda Alba, and The Romeo.
Additionally, Maria has organized workshops in various schools and companies, among which Companhia Thor, Charleroi Danse, AORCA, CAMPUS, Artesis Hogeschool, and the Stockholm University of the Arts.
Photograph
© Camille Durif-Bonis
