Maria Fonseca is a Portuguese dancer, choreographer, and facilitator, deeply engaged in the relationship between body, nature, and human experience. With a BA (Hons) in Theatre Dance from the London Studio Centre, she developed her thesis "Spirituality & Dance", exploring the ancestral and transformative power of movement. In 2014, she became a certified Trance Dance Facilitator, expanding her work into the realms of altered states and ritual embodiment.

Maria’s movement practice is shaped by ongoing research in Fighting Monkey (since 2015), martial arts—particularly capoeira—and active meditations. For her, the body is not simply form, but a responsive, dynamic channel for creativity, growth, and connection. Guided by curiosity about how culture and environment shape our being, she invites others to use movement as a gateway into presence—testing one’s ability to adapt, respond, and communicate through change.

Over the years, Maria has worked internationally with renowned artists such as Russell Maliphant (Nureyev), Sebastien Ramirez & Pascal Merighi (Sadler’s Wells), John Ross, Jean Abreu, Ivan Blackstock (Adidas), Lucie Pankhurst (BBC2), and companies including Protein Dance, Cascade Dance Theater, Company Idem (Switzerland), and Cie Burnout (France). Since returning to Portugal, she has collaborated with Útero-Miguel Moreira, Companhia Olga Roriz, Teatro O Bando, and Companhia Clara Andermatt.

 

Her authorial works reflect her evolving inquiries into embodiment, identity, and perception. These include Muladhara(2010, Central Saint Martins), Red Tears (2014, with Ekin Bernay), IDADE | the beauty of ageing (2016, The Place), DEN.TRO (Kalamata International Dance Festival), SAHASRARA (with Angelica Salvi at GuiDance 2022), and THY BRAIN (2023, Cine-Teatro Louletano). Her most recent creation, ATA, premiered in 2025 and is set to tour internationally in 2026.

 

Maria is passionate about leading workshops and group processes, holding spaces where people can explore movement as a practice of presence, adaptability, and co-creation.

“A body in motion is a body in balance—vital, aware, and alive in its totality.” – Maria

“From tiny finger twitches to huge waves of shuddering motion which emanate from her centre, Fonseca's body is a limitless palette of choreographic invention. A woman both possessed by and in possession of her choreography.” – Josephine Leask