Maria is a creative artist and academic based in London.

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Her interests are the body, corporeality and embodiment. Her work is at the intersection of cultural studies, history, technology, and performance. Her performances and scholarship are deeply entwined and merge choreographing thoughts, writing gestures, walking in the archives and dancing ideas. She was recipient of several awards, including the prize for best artistic interpretation  at the Lucienne Lamballe dance competition (France) and the Pauline Hodgens Memorial Prize for the best work in dance analysis at the University of Surrey (UK).

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As creative, Maria worked on existential and phenomenological ideas in relation to the subject's inner and outer space in I am where I am not (2007,2012), Yerma (2005) and Binnacle Notebooks I & II (2003, 2005). She collaborated with Spanish poet Marisa Campo and German artist Julia Martin. She also explored embodiment in electronic music, data mapping and sonification of human gesture through collaboration with composer Diana Salazar in Corporeal Cartography (2015). These works were presented in talks and performed in Spain and the UK. As scholar, she presented her research work in Greece, UK, and USA. As performing artist, Maria interpreted classical ballet repertoire and contemporary works by choreographers such as William Forsythe, Diettmar Seyffert, Nils Christe and Mario Schröder. Her career spans, among others, positions such as soloist at the Thuringer Staatsballet and principal dancer at the Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern. 

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Maria completed her ballet vocational training at The John Cranko School in Stuttgart, Germany, and the Royal Conservatoire of Professional Dance in Madrid, Spain. After her professional career, she graduated from The Royal Academy of Dance Professional Dancer’s Teaching Diploma (Distinction) and with a Masters Degree in Dance Cultures, Histories and Practices from the University of Surrey. She is currently completing a PhD in the body and practice of Natural Movement (Madge Atkinson).

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Maria has held academic positions at The Royal Academy of Dance (2007-2009), Kingston University London (2009-2017) and Middlesex University London (2018-present). She also served as elected Chair of the London and Middlesex regional committee of The Royal Academy of Dance (2012-2015), member of the executive committee of the Society for Dance Research (2014-present) and member of the editorial advisory board of the Dance Research journal (2015-present).