Dance-researcher | Maker | Educator
Dance-researcher | Maker | Educator
biography
Sylvia holds a Master’s Degree in Dance-Teaching and a Specialist title in Dance from the Lisbon Polytechnic Institute, as well as a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Juilliard School in the New York City. She received her vocational training in Dance from the Dutch National Ballet Academy in the Netherlands, Elmhurst Ballet School in the U.K, and The Juilliard School in the USA, and was nominated as Outstanding Young Dancer by dance critic Lilo Weber during her time as a professional dancer with the Stadttheater Bern Ballet, in Switzerland.
From 1996-2015, Sylvia danced professionally in small and large repertoire dance companies in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and Portugal, working directly and indirectly with choreographers such as Roberto Galván at Stadttheater Giessen; Orjan Andersson, Stijn Célis, Félix Duméril, Nils Christe, Jacopo Godani, António Gomes, Foofwa DÍmmobilité, Jiří Kylián, Denise Lampart, David Parsons, Gisela Rocha, Philippe Saire, Pierre Wyss at Stadttheater Bern Ballet; with Ivan Wolfe and Frey Faust at Pool Dance Company; with Phillip Egli at Dance Company Molteni; with Massimo Bertinelli, Beatrice Jaccard, Sylvia Rijmer, Peter Schelling, Ivan Wolfe at Cie. DRIFT; and with Clara Andermatt, Mauro Bigonzetti, Stijn Célis, Marie Chouinard, Rui Lopes Graça, Rui Horta, Gilles Jobin, Jiří Kylián, Ohad Naharin, Paulo Ribeiro, Hervé Robbe, Didy Veldman at Ballet Gulbenkian; and Olga Roriz at Companhia Olga Roriz, to name a few.
As an independent dance-maker, she created group and solo works for the Stadttheater Bern Ballet Young Choreographers (CH), the École des Sables (SN), the NRW Tanzhaus (DE, Matadero (ES), Quorum Project (PT). She especially enjoys choreographic collaborations, having created with dance artists such as Allan Falieri, Marco da Silva Ferreira, Teresa Alves da Silva and Iratxe Ansa, to mention a few.
As repetiteur and choreographic assistant from 2010-2014, she worked closely with Portuguese choreographer Olga Roriz, building, and setting three original works for the Olga Roriz Dance Company, The National Ballet Company in Portugal, and Teatro Guaíra in Brazil.
Sylvia has extensively taught in various dance institutions and dance companies such as: Teatro Guaíra, Estúdios Vitor Cordón, Quorum Ballet, Stageworks Rui Horta, Companhia Olga Roriz, Companhia Nacional de Bailado, École des Sables and Companhia Portuguesa de Bailado Contemporânea (CPBC), varying her teachings from contemporary ballet, to contemporary dance and choreographic creation.
As a dance-researcher, Sylvia is interested in the intersection between the performing arts and science, having collaborated as guest choreographer in several interdisciplinary and multimodal research projects bridgingcontemporary dance, linguistics, choreographic composition, and technology to investigate alternative practices for making and thinking dance. These projects included: The Blackbox Lab: Arts&Cognition, based at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at the Nova University in Lisbon (2018/22), where her research work was framed around attention and habitual movement patterns in dance-making: The Moving Digits Project (2019/20), aimed to enhance audience understanding and engagement in contemporary dance performances, where her research was focused on the digital glitch and the error; and The Choreographic Coding Lab (2023), aimed at creative coding in contemporary dance practices, where she looking into AI as a tool for alternative dance-makings. Currently, Sylvia is developing a dance and technology research project entitled, Bodily Futures: Dance and AI - in collaboration with five contemporary dancers, a cognitive linguist - Vito Evola (Nova University, Faculty of Social and Human Sciences), and a computer researcher - Cláudia Sevivas (IADE University) which was funded by the IDI&CA 2023 of The Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon.
As an invited dance researcher, she was invited to share her interdisciplinary research in dance and technology at the following research laboratories: LASEEB LAB– affiliated to the Institute for Systems and Robotics at the Técnico of the Lisbon University; SOBA LAB – The Social Brain in Action Laboratory at the Glasgow University in Scotland; and at the DDCMC19,The Dance, Data and Multimodal Communication Conference at the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, Nova University in Lisbon, the Hidden Layers: AI and Design Conference at the Köln International School of Design, Germany, LARSyS - 2024 Annual Meeting (PT), MATE Festival (2024) (PT) and at the Pedra Dura Festival 2024 (PT).
In the realm of dance on film, she created The Phoenix reborn from its ashes – in collaboration with filmmaker Abass Abass and supportted by the The Saramago Institute, The Camões Institute, The Portuguese Embassy in Dakar and the Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon; Dance in Virtual Reality Installation - a VR Installation created by the BlackBox team together with Sylvia Rijmer and three contemporary dancers to document the research around her invented Body Logic Method (BL M) using Kinect, 3D point-clouds, stereoscopic images, and audio-video; and Bodily Futures: Dance and AI – in collaboration with filmmaker Pedro Rodrigues at IADE (t.b.a March 2025).
Sylvia is an Assistant Professor on the Dance Faculty at TheSuperior School of Dance in Lisbon where she teaches Classical Dance on the Bachelor Degree programm and is orients Master Degree students in the Dance Teaching and Choreographic Creation programs.
choreography
The wisdom of the crowd and the precious individual in it
A work for 11 dancers of the Quorum Project set to music by Miguel Lucas Mendes and the first Aria of the Goldberg Variations interpreted by Glenn Gould.
Inspired by the wisdom of the crowd according to James Surowiecki.
choreography in collaboration with the dancers
dancers: Filomena Melim, Inês Ribeiro, Leonor Paulo, Margarida Santos, Mariana Simões, Matilde Pinto, Margarida Santos, Carolina Cruz, Catarina Jesus, íÍis Santos, Laura Santos.
music: Miguel Lucas Mendes, JSBach
assistance: Kenji Matsuyama.-Ribeiro, Kim Pothoff
A creation for the Quorum Project / Quorum Ballet
Lisbon, 2024
The Phoenix reborn from its own ashes
This documentary is presented by the Embassy of Portugal in Senegal and the Camões - Institute of Cooperation and Language is a manifestation of the partnership between the Superior School of Dance of the Lisbon Polytechnic and the École des Sables in Senegal, materialized through an artistic residency held from May 23 to 31, 2022, in Toubab Dialao by Sylvia Rijmer and the dancers of the Jant-Bi Dance Company at the École des Sables.
The work developed during the residency was based on and inspired by the works of José Saramago, as part of the celebrations of the author's centenary.
The creation process within the educational context was recorded on film throughout the artistic residency, representing the outcome of the meeting that promotes intercultural dialogue.
Toubab Dialao, 2022
The Phoenix reborn from its own ashes
image: Adama Gnom, Ana rita Almeida, Baye Ibrahima Diagne, Birame Faye, Dieynaba Ndoye, Ibrahima Faye, Khady Ba, Mamadou Diallo, Marie Faye, Ousmane Cissé Diane, Serigne Fallou Séne
Clapping Loop
A work for the 2nd year students at the Superior School of Dance, Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon
Inspired by Steve Reich's Clapping Music
image: Rodrigo Pereira
Lisbon, 2021
Chrysalis
A work for the graduating dance students at the Superior School of Dance, Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon
Inspired by the singular creative potential of each unique human.
image: students
Lisbon, 2023
The beautiful glitch
A dance and technology research-performance inspired by the glitch - as concept and induced creative error.
Created within the project Moving Digits: Augmented Dance for Engaged Audience.
Link: A Beautiful Glitch
Concept and choreography: Sylvia Rijmer
Dancers (Tallinn, Aug/19): Hanna Junti, Liis Vares
dancers (Düsseldorf, Oct/19): Maria Pyatkova, Teresa Alves da Silva
visuals, sound and interaction by, respectively: Stephan Jürgens, Raul Masu and Jochen Feitsch, with additional interaction by William Primett
NRW Tanzhaus
Düsseldorf, 2019
The beautiful glitch
compiled image created within the project Moving Digits: Augmented Dance for Engaged Audience using Motion Capture and Xsens Motion Capture Suit.
Pop Up Performance- one day in the studio with dancers and live musicians
A gathering of 3 contemporary dancers and 4 classical musicians, inspired by instinctual and visceral reaction towards the making of a moment.
choreography: Sylvia Rijmer
dancers & collaborators: Inês Pedrucco, André Campos & Bruno Alves
Alorna Ensemble: Tera Shimizu (violin), Maria José Laginha (violin), Augusta(viola), Martin Henneken (cello)
creative advisor: Paulo Reis
film & editing: Luís Marrafa
CAL - Centro de Artes em Lisboa
Lisbon, 2018
Pop Up Performance- one day in the studio with dancers and live musicians
A group work based on inner states of battle & public appearance.
choreographical concept: Sylvia Rijmer
in collaboration with dancers: Teresa Alves da Silva André Mesquita, Sylvia Rijmer
live music & original composition: Miguel Lucas Mendes
light design: Nuno Salsinha, Tela Negra.
texts: Ray Bradbury, Sylvia Rijmer
dramaturgical support: Paulo Reis
photography: Guzmán Rosado
video editing: Guzmán Rosado
support: Company Olga Roriz, Tok'art, Teatro Extremo, Pro Dança
Centro Cultural de Cartaxo
Cartaxo, 2017
Anatomization
All visible, bio-mechanical motion begins somewhere within the body.
This performance wishes to show the visual dissection of bio-mechanical motion, highlighting the birth of a relatively simple movement - like a bend in the wrist, to a complex execution of a dance phrase - as a choreography.
choreography: Sylvia Rijmer
dancer & collaborator: Marco da Silva Ferreira
concept & original music: Miguel Lucas Mendes
light design: Nuno Salsinha / Tela Negra, Lda
light operator: Margarida Moreira
photography & Morphing Film: Hugo Alves
production: Tânia Guerreiro / Produções Independentes
BlackBox, Centro Cultural de Belém
Lisbon, 2012
Anatomization
image: Marco da Silva Ferreira
Interpretación Automática
A choreographic work based on various choreographic proposals by the dancers/performers and their means of communication through human and artistic movement.
choreography and interpretation: Iratxe Ansa, Igor Bacovich, Allan Falieri, Chevy Muradai, Sylvia Rijmer, Daan Vervoort
musicians: Miguel Lucas Mendes, Daniel del Rio, Artur Vida
MATADERO MADRID: Centro de Creación Contemporánea
Madrid, 2010
teaching/workshops
Singularity - Physical Performance Workshop
Dance faculty at the Superior School of Dance/IPL in Lisbon, Portugal
Dance faculty at the Superior School of Dance/IPL in Lisbon, Portugal
A physical performance workshop celebrating diversity, eclectic human creativity & artistic singularity within a safe studio space.
direction: Allan Falieiri & Sylvia Rijmer
Singularity I Workshop
guided by Allan Falieri & Sylvia Rijmer
& special guest Fabiana Nunes -dramaturgical director and rehearsal coordinator of the Ballet Company of th
A physical performance workshop celebrating diversity, eclectic human creativity & artistic singularity within a safe studio space.
direction: Allan Falieiri & Sylvia Rijmer
Singularity I Workshop
guided by Allan Falieri & Sylvia Rijmer
& special guest Fabiana Nunes -dramaturgical director and rehearsal coordinator of the Ballet Company of the City of Niterói (CBCN).
Singularity II Workshop
t.b.a soon!
Dance faculty at the Superior School of Dance/IPL in Lisbon, Portugal
Dance faculty at the Superior School of Dance/IPL in Lisbon, Portugal
Dance faculty at the Superior School of Dance/IPL in Lisbon, Portugal
Sylvia currently teaches in the Bachelor of Dance program and supervises a select series of students within the Master's Degree in Dance Teaching program.
Guest teachings
Dance faculty at the Superior School of Dance/IPL in Lisbon, Portugal
Guest teachings
Companhia Portuguesa de Bailado Contemporânea (CPBC)Arabesque Dance Academy, Estúdios Vitor Cordón, Companhia Olga Roriz, Companhia Nacional de Bailado, Teatro Guaíra, Conservatório do Coimbra, Stageworks Rui Horta, Quorum Ballet, Mastumoto Performing Arts Center, Forum Dança, Density96
research collaborations / as invited choreographer
BlackBox: Arts&Cognition
Guest choreographer/researcher
Personal Research Theme: Using invented and re- processed improvisational tools to find a body logic within a performative platform which makes sense to both dancer and spectator, introducing the negotiation of choice as an active and practical tool within dance making, teaching and thinking.
© 2014–2019 B
Guest choreographer/researcher
Personal Research Theme: Using invented and re- processed improvisational tools to find a body logic within a performative platform which makes sense to both dancer and spectator, introducing the negotiation of choice as an active and practical tool within dance making, teaching and thinking.
© 2014–2019 BlackBox - Arts & Cognition | Legal Info | Privacy Policy | DfH
Moving Digits: Augmented Dance for Engaged Audience
Guest choreographer/researcher
Personal Research Theme: Capturing the digital glitch using motion capture in contemporary dance-making.
Project no. 597398-CREA-1-2018-1-PT-CULT-COOP1, co-funded by Creative Europe – Culture Sub-programme, 2018 – Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of the European Union.
Choreographic Coding Lab (CCL)
Choreographic Coding Lab (CCL)
Invited choreographer/researcher
Personal Research Theme: Body Logic Method and AI: Alternative modes for making a dance using human-machine interaction
© 2024 Deutsche Sporthochschule Köln
talks/seminars/conferences
ISR- INSTITUTE FOR SYSTEMS and ROBOTICS; TÉCNICO, UNIVERSITY OF LISBON
An academic and interactive presentation of the research Bodily Futures: Dance and AI. Invitation by Dr. Patrícia Figuereido - Associate Professor with the Department of Bioengineering at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Universidade de Lisboa.
https://x.com/ISR_Lisboa/status/1867614457779855855
University of Lisbon, PT, 2024
ENCONTRO INTERNACIONAL NUVENS NÔMADAS
Invitation for a Round Table discussion on current practices in dance. A presentation of the research on Bodily Futures: Dance and AI. Invitation by Fabiana Nunes - dramaturg Ballet Niteroi and Ana Vitória - Post-Doctorate in Performance Arts (Faculty of Human Motricity, University of Lisbon - Portugal) and PhD in Arts - Performances of the Body from the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO/Brazil). Organised by Faculdade Angel Vianna, Rio de Janeiro.
http://www.inetmd.pt/index.php/conferenciaseventos/17920-encontro-internacional-nuvens-nomades
https://www.instagram.com/coletivonuvensnomades/p/DCWiAnZIcMB/?img_index=1
Penha Sco Cultural Center, Lisbon, PT 2024
FESTIVAL PEDRA DURA
An interactive, multimodal dance and technology masterclass of Bodily Futures: Dance and AI.
Participants will explore the Body Logic Method – a task-based composition tool designed to challenge ingrained movement habits – and will physically interact with movement sequences generated by AI in an immersive Virtual Reality environment. The aim is to reconsider the usual decision-making processes in dance and challenge the embodied "body logic" through a new experience that combines technology with artistic expression and composition.
https://www.festivalpedradura.com/eventos-eng/bodily-futures-dance-and-ai
Lagos, PT, 2024
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY, LEVERHULME CENTER OF INTELLIGENCE - THE FUTURE OF ART IN THE AI AGE
An invitation by Dr. Milena Ivanova - Senior Teaching Associate and Course Director in Philosophy at the the Institute of Continuing Education (ICE) to participate in the discussion group as art-based digital researcher in AI in the event: THE FUTURE OF ART IN THE AI AGE.
https://www.lcf.ac.uk/news-events/event/the-future-of-art
Newnham College, Cambridge University, U.K 2024
INTERSELF INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE
An academic and interactive presentation of the research on Bodily Futures: Dance and AI. Invitation by Dr. Anna Ciaunica - Research Associate at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, UK for the Conference on Consciousness and Embodied Selfhood in Biological and Artificial Agents.
https://interself-cesbaa.rd.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/
Centro de Filosofia das Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa Campo Grande, Lisbon, PT, 2024
MATE FESTIVAL - MÚSICA ARTE TECNOLOGIA EDUCAÇÃO
An academic and interactive presentation of the research on Bodily Futures: Dance and AI. Presentation in the Technology Section of the Festival.
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=534410269643592&id=100092238708758&_rdr
Convento São Francisco, Coimbra, PT 2024
LARSyS ANNUAL MEETING 2024- LABORATORY FOR ROBOTICS AND ENGINEERING SYSTEMS
An academic and performative presentation of the research on Bodily Futures: Dance and AI at the LARSYS annual meeting 2024. Invitation by Dr. Patrícia Figuereido - Associate Professor with the Department of Bioengineering and Dr. José Santos-Victor - Professor ECE, Robotics & Computer Vision at Técnico (IST), University of Lisbon.
https://iti.larsys.pt/event/larsys-annual-meeting-2024/
Pavilhão de Conhecimento Lisbon, PT, 2024
2º Congresso do Ensino Artístico Specializado: Um olhar pelo avessso 2022
Guest speaker for the 2nd Congress in artistic specialised teachings.
Title of talk: Teaching dance in the 21st century.
Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, PT, 2022
Seminar: Clash! When Classical and Contemporary Dance Collide & New Forms Emerge
Seminar: Clash! When Classical and Contemporary Dance Collide & New Forms Emerge
Guest teaching of a contemporary ballet class for the seminar aimed at dancers, trainers, and advanced students of the Almada Dance Company, with the aim of rethinking the training of the contemporary dancer.
Almada Dance Company, PT,
2020
Talk: Negotiating Deliberate Choice-Making in a "New" Contemporary Dance
International Conference: Negotiating Deliberate Choice-Making in a "New" Contemporary Dance
Seminar: Clash! When Classical and Contemporary Dance Collide & New Forms Emerge
Invitation by Dr. Emily Cross
Soba Lab: Social Brain in Action
The University of Glasgow: Institute of Psychology and Neuroscience
Title of talk: Negotiating Deliberate Choice-Making in a "New" Contemporary Dance
University of Glasgow,GB-SCT, 2019
Talk: Negotiating Deliberate Choice-Making in a "New" Contemporary Dance
International Conference: Negotiating Deliberate Choice-Making in a "New" Contemporary Dance
International Conference: Negotiating Deliberate Choice-Making in a "New" Contemporary Dance
Invitation by Dr. Patricia Figuereido
LASEEB: Arts and Science Talk
Técnico, University of Lisbon: Institute for Systems and Robotics
Title of talk: Negotiating Deliberate Choice-Making in a "New" Contemporary Dance
Técnicp, University of Lisbon, PT, 2019
International Conference: Negotiating Deliberate Choice-Making in a "New" Contemporary Dance
International Conference: Negotiating Deliberate Choice-Making in a "New" Contemporary Dance
International Conference: Negotiating Deliberate Choice-Making in a "New" Contemporary Dance
Invitation by Dr. Carla Fernandes
DDCMC19 - Dance Data, Cognition and Multimodal Communication
Nova University
Title of talk: Negotiating Deliberate Choice-Making in a "New" Contemporary Dance
Nova University, Lisbon, PT, 2019
publications
Paper: Generative AI, Decision-Making, and Collaborative Choreography: How LSTM Networks Mirror Huma
Cláudia Sevivas, Sylvia Rijmer and Vito Evola "Generative AI, Decision-Making, and Collaborative Choreography: How LSTM Networks Mirror Human Creativity," Rrrreflect. Journal of Integrated Design Research, Special Issue 1 (2024). DOI
Chapter: Negotiating Deliberate Choice-Making
Rijmer, S. (2022). Negotiating Deliberate Choice-Making: Insights from an interdisciplinary and multimodal encounter during the making of a New Contemporary Dance. In C. Fernandes, V. Evola, & C. Ribeiro (Eds.), Dance Data, Cognition, and Multimodal Communication (pp. 15-37). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003106401-3
Chapter: I see something and I like it
Fonseca, A. R., Abreu, R., & Fernandes, C. (2022). “I see something and I like it”: Unveiling a choreographer’s decision-making process using quantitative and qualitative methods. In C. Fernandes, V. Evola, & C. Ribeiro (Eds.), Dance data, cognition, and multimodal communication (pp. 202–219). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003106401-18
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