Sylvia Rijmer

https://i.vimeocdn.com/video/2024694175-b5687dbdb1286d96e1c978486f3490ace7abd1e8dab03f82d24ba552a58ab198-d

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 New York City. She received her vocational training in Dance from the Dutch National Ballet Academy in the Netherlands, Elmhurst Ballet School in the UK, 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 to 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 d'Immobilité, Jiří Kylián, Denise Lampart, David Parsons, Gisela Rocha, Philippe Saire, and Pierre Wyss at Stadttheater Bern Ballet; Ivan Wolfe and Frey Faust at Pool Dance Company; Philipp Egli at Dance Company Molteni; Massimo Bertinelli, Beatrice Jaccard, Sylvia Rijmer, Peter Schelling, and Ivan Wolfe at Cie. DRIFT; and Clara Andermatt, Mauro Bigonzetti, Stijn Célis, Marie Chouinard, Rui Lopes Graça, Rui Horta, Gilles Jobin, Jiří Kylián, Ohad Naharin, Paulo Ribeiro, Hervé Robbe, and 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), École des Sables (SN), NRW Tanzhaus (DE), Matadero (ES), and Quorum Project (PT). She especially enjoys choreographic collaborations, having created with dance artists such as Allan Falieri, André Mesquita, Marco da Silva Ferreira, Teresa Alves da Silva, and Iratxe Ansa, to mention a few.

As a répétiteur and choreographic assistant from 2010 to 2014, she worked closely with Portuguese choreographer Olga Roriz, building and setting three original works for the Companhia de Dança Olga Roriz, the Companhia Nacional de Bailado in Portugal, and Teatro Guaíra in Brazil. Sylvia has taught extensively in various dance institutions and dance companies, such as Teatro Guaíra, Estúdios Vítor Cordón, Quorum Ballet, O Espaço do Tempo (Rui Horta), Companhia de Dança Olga Roriz, Companhia Nacional de Bailado, École des Sables, and the Companhia Portuguesa de Bailado Contemporânea (CPBC), varying her teaching 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 a guest choreographer on several interdisciplinary and multimodal research projects bridging contemporary dance, psycholinguistics, choreographic composition, technology, and artificial intelligence to investigate alternative practices for making and thinking about dance. These projects included: BlackBox Arts & Cognition, based at the School of Social Sciences and Humanities at NOVA University Lisbon (2018–2023), where her research was framed around attention and habitual movement patterns in dance-making; the Moving Digits project (2019–2020), which aimed to enhance audience understanding and engagement in contemporary dance performances, where her research focused on the digital glitch and the error; the Choreographic Coding Lab (2023), aimed at creative coding in contemporary dance practices, where she looked into AI as a tool for alternative dance-making; and Bodily Futures: Dance and AI (2023–2026), a project in collaboration with five contemporary dancers, cognitive linguist Vito Evola (NOVA University Lisbon, School of Social Sciences and Humanities), and computer researcher Cláudia Sevivas (IADE University), funded by the IDI&CA 2023 program of the Lisbon Polytechnic Institute.

As an invited dance researcher, she has shared her interdisciplinary and multimodal research in dance and technology at various research laboratories, institutions, conferences, and festivals. These include the LASEEB Lab at the Institute for Systems and Robotics (ISR-Lisboa) – Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon; the SOBA Lab (The Social Brain in Action Lab) at the University of Glasgow; DDCMC19 (The Dance, Data and Multimodal Communication Conference) at the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, NOVA University Lisbon; the Hidden Layers: AI and Design Conference at the Köln International School of Design (DE); the LARSyS (Laboratory for Robotics and Engineering Systems) 2024 Annual Meeting (PT); the MATE Festival (Music, Art, Technology and Education) 2024 (PT); the Pedra Dura Festival 2024 (PT); and most recently SALC10 (The 10th Conference of the Scandinavian Association for Language and Cognition) 2026 at Umeå University (SE).

In the realm of dance on film, she created The Phoenix reborn from its ashes in collaboration with filmmaker Abass Abass, with the support of the José Saramago Foundation, the Camões Institute, the Portuguese Embassy in Dakar, and the Lisbon Polytechnic Institute. She also co-created Dance in Virtual Reality Installation, a VR installation developed by the BlackBox team alongside Sylvia Rijmer and three contemporary dancers to document the research around her original Body Logic Method (BLM) using Kinect, 3D point clouds, stereoscopic images, and audio-video technology. Additionally, she created Bodily Futures: Dance and AI in collaboration with filmmaker Pedro Rodrigues at IADE Faculty of Design, Technology and Communication (PT) and film editor Margarida Borges Martins, which is scheduled for release in August 2026.

Sylvia is a full-time professor in the Dance Faculty at the Escola Superior de Dança in Lisbon, where she teaches in the Bachelor’s Degree in Dance program and supervises students in the Master’s programs in Dance Teaching (MED).

Image "Nostos" by André Mesquita and dancers. Photo: Guzmán Rosado

choreography

Embodied Brain Decoding

A work for 16 graduating dance students of the Superior School of Dance, Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon.

"When contemporary dancers move, thought becomes visible. Every gesture is a decision, every phrase a living pattern shaped by embodied knowledge, motor intelligence, and imagination. Movement reveals the brain at work, activating memory, perception, and motor imagery in a continuous dialogue between body and mind." - Sylvia Rijmer

Choreographer: Sylvia Rijmer
In collaboration with Dancers: Bruna Miranda, Carolina Pica, Catarina Dias, Inês Rodrigues, Ìsis Zarcos, Joana Teixeira, Lara Sanchéz, Mafalda Tavares, Maria Pereira, Mariana Mendes, Marta Nunes, Nelma Santos, Patrícia Duarte, Paulo Diego, Ricardo Esteves, David Pinto

Music by: Ensemble Alorna
Musicians: Tera Shimizu (Artistic Direction/Violin Solo 1), Zachary Spontak (Violin Solo 2), Maria José Laginha (Violin 1), Bernardo Barreira (Violin 2), Nuno Soares (Viola), Martin Henneken (Cello)
Makeup/Hair: Nelma Santos

Performed at: TIC - Técnico Innovation Center (Powered by Fidelidade), Lisbon ; Criarte - Carcavelos, Lisbon

Image: Superior School of Dance/Catarina Dias and Ricardo Esteves.

Lisbon, 2026

The wisdom of the crowd and the precious individual in it

A creation for 11 dancers of the Quorum Project

Quorum Ballet Portugal

"This work is inspired by the wisdom of the crowd according to James Surowiecki and focuses on collective intelligence as a means to highlight the dynamic role of the precious individual within it. Constructed mainly as a group work, it hopes to bring to the forefront the subtle differences of each dancer whose uniquely inherited dance patterns and movement habits exhibit diverse journeys and backgrounds in dance. This work is a collective of individuals." - Sylvia Rijmer

Choreography: Sylvia Rijmer

Dancers & Collaborators: Filomena Melim, Inês Ribeiro, Leonor Paulo, Margarida Santos, Mariana Simões, Matilde Pinto, Margarida Santos, Carolina Cruz, Catarina Jesus, Íris Santos, Laura Santos.

Music: Miguel Lucas Mendes, Johann Sebastian Bach

Choreographic Assistance: Kenji Matsuyama.-Ribeiro, Kim Pothoff

Lisbon, 2024

Chrysalis

A creation for the graduating dance students at the Superior School of Dance, Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon

"As a contemporary dancer in a dance-making process, one is often asked to co-create in real-time. Through choreographic or compositional tasks and other forms of motivational input, the choreographer seeks movement material from the dancers from which to dialogue. In such processes of collaborative creations, the dancer is often confronted with their creative limitations and habitual movement patterns: physical, stylistic, and /or methodological.

This work is the result of various cognitively induced, task-based improvisations and compositions, with the intuitive to physically and mentally explore the choreographic diversity of the students eager to share their own creative universes and physical convictions. Like a chrysalis waiting to be borne, what becomes visible is the invisible." - Sylvia Rijmer

Choreography: Sylvia Rijmer

In collaboration with Dancers: Andreia Brasil, Ariana Mira, Carolina Vouga, Clotilde Vaida, Daniel Pirata, Denise Almeida, Emma-Liina Naumanen, Filipa Pereira, Francisca Coelho, Frederico Machado, Hilja Tapio, Inês Arrenegado, Inês Gil, Isabela Costa, Joana Rosado, Kata Kiss, Leonor Mateus, Leonor Sequeira, Lilian Mester, Margarida Coelho, Panna Pozsony, Rodrigo C. Pereira, Aleksandra Demina e Zsófia Matesz

Music: Miguel Lucas Mendes, Johann Sebastian Bach

Lisbon, 2023

The Phoenix reborn from its own ashes (see Documentary)

A work created for 11 dance-artists at an artistic residency held from May 23 to 31, 2022, in Toubab Dialao by Sylvia Rijmer and the dance-artists of the Jant-Bi Dance Company at the École des Sables.

Choreography: Sylvia Rijmer

Dance-Artists and creative collaborators: 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

Photographer: Abass Abass

Toubab Dialao, Senegal, 2022

Clapping Loop

A work for the 2nd year students at the Superior School of Dance, Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon

A creation inspired by Steve Reich's "Clapping Music" and Social Media. Made during Social Distancing.

Choreographic Concepts: Sylvia Rijmer

In collaboration with Dancers: Alice Machado, Ana Rita Almeida, Beatriz Silva, Catarina Nunes, ilomena Melim, Francisco Fereire, Gabriela Coelho, nês Casaca, Inês Fertuzinhos, Joana Marques, Laura Barreta, Maria Viegas, Maria Estela dos Santos, Mariana Tiago, Mariana Vasconcelos, Rodrigo Pereita, Sara Carvalho

Text: Diogo Bento

Dramaturgy: Sylvia Rijmer & Diogo Bento

Music: Miguel Lucas Mendes

Video of Teaser

Lisbon, 2021

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

In collaboration with:

Dancers (Tallinn, Aug/19): Hanna Junti, Liis Vares

Dancers (Düsseldorf, Oct/19): Maria Pyatkova, Teresa Alves da Silva

Visuals, Sound and iInteraction: Stephan Jürgens, Raul Masu and Jochen Feitsch

Additional input:William Primett

NRW Tanzhaus

Düsseldorf, 2019

The beautiful glitch

Images generated within the Moving Digits Project using human dance data collected in Motion Capture and an Xsens Motion Capture Suit.

Pop Up Play

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

In collaboration with Dancers: 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

Every.Body.Hunts

A group work based on the tension between inner states of conflict versus public scrutiny.

Choreographic Concept: Sylvia Rijmer
In collaboration with Dancers: Teresa Alves da Silva, André Mesquita

Dancers: Teresa Alves da Silva, Sylvia Rijmer, André Mesquita
Live Music & Original Composition: Miguel Lucas Mendes
Light Design: Nuno Salsinha, Tela Negra.
Texts: Ray Bradbury, Sylvia Rijmer
Dramaturgy: Paulo Reis
Photography: Guzmán Rosado
Video editing: Guzmán Rosado

Co-production: Tok'Art
Support: Company Olga Roriz, 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."- Sylvia Rijmer

Choreography: Sylvia Rijmer
In collaboration with Dancer/Performer: 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

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

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.

Singularity - Physical Performance Workshop

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!

Show Less

teaser

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

dance and technology

Bodily Futures: Dance & AI Technology and Dance: Human and machine interaction in the making of a new contemporary dance using an invented Body Logic Method and artificial intelligence.

This interdisciplinary and multimodal research project seeks to reevaluate entrenched movement patterns and normative creative practices prevalent in contemporary dance today. By integrating empirical methods and advanced technologies, the project aims to redefine the choreographic process and expand the possibilities of creative expression in dance.

Re-imagining Dance Through the Body Logic Method

At the heart of this research lies the Body Logic Method (BL Method), an innovative choreographic approach rooted in empirical experience and focused on cognitive engagement. This method prioritizes the dynamic evolution of dancers as integral contributors to the choreographic process.

The BL Method emphasizes real-time dance composition, encouraging dancers to explore their personal "Body Logics"—a term reflecting their unique movement patterns shaped by subjective experiences and inherited embodiments. Through improvisation and focused attention, the method challenges traditional movement generation, fostering idiosyncratic creativity, personal accountability, and self-exploration. By doing so, the BL Method offers a pathway to create a contemporary dance form that is both deeply individual and collaboratively enriched.

Integrating Artificial Intelligence in Dance-Making

To further challenge normative choreographic practices, this project introduces Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a transformative tool. AI-generated dance models provide a novel lens for human movement, acting as a creative mirror to highlight ingrained patterns and inspire innovative ideas. By blending human intelligence with machine-generated propositions, the research opens new pathways for rethinking embodied movement and choreographic possibilities, proposing an evolving paradigm for a contemporary, Contemporary Dance.

Research Phases: Bridging Human and Digital Domains

The project was structured into two main phases:

Phase I: Capturing Dance Data — Focused on collecting movement data from human dancers through the BL Method.
Phase II: Generating Digital Data — Utilized the captured data to create AI-driven dance models, which were then reintroduced to human dancers to stimulate new creative possibilities.

This research highlights the transformative potential of interdisciplinary collaboration, merging dance, cognitive science, and AI to shape the future of contemporary dance practices.

researchers: Sylvia Rijmer, Vito Evola, Cláudia Sevivas

invited dancers: Inês Pedruco, Luís Guerra, Valter Fernandes, Tiago Coelho & Marta João Guimarães

filmt: Pedro Rodrigues

funded by: IDI&CA23, Reference Cod: IPL/IDI&CA23/Método BL_ESD

in collaboration with: ESD & IADE - Creative University

Lisbon, 2024

Bodily Futures Website

Moving Digits Artistic Residency

In this research project, I examine the representation of the human body within contemporary dance performance. Drawing on Oskar Schlemmer’s concept of the Kunstfigur—an idealised figure liberated from biological and biomechanical constraints—and situating it in relation to contemporary discourses on the post-dance body, this study positions digital technology and dance as critical and exploratory frameworks through which normative bodily expectations may be reconsidered.

The aim of this work is to develop alternative artistic propositions of the human body and its kinetic capacities, in order to foreground modes of perception that remain marginal or obscured within conventional regimes of visual and bodily interpretation.

This inquiry emerges from a series of performative explorations of the body, informed by accidental digital glitches encountered in collaboration with the Moving Digits Team and participating dancers. These events prompt a reconsideration, from both the perspective of the spectator and the choreographer, of the digitally mediated and de-subjectified—or otherwise transformed—body as a site of aesthetic and epistemic possibility.

Through the deliberate manipulation of motion capture systems, I investigate the potential to induce glitch effects by modulating both biological input (choreographic movement patterns) and non-biological parameters (lighting, costume, colour). This process generates (im)possible variations of movement and form mediated by digital systems, which I refer to as the Digi-logic of the system.

By approaching the glitch as a productive aesthetic and conceptual force, this research reframes the categories of the strange, the awkward, and the unstable as phenomena that are not only theoretically significant but also embodied, perceptually engaging, and artistically generative.

The resulting performative experiment constitutes a digimorphic hybrid, grounded in biological embodiment (human dancers), in which all output material is transformed through motion capture processes and digital filtering systems. I describe this work as an experiential demonstration that articulates an interrelation between the bio-logical body—understood through the Body-Logic of the dancer—and its translation into a digitally mediated environment.

Sylvia Rijmer, Tallin 2019

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

The making of "The Beautiful Glitch" - a dance research exploration which looks into the digital glitch and error as alternative modes for making a dance.

The making of

Link

Researched and constructed together with the Moving Digits: Augmented Dance for Engaged Audience
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.

Tallin, 2019

A Beautiful Glitch - a digital, choreographic study

Movement data captured using motion capture and inspired by the digital glitch and error.

Dance Data edited & re-choreographed: Sylvia Rijmer

Original Soundscape: Miguel Lucas Mendes

Researched and constructed in collaboration with the Moving Digits: Augmented Dance for Engaged Audience
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.

Tallin, 2019

Body Logic in Virtual Reality / A VR Dance Study

This short film shares a day of dance research live and in virtual reality using an invented compositional method, the Body Logic Method (BL M), and a graphic music score by Cornelius Cardew.

Research Concept & Methodology / Choreography: Sylvia Rijmer
Collaborative Interpretation: Teresa Alves da Silva, Allan Falieri & Elson Ferreira
Original Music Reworked: Miguel Lucas Mendes

BlackBox: Arts&Cognition/sylviarijmer

Researched and constructed in collaboration with the BlackBox Arts & Cognition Project, Nova University, FCSH-UNL

Lisbon, 2018

Tree Solo - VR and Dance

“Tree Solo” - is an informal studio excerpt created and performed by Teresa Alves da Silva (with Allan Falieri and Elson Ferreira as support). Their movements are constructed using the Body Logic Method (BL M), Virtual Reality (VR), and a graphic element of the Treatise score by Cornelius Cardew (1967: 181).

Research Concept & Methodology: Sylvia Rijmer

dancer: Teresa Alves da Silva with Allan Falieri

BlackBox: Arts&Cognition/sylviarijmer

Researched and constructed in collaboration with the BlackBox Arts & Cognition Project, Nova University, FCSH-UNL

Lisbon, 2018

Dancing in Virtual Space using kinect

A movement sample in VR collected from a three week, interdisciplinary and multimodal research.

Artistic Direction: Sylvia Rijmer Dancers & Movement Collaborators: Teresa Alves da Silva, Allan Falieri & Elson Ferreira

Filmed & Edited: Claudia Sofia Ribeiro

Original Music: Miguel Lucas Mendes

BlackBox: Arts&Cognition/sylviarijmer

Researched and constructed in collaboration with the BlackBox Arts & Cognition Project, Nova University, FCSH-UNL

Lisbon, 2018

BODY LOGIC - a short movement study in various states of process

Identifying Body Logic in cognition & dance through deliberate choice negotiation. A short which shares the making of a movement sequence in real-time using an invented compositional method, The Body Logic Method (BL M).

Researcher: Sylvia Rijmer

in collaboration with dancers: Allan Falieri, Teresa Alves da Silva & Elson Ferreira

Film & Editing: André Silva Santos

Research Concept & Methodology / Choreography: Sylvia Rijmer
Collaborative Interpretation: Teresa Alves da Silva, Allan Falieri & Elson Ferreira
Original Music: Miguel Lucas Mendes

BlackBox: Arts&Cognition/sylviarijmer

Researched and constructed in collaboration with the BlackBox Arts & Cognition Project, Nova University, FCSH-UNL

Lisbon, 2018

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.

link

Guest choreographer/researcher

link

Show Less

Moving Digits: Augmented Dance for Engaged Audience

Guest choreographer/researcher

Personal Research Theme: Capturing the digital glitch using motion capture in contemporary dance-making.

link

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)2023

Invited choreographer/researcher

Personal Research Theme: Body Logic Method and AI: Alternative modes for making a dance using human-machine interaction

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

LEVERHULME CENTER OF INTELLIGENCE - THE FUTURE OF ART IN THE AI AGE CAMBRIDGE

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 UNIVERISTY OF LISBON

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 TÉCNICO

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 ENSINO ARTÌSTIC ESPECIALIZADO: Um olhar pelo avessso 2022 GULBENKIAN FOUNDATION

Guest speaker for the 2nd Congress in artistic specialised teachings.

Title of talk: Teaching dance in the 21st century.

Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, PT, 2022

Clash! When Classical and Contemporary Dance Collide &New Forms Emerge ALMADA DANCE CO

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

SOBA LAB: SOCIAL BRAIN IN ACTION GLASGOW UNIVERSITY

DDCM19 - DANCE DATA, COGNITION and MULTIMODAL COMMUNICATION NOVA UNIVERSITY

Clash! When Classical and Contemporary Dance Collide &New Forms Emerge ALMADA DANCE CO

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

INSTITUTE OF SYSTEMS and ROBOTICS TÉCNICO

DDCM19 - DANCE DATA, COGNITION and MULTIMODAL COMMUNICATION NOVA UNIVERSITY

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

Técnico, University of Lisbon, PT, 2019

DDCM19 - DANCE DATA, COGNITION and MULTIMODAL COMMUNICATION NOVA UNIVERSITY

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

Programme Text: Great Masters Programme / The National Ballet Company of Portugal (CNB 2026)

A triple bill of classical dance in contemporary motion(s): A brief reflection on the extraordinary

versatility of the classical dance movement canon in constant states of evolution through living

practices.

Link to review

Paper: Generative AI, Decision-Making, and Collaborative Choreography

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

10.57684/COS-1270

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

Choreographic Profile 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

shorts/teasers / docs /installations

BODILY FUTURES Documentary: Coming Soon!

The Language of Movement, the AI of Motion:

Digital-twins as co-choreographers and engines of habit override

A documentary based on an ongoing interdisciplinary and multimodal research project between a dance researacher, a cognitive-linguist, a computer scientist and five expert Contemporary dancers.

The research was driven by a need to challenge inherited habits in Contemporary dancing, and create deviations from normative behabioral patterns towards new movement opportunities.

Sylvia Rijmer - ESD School of Dance, Lisbon

Vito Evola - Independent Researcher

Cláudia Sevivas - IADE-Creative University, Lisbon

In close collaboration with dance artists: Inês Pedruco, Marta João Guimarães, Tiago Coelho, Valter Fernandes and Luis Guerra

Filmed by: Pedro Rodrigues (IADE University)

Film Editing: Margarida Borges Martins

Financed by: IPL/IDI&CA2023/Método BL_ESD

Supported by: Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, IADE-Creative University Lisbon

Lisbon, 2023 ongoing

Bodily Futures: Dance and AI Teaser

Can AI be used as a tool to challenge inherited habits in Contemporary Dancing?

A short teaser based on an ongoing interdisciplinary and multimodal research project in Dance and AI. Our central research question asks: how dancers’ embodied decision-making adapts when interacting with AI-generated variations of their movement histories in ways that shift the balance between habitual action, deliberate choice, improvisational responsiveness, and creative expansion?

Sylvia Rijmer - ESD School of Dance, Lisbon

Vito Evola - Independent Researcher

Cláudia Sevivas - IADE-Creative University, Lisbon

In close collaboration with dance artists: Inês Pedruco, Marta João Guimarães, Tiago Coelho, Valter Fernandes and Luis Guerra

Filmed by: Pedro Rodrigues (IADE University)

Financed by: IPL/IDI&CA2023/Método BL_ESD

Supported by: Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, IADE-Creative University Lisbon

Lisbon, 2023 ongoing

Embodied Brain Decoding

An arts and science project exploring the relationship between neuroscience and dance. Using AI to decode brain signals, scientists reveal patterns of neural activity that inspire and inform the dancers' creative process.

Where neuroscience meets art.
Where brain activity becomes movement.
Where AI meets the moving body.

When contemporary dancers move, thought becomes visible. Every gesture is a decision, and every movement phrase reflects embodied knowledge, motor intelligence, and imagination. Movement reveals the brain in action through a continuous dialogue between body and mind.

A collaboration between the Institute for Systems and Robotics (ISR-Lisboa) at Instituto Superior Técnico and the Superior School of Dance, Lisbon.

Choreography: Sylvia Rijmer

In collaboration with the dance ESD dance students: Bruna Miranda, Carolina Pica, Catarina Dias, Inês Rodrigues, Ìsis Zarcos, Joana Teixeira, Lara Sanchéz, Mafalda Tavares, Maria Pereira, Mariana Mendes, Marta Nunes, Nelma Santos, Patrícia Duarte, Paulo Diego, Ricardo Esteves, David Pinto

Rehearsal Assistant: Franck Baranek

Scientists: Patrícia Figueiredo, Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Madalena Valente, Daniela Esteves, Jean-Claude Fernandes

Film: Técnico

Performed by live dancers and musicians on 23 January 2026 at the TIC – Técnico Innovation Center, Powered by Fidelidade.

Lisbon, 2026

Singularity - Physical Performance Workshop

A physical performance workshop celebrating diversity, eclectic human creativity & artistic singularity within a safe studio space.

Guided by Allan Falieri & Sylvia Rijmer

& guest Fabiana Nunes-dramaturgical director and rehearsal coordinator of the Ballet Company of the City of Niterói (CBCN).

Lisbon, 2022

Phoenix Reborn From its Ashes

This documentary was produced through a partnership between the Embassy of Portugal in Senegal, the Camões – Institute for Cooperation and Language, the Superior School of Dance of the Lisbon Polytechnic, and the École des Sables in Senegal.

It documents an artistic residency held at the École des Sables from 23–31 May 2022, where choreographer Sylvia Rijmer collaborated with the dance artists of the Jant-Bi Dance Company to create a new work inspired by the writings of José Saramago, as part of the celebrations marking the centenary of the author's birth.

The film captures the creative process as it unfolded throughout the residency, highlighting artistic exchange, intercultural dialogue, and collaborative dance-making within an educational context.

Invited Choreographer: Sylvia Rijmer

In creative collaboration with the dance artists of the Jant-Bi Dance Company, École des Sables:
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 Sène

Photography: Abass Abass

Filmed on location in Toubab Dialaw, Senegal 2022

Dance in Virtual Reality

“Dance in Virtual reality – deconstructing choreographic objects through expanded media" is an installation-gallery in VR that has resulted from the convergence between choreographer Sylvia Rijmer's impulse to formalize her current compositional methodologies and the motivation of the BlackBox team to analyse and visually document unique artistic processes in contemporary dance.

BlackBox: Arts&Cognition/sylviarijmer

This VR Installation was created by the BlackBox team together with Sylvia Rijmer and the dancers (Teresa Alves da Silva, Allan Falieri, Elson Ferreira) to document the research around the Body Logic Method (BLM) using Kinect, 3D point-clouds, stereoscopic images, and audio-video.

Refer to p.33 from: 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

Development: Rafael Kuffner, Cláudia Ribeiro, Stephan Jürgens and Francisco Henriques
Technical assistance: Sara Ribeiro
Artistic consultancy: Sylvia Rijmer
Direction: Carla Fernandes

Researched and constructed in collaboration with the BlackBox Arts & Cognition Project, Nova University, FCSH-UNL

Lisbon, 201

Lisbon, 2019

production

Feedback #1

Feedback#1- December 18th, 2010

A mixed media event created and produced by The Feedback Kolectiv - Sylvia Rijmer, Miguel Lucas Mendes and Paulo Reis.

In this unique event, 25 Portuguese based mixed media artists joined in a generous sharing of their creative ideas and works in progress. The evening varied from dance to theatre, music, photography, film, book readings, including sound and video installations.

The event took place at the studio space of Companhia Olga Roriz in Baixa, Lisbon.

Video & Editing: Guzmán Rosado
Video Sound: Miguel Lucas Mendes

The Feedback Kolectiv wishes to thank Companhia Olga Roriz, and all the artists and guests who so generously shared their works and supported the work of others.

Feedback #2

Feedback#2- May 21st, 2011

A mixed media event created and produced by The Feedback Kolectiv - Sylvia Rijmer, Miguel Lucas Mendes and Paulo Reis.

In this unique event, 26 Portuguese based mixed media artists joined in a generous sharing of their creative ideas and works in progress. The evening varied from dance to theatre, music, photography, film, book readings, including sound and video installations.

The event took place at the studio space of Companhia Olga Roriz in Baixa, Lisbon.

Video & Editing: Guzmán Rosado
Video Sound: Miguel Lucas Mendes

The Feedback Kolectiv wishes to thank Companhia Olga Roriz, and all the artists and guests who so generously shared their works and supported the work of others.

Menu

biography

teaching/workshops

choreography

choreography

teaching/workshops

choreography

teaching/workshops

teaching/workshops

dance and technology

dance research collaborations / as invited choreographer

talks/seminars/conferences

shorts/teasers/ documentaries /installations

publications

productions

productions

biography

choreography

Embodied Brain Decoding

The wisdom of the crowd and the precious individual in it

Chrysalis

The Phoenix reborn from its own ashes (see Documentary)

Clapping Loop

The beautiful glitch

The beautiful glitch

Pop Up Play

Every.Body.Hunts

Anatomization

Interpretación Automática

teaching/workshops

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

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

Guest teachings

Dance faculty at the Superior School of Dance/IPL in Lisbon, Portugal

Guest teachings

dance and technology

Bodily Futures: Dance & AI Technology and Dance: Human and machine interaction in the making of a new contemporary dance using an invented Body Logic Method and artificial intelligence.

Re-imagining Dance Through the Body Logic Method

Integrating Artificial Intelligence in Dance-Making

Research Phases: Bridging Human and Digital Domains

Moving Digits Artistic Residency

A Beautiful Glitch - a digital, choreographic study

Body Logic in Virtual Reality / A VR Dance Study

Tree Solo - VR and Dance

Dancing in Virtual Space using kinect

BODY LOGIC - a short movement study in various states of process

research collaborations / as invited choreographer

BlackBox: Arts&Cognition

Moving Digits: Augmented Dance for Engaged Audience

Choreographic Coding Lab (CCL)2023

Choreographic Coding Lab (CCL)2023

talks/seminars/conferences

ISR- INSTITUTE FOR SYSTEMS and ROBOTICS; TÉCNICO, UNIVERSITY OF LISBON

ENCONTRO INTERNACIONAL NUVENS NÔMADAS

FESTIVAL PEDRA DURA

LEVERHULME CENTER OF INTELLIGENCE - THE FUTURE OF ART IN THE AI AGE CAMBRIDGE

INTERSELF INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE UNIVERISTY OF LISBON

MATE FESTIVAL - MÚSICA ARTE TECNOLOGIA EDUCAÇÃO

LARSyS ANNUAL MEETING 2024- LABORATORY FOR ROBOTICS AND ENGINEERING SYSTEMS TÉCNICO

2º CONGRESSO ENSINO ARTÌSTIC ESPECIALIZADO: Um olhar pelo avessso 2022 GULBENKIAN FOUNDATION

Clash! When Classical and Contemporary Dance Collide &New Forms Emerge ALMADA DANCE CO

Clash! When Classical and Contemporary Dance Collide &New Forms Emerge ALMADA DANCE CO

SOBA LAB: SOCIAL BRAIN IN ACTION GLASGOW UNIVERSITY

DDCM19 - DANCE DATA, COGNITION and MULTIMODAL COMMUNICATION NOVA UNIVERSITY

Clash! When Classical and Contemporary Dance Collide &New Forms Emerge ALMADA DANCE CO

INSTITUTE OF SYSTEMS and ROBOTICS TÉCNICO

DDCM19 - DANCE DATA, COGNITION and MULTIMODAL COMMUNICATION NOVA UNIVERSITY

DDCM19 - DANCE DATA, COGNITION and MULTIMODAL COMMUNICATION NOVA UNIVERSITY

DDCM19 - DANCE DATA, COGNITION and MULTIMODAL COMMUNICATION NOVA UNIVERSITY

DDCM19 - DANCE DATA, COGNITION and MULTIMODAL COMMUNICATION NOVA UNIVERSITY

DDCM19 - DANCE DATA, COGNITION and MULTIMODAL COMMUNICATION NOVA UNIVERSITY

publications

Programme Text: Great Masters Programme / The National Ballet Company of Portugal (CNB 2026)

Paper: Generative AI, Decision-Making, and Collaborative Choreography

Chapter: Negotiating Deliberate Choice-Making

Choreographic Profile Chapter: "I see something and I like it"