Marianna Karava (b. 1982, Greece) is an interdisciplinary artist and movement educator working across dance, performance, visual poetry, and book arts. Central to her practice are in situ creation and embodied storytelling.

As a dance artist, she is particularly drawn to instant composition, curating improvisation-based events that encourage curiosity and a sense of shared vulnerability between performers and audiences. Alongside her artistic work, she teaches contemporary dance, yoga, and pilates, cultivating a holistic approach to the body as a source of creativity and awareness.

Her writing and visual poetry emerge from movement and tactile processes. Through embroidery and other handicraft techniques, she explores the intersection of body, language, and material, highlighting women’s artistry and the cultural memory embedded in craft traditions. This handmade, ritualistic approach is both an intimate gesture and an act of connection.

In recent years, she has adopted a nomadic lifestyle. Through residencies and collaborations across the Balkans and the wider international community, she continues to expand her artistic praxis in dialogue with diverse places and communities.

To read more about movement, poetry and Mediterranean identity : Interview @ Mediterranean Commune*

[photo credit: Lucrezia G, GRUND1535, Rietz, Austria, 2023]