Simone Lorenzo Benini is a dancer and choreographer currently based in Vienna. He studied contemporary dance at SEAD, Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance, where he graduated, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physiotherapy from Fontys University of Applied Sciences.
As a performer, he collaborates regularly with the Finnish choreographer Elina Pirinen. He has also worked with a number of international artists, including Marina Abramović, Doris Uhlich, Gordon Monahan, Ann Van den Broek, among others.
In his choreographic research, he explores movement and bodily expression as tools for accessing altered states of presence, investigating experiences such as ecstasy, vulnerability, despair, eros, desire, and catharsis. His practice focuses on the total and almost obsessive commitment of the body to the moment, where every single cell contributes to the action. Irony, humor, and exaggeration are central elements of his artistic language.
Through dance, he investigates the kaleidoscopic, conflicting, and ambiguous nature of the unconscious, while seeking an authentic connection with other human beings.
His choreographic works have been presented at international festivals such as Bolzano Danza (IT), Kiosk (SK), Buffalo / MACRO Roma (IT), Imagetanz (AT), and others.
Miriam Budzáková is a dance and performance artist currently based in Vienna, whose work spans Slovakia, Italy, and Austria. She is a graduate of the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (SEAD) in Austria and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Dance Theatre and Performance from the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Her choreographic practice combines seriousness, humour, irony, and sentimentality, exploring the body’s experience within uncomfortable, intimate, personal, and public contexts. Rather than following predetermined narratives, she develops performances through tasks, instructions, and directions, creating situations that invite live exploration and genuine presence. Her work often focuses on placing performers within specific performative conditions, through which she investigates immediacy, attentiveness, and the unfolding process of performance itself.
As a performer and creator, she has collaborated on numerous productions with the civic association INSTITUT INSTITUT.
Since 2017, she has also co-organized Tanečno, a multidisciplinary dance festival held in northern Slovakia.