(Choreographing Belonging reflects Haraway's belonging-with, Barad's intra-action, Stenger's agency of practices and Ingold's processes of ongoing correspondence. More in references section).
A core philosophy is Maria's commitment to an "ethical arts practice" that holds diversity with inclusivity while supporting creative autonomy, specifically within rural contexts. This process has refocused her practice since Covid, reducing international projects to focus on a deeper translocal creative engagement in North Clare for now. (Inspired by Emily Beausoleils Enacting a Dispositional Ethics of Ecounter, 2017 and particularly Genevive Vaughan's The Maternal Roots of the Gift Economy, 2017. )
Maria Kerin’s practice is grounded in eco-somatic movement and deep body listening. Through sensory awareness and restorative movement, she explores the relationship between body, land, and wellbeing, encouraging participants to reconnect with nature through felt experience. (Inspired by Anna Halprin, Joan Davies, and most particularly the late Antoinette Spillane)
Maria develops dance-movement as a transdisciplinary field combining artistic practice with archaeological and ecological research. Her work investigates through multi-temporal, embodied inquiry, creating new ways of understanding past and present landscapes and the more-than-human. A sensorial deep time activation for creative futuring.
Water is central to Maria’s work as both a material and a living presence. Through rituals, site-based projects, and community actions, she explores water wellbeing, sacred sites, and local water quality as forms of embodied environmental care and activism.
Maria works with diverse cultural communities, including refugees and asylum seekers, using creative practice to foster connection, belonging, and shared expression. Her projects create safe, inclusive spaces for embodiment, dialogue, participation, and collective creativity, in soft devotion to radical change.
Maria facilitates international and local platforms for peer-to-peer artistic exchange and shared research. These initiatives support cross-cultural dialogue, collaborative learning, and the gifting of artistic knowledge across disciplines and borders.
Drawing on over three decades of experience, Maria mentors artists through a process of deep listening and constructive reflection. Her mentoring practice is guided by Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process; to support artists in developing their creativity with clarity, confidence, and care.