Maria Naidu creates dances that speaks directly to people. Her work invites audiences into experiences that are physical, immediate and shared—whether encountered in a theatre, a public space or through participation in the dance itself.
Movement is the core of her practice. She often brings it into dialogue with music, text, visual art and other artistic forms, creating works that cross boundaries between disciplines, cultures and communities. Her choreography is distinguished by a richness of texture, precise theatrical detail and a subtle, disarming humour.
Maria trained at Balettakademien in Gothenburg and later at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York. She made her professional debut as a dancer in 1987 and as a choreographer in 1989. In 1991, she joined Jennifer Muller/THE WORKS in New York as a full-time soloist and remained with the company until 1998.
Through her work with Jennifer Muller, Maria became part of a choreographic lineage extending back to the American modern-dance pioneer Doris Humphrey. Its movement principles and compositional thinking continue to shape her artistic language, while being transformed through her own experiences, questions and methods.
After thirteen years in New York and three years in Amsterdam, Maria settled in Malmö in 2002. In 2003, she founded Föreningen armar&ben, the platform through which she has produced and presented her work. She has since created more than 35 choreographic works, shown in 14 countries across five continents.
Repetition as a choreographic tool has long been central to Maria’s choreography. Since 2004, the classic line dance The Electric Slide has repeatedly appeared in her practice—as movement material, choreographic score, participatory structure and subject of artistic research.
Its familiar sequence of steps creates a meeting place between individuality and collectivity. People move alone, yet together. Through repetition, rhythm and shared attention, the dance opens questions about belonging, trust, memory and the knowledge carried by the body.
The Electric Slide forms the foundation of recent projects including The Slide (2023), Sammankomst (2024) and ON and ON and ON ON and ON (2025), co-produced by Dansstationen in Malmö, Atalante in Gothenburg and MDT in Stockholm. These works range from participatory encounters in public space to a stage production performed in a continuous loop.
Her current projects also include IKONER, co-created with Annika B. Lewis, and Åter(an)vända, which returns to material from several decades of earlier works. Through an exhibition with live dance, Åter(an)vända explores what can be remembered, reused and transformed—and how an artistic archive can become active again in the present.
Alongside her choreographic work, Maria has taught professional dancers internationally since 1992, specialising in Muller Polarity Technique and instant composition. She has created choreography for dance, opera and theatre, including productions at Norrlandsoperan, Malmö Opera, Malmö Stadsteater and Helsingborgs Stadsteater. She has also worked as rehearsal director at NorrDans and Carte Blanche in Norway.
Maria has held several advisory and governance roles within the performing arts. She has served as vice chair and board member of Danscentrum, as a board member of Danscentrum Syd, and as a member of advisory groups at the Swedish Arts Council and Riksteatern. From 2014 to 2017, she was an external examiner at the Danish National School of Performing Arts. In 2018, she was appointed by the Swedish Ministry of Culture to the board of the Royal Swedish Opera.
Across these different roles, one conviction remains central to her work: dance can be artistically rigorous while remaining open, generous and accessible. It can belong to the trained dancer, the curious spectator and the person stepping onto the dance floor for the first time.