VII FMH Scientific Conference – Improvisation? Dance, Music and Other Performing Arts
27 June de 2026 | 9h00 – 18h00 | Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa
Free admission upon prior registration via the online form.
Improvisation, as a practice of composition and research in real time — supported by systems, rules or open scores — has established itself in dance, music and theatre as a creative tool open to the emergence of living and unstable materials. As an activator of creative processes, it mobilises presence and expanded listening, shifting the focus away from anticipation and judgement, becoming a dynamic, interactive and undisciplined device for generating materials and experimentation.
For the 7º edition of FMH Scientific Conference, we propose revisiting and deepening the discussion of improvisation as both an artistic tool and a mode of thinking.
Within the framework of this conference, improvisation is approached through the dimension of time, creating a space for reflection and experimentation in which improvisation may be understood as a device for sharing time, shifting thought from an individual logic towards one of relational emergence.
The conference therefore seeks to question improvisation, which, although often associated with speed and immediate response, may also be approached through a logic of deceleration, as a critical gesture and a potential form of resistance.
All participants must register in advance for the event via the QR code or the indicated link.
Those wishing to submit a proposal for a short presentation (Lightning Talk) may do so through the registration form.
Organising Committee:
Coordination: Elisabete Monteiro, Sérgio Bordalo e Sá.
Team: Ana Leitão, António Vasconcelos, Cecília de Lima, Luca Apreia, Luís Postiga, Maria Matos, Michele Leitão, Mônica Emilio, Paula Lebre, Rita Gouveia,
For further information: inetmd.fmh@fmh.ulisboa.pt
Fernanda Eugénio | Artist, anthropologist, researcher and educator. Her work involves field research, writing, conceptual creation, social intervention, somatic-spiritual practices and expanded performance (body, installation, video, photography and situated propositions). She develops transversal modes of practice for relational composition, intimate and collective care-curation, and creation through rematerialisation, particularly through the AND Operative Mode (MO_AND), an ethical-aesthetic and somatic-political methodology that she created and has been developing since the 2000s. Over the last twenty years, she has worked as a visiting lecturer in numerous programmes in the social sciences, humanities, arts and performance across Europe, the United States and South America. Her work with MO_AND has been the subject of master’s dissertations and doctoral theses in fields such as the arts, psychology, education, architecture and cultural studies.
Cecília de Lima | Assistant Professor in the Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes at the School of Dance of the Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon. Since 2017 she has been an integrated researcher at INET-md, where she develops practice-based research on the relationship between choreographic creation and dramaturgy, phenomenology, cognitive sciences, somatic practices, arts education and technologically expanded dance. She has taught as a visiting lecturer at several universities, including the Amsterdam Faculty of Arts (NL) and Arnhem ArtEZ Faculty of Arts (NL). Her research has been published internationally and presented at numerous scientific events. She began her professional career as a choreographer and dancer in 1999 and was co-founder of the company Canvas Performing Art (NL) between 2001 and 2008, where she co-created several interdisciplinary performances.
Luís Postiga | Invited Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Art at the University of Aveiro since 2010. He is also a teacher at the Vila do Conde Music Conservatory and the São João da Madeira Music Academy. An integrated researcher at INET-md, within the Creation, Performance and Artistic Research Group, his compositional work is highly eclectic and strongly rooted in instrumental pedagogical development. As a researcher, he has presented papers at numerous national meetings, congresses and conferences. He collaborates with Mundis – Civic Association for Education and Culture and has worked as music producer and editor for the ballet productions of Academia Gimnoarte since 2015.
Peter Michael Dietz | Originally from Denmark and currently based in Portugal, Peter Michael Dietz is a choreographer, dancer and teacher. A graduate of the European Dance Development Center (EDDC) in the Netherlands, he teaches at the School of Theatre and Cinema in Lisbon. As a performer, he has collaborated with companies such as Re.Al, Companhia Clara Andermatt and Jangada de Pedra, and has presented works including Leão de Lisboa, Valquíria Voltando, Seven Solos for Eleven Scenes Falling Through Made in Brasil and Mistoraba throughout Europe and Brazil.