Dutch-Australian Mariana Verdaasdonk based herself in Tokyo in the early 1990s in order to intensively study the martial art Aikido and Japanese dance-theatre Butoh. Mariana cofounded Tokyo-based multimedia performance unit 66b/cell in 1994, as a result of work combining body movement and multimedia. Keen to investigate the fusion of art and technology at a deeper level, Mariana completed a practice-led PhD at Queensland University of Technology in 2007.

Mariana facilitates workshops and holds private sessions under the name Body Flow, a practice that encourages spontaneous body movement and the free flow of energy to establish inner balance and tap into the creative and restorative qualities inherent within each person’s being. Body Flow workshops involve group work, supported partner touch, and individual/solo movement practice. A founding director of the original Kyozon/Co:exist art space, Mariana, a qualified yoga instructor (five hundred hours, Byron Yoga Centre), has recently returned to the elegant Kyozon studio located in the basement of the present Las Chicas, where she brings her unique style of yoga to people seeking a gentle yet deep flowing style of practice.

Websites: www.66bcell.com and bodyflow.jimdo.com