Bio

Qilo Matzen (ze/hir) dances and improvises, bringing somatic research and site specific work to the stage, studio, and film. An ongoing somatic movement practice provides a highly alive internal landscape and resonant sense of space. During the altered time of the pandemic, ze continued to cultivate interroception, investigating how presence manifests on zoom and film.

Early studies with electronic music composers and experimental dancers inform Qilo’s compositions through a desire for new movement. Past projects include community based movement theater pieces that reimagine water systems and touring Europe and the Balkans with a collaborative performance about prison abolition. Current work includes a live performance/art installation that investigates family history and manifest destiny, and dance films that skew frame rate to reveal the embodied beauty of intangible digital mediums.

Qilo comes from North Carolina’s swamps, lives near Oakland’s Sausal Creek, and deeply appreciates all those who have been teachers and collaborators.