Mariana Tengner is a choreographer, dancer and performer. She graduated in dance from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance-NSCD (England 2003). She trained at the Ballet Theatre Munich (Germany 2004). Completed the Choreographic Study and Creation Programme-PEPCC (Portugal 2009). Between 2004 and 2005 she was an associate artist with NSCD and co-founded the artistic collective The Resistance Movement (England). She was an associate artist at EIRA (Lisbon) between 2012 and 2016, and was a resident artist between 2010 and 2012. Her work has been presented in several countries in Europe and South America. She has choreographed and performed numerous solo and group pieces, including Après Le Bain (2011), The Trap (2011 winner of the Jardin D'Europe Audience Award - Austria) and A Power Ballad (2013) & Resurrection (2017), both co-creations with choreographer Mark Tompkins. As a performer, she highlights her collaborations with: Meg Stuart/ Damaged Goods, Francisco Camacho, Retina Dance, John Romão, Diana Niepce and Filipa Francisco. In 2016 she was awarded the Municipal Cultural Merit Award by the Vila Nova de Famalicão City Council for her professional career. She is the artistic director of A Bela Associação and is a member of the band Kundalini XS and the performance music project Digital Pimp Hard at Work. Improvisation is a constant tool in her practices and work, both in terms of research and as the main premise in some projects, including the Solo Performance Commissioning Project in 2009, directed by choreographer Deborah Hay (Findhorn, Scotland), and her adaptation of the choreography At Once premiered as part of Nome Eira#3, in Lisbon (2011); the pieces in collaboration with musician Jonny Kadaver based on improvisation Dance Against The Machine and Riders on the stage (2014/15) for the London company Edge-The Place, presented at Parque da Devesa, Casa das Artes, Famalicão and Instructions for the gods which premiered as part of BoCA- Bienal de Artes Performativas at Museu do Chiado (2017); Karaoke Singing In The Rain- Performance/Installation in collaboration with architect Pedro Bandeira for Casa da Música (2007); Sleeps in motion watching us, collaboration with Abraham Hurtado and João Gridfonte in the Bridge on a wall project at Galeria ZDB, Lisbon and Galerie Tristesse Deluxe, Berlin 2009; ADDK a process (Galeria da Boavista, 2012) with Vânia Rovisco; Improvisation from Terry Riley's 'In C' (Serralves Foundation and Circular Festival 2011) directed by Miquel Bernat and Mark Tompkins; THE LAB (Arbecey, 2016) and Serious Fun (Impulstanz, 2018) both directed by Mark Tompkins and Meg Stuart; Atelier III (Brussels, 2017) by Meg Stuart, Josef Wouters and Jeroen Peeters and Maratona de Procrastinação (Lisbon Botanical Garden, 2021) directed by Sílvia Pinto Coelho and Lília Mestre and Guests.