Maria Mercedes Flores Mujica is a Venezuelan dance artist and researcher based in Cologne, Germany. Her inter(un)disciplinary practice challenges cultural hierarchies and explores corporealities from feminist, decolonial and inclusive perspectives, combining Afro-Caribbean dances, folk traditions and contemporary experiments. Her work examines intersections of time, space and memory through movement, rhythm and performative creation, fostering connections between performers, audiences and space.

Her choreographic works include ON:Joy 2019 in collaboration with Constanza Ruiz; What, Where, When Are We?! 2023 co-produced by Ringlokschuppen Ruhr and supported by Tanzfaktur and PACT Zollverein; and La Vacabose 2025, developed in K3 Choreographic Center, premiered in Kampnagel and co-produced by tanzhaus nrw. In 2025, she was invited to COMMON LAB, an international choreographic exchange from Creative Europe and the choreographic exchange Danza en Construcción in Bogotá, Colombia.

Over the past years, Maria Mercedes has developed her own dance methodology: Somatic Booty Shaking (SBS) — a practice that combines contemporary dance, Afro Caribbean movement traditions and somatic knowledges. Pleasure driven and empowerment directed, SBS allows their practitioners to connect to their own bodies and others, through rhythm, joy, playfulness and sensuality.