rita mazza

rita mazza
visual sign choreographer, performance artist and actor

Rita Mazza (they/she) is a Visual Sign Choreographer and performance artist based in Berlin. They work within contemporary dance, sign languages and visual poetry as well as an actor and sign language interpreter/ performer. As a native signer from a Deaf family, sign language has always been at the center of their identity and artistic expression. Born in Turin, Italy, their first language is Italian Sign Language (LIS). They are furthermore fluent in German (DGS) and International Sign Language (IS) and have good knowledge of French (LSF).

“My strength lies in molding sign language movement into choreography. I love to experiment with layering as well as combining signs and hand shapes. I use movement, rhythm and repetition to naturally let something take form that has a melody of its own. I do feel like a composer in this process, albeit a visual one and hence call my practice Visual Sign Choreography.”...

Their path of professionalization began at the University of Music, Performing Arts, Cinema and New Media in Turin and was further shaped by the various works in festivals, performances and collaborations across Europe. In 2015 their leading role in the award-winning play Children of a Lesser God directed by Marco Mattolini, successfully introduced them to professional (hearing) theaters. From 2018 to 2020 they were invited to join the Festival del Silenzio in Milan as artistic director.  

In 2021 Mazza was an artist-in-residence at the Berlin hub Making a Difference and deepened their explorations in sign language and dance, leading to their first solo work Dandelion II (2021). Their following creation Space 1880 (2021) was presented at the Sophiensæle Berlin. In 2024 their work Matters of Rhythm (2023–24) was presented at the Tanzplattform Deutschland, which showcases the most innovative and remarkable works in contemporary dance. Their current project, The Voice (2024–26), premiered at the renowned Tanz im August Festival in Berlin and continues to tour internationally.  

As a performer they draw a strong stage presence from their acting background and have collaborated with various artists such as: Saša Asentić, Perel, Sophia Neises and Jefta van Dinther. Furthermore, they have shared and developed work internationally with Riksteatern Crea and Skånes Dansteater in Sweden.  

Alongside their own artistic works, Mazza is an active consultant and curator for sign language access in the performing arts and served as a guest curator for the international Festival Theaterformen in 2023. They also offer workshops about their practice of Visual Sign Choreography and Aesthetics of Access in which they focus on sign language as an integral artistic part and process of the creation.  




Photo by Yichen Liao


rita mazza
ritamaz@gmail.com
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03.Matters of Rhythm

Visual Sign Choreography / Performance
Trailer
2023

Music moves in waves. It travels through space and time. Light also travels in waves and needs a body to reflect. Light and body, moving together through space and time, continuously create a choreography of visual frequencies. In Matters of Rhythm, Rita Mazza explores this composition of visual sound, driven by the rhythms of sign language.Together with lighting artist Hanna Kritten Tangsoo, Mazza develops movement and light choreographies that focus on the relationship between the performer’s body and light as a source of movement. Inspired by Henri Lefebvre’s essay collection Rhythmanalysis and the work of visual artist Christine Sun Kim, Mazza and Kritten Tangsoo examine how the dichotomies between nature and capitalism, between circular and linear rhythms, shape our movements. They explore how light and movement merge, communicate, interact, and build a relationship – creating music for the eyes. Every sound becomes a movement. And movements – organized in various shapes, patterns, and tempos – become music.

Choreography + Performance: Rita Mazza | Light Choreography: Hanna Kritten Tangsoo | Stage + Costume Design: Yi-Ju Chou | Dramaturgy + Access Consultant: Noa Winter | Movement Quality and choreographic Consulting: Gabriel Galindez Cruz | Press + Communication: Gina Jeske | Audio Description, Tactile Tour: Johanna Krins + Gina Jeske | Photography: Mayra Wallraff | Film Recording + Editing: Laura Gönczy | Production Managment: Sophia Barthelmes | Audism Workshop, Deaf Culture Awareness: Xenia Dürr | DGS/English/German Translation for Internal Team Work: Stella Papantonatos, Alma Arnoul, Florian Koehler, Nora Maletzki

A production by Rita Mazza, funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe as part of the Individual Project Funding program.
Photography: Mayra Wallraff