Beginning in September 2025, the residency will be carried out in partnership between A MATHA and the Center for Training in Human and Social Sciences at the Federal University of Southern Bahia (CFCHS/UFSB), welcoming Esteban to develop his doctoral research in dialogue with the territory of Arraial d’Ajuda.

Esteban is a PhD candidate in Humanistic Studies in Mexico. His research focuses on understanding experiences of interpersonal connection in contact improvisation dance, through the tools of micro-phenomenology and cognitive semiotics. In recent years, he has integrated into his investigation elements of MAP (Multidimensional Approach to Presence), developed by Mila Mogui, as an approach that unites somatic practices, sensitive listening, and presence.

During the residency, Esteban will deepen two main lines of investigation. The first is the use of MAP in the field, accompanying its application in the project “Collective Creations of Healing and Memory with Shellfish Women of Belmonte-BA: Anthropology and Experimentation”, coordinated by professor Ana Carneiro (UFSB), in collaboration with Mila and the Shellfish Women and Fishers Association of Belmonte. In consonance with this process, he will also carry out work sessions with Mila Mogui, who will accompany the analysis of micro-phenomenological interviews he conducts on moments of connection in contact improvisation dance.
The second axis will be an immersion in forró practices, a dance deeply rooted in local culture. Esteban will attend balls and classes, creating a dialogue between forró and contact improvisation, the practice that structures his work as an artist and researcher. From these experiences, he will offer a workshop to A MATHA students, open to the local community, exploring intersections between these practices.

In this way, the residency proposes a space of interweaving between science, contemporary dance, and local culture, where the moving body and the study of presence become tools for creation, reflection, and knowledge production around experience. Throughout the process, Esteban will share his investigations in open conversations with UFSB students, A MATHA students, and the local community. The residency is conceived as a field of exchanges: between research and art, body and territory, scientific methodologies and knowledge emerging from encounter. More than a process with productive ends, this first edition is an invitation to expand knowledge and mutual transformation between resident, professionals, and community.