Diego Antonio Mar¨ªn Bucio

• Marin-Bucio, Diego; Danielsen, Anne; Doumbia, Noumouke & Polak, Rainer (2026). Memory in performance: kinesthetic and procedural dimensions of skill acquisition in dance improvisation. Frontiers in Psychology. 17. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1751590. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Improvisation is central to creative behavior across artistic and everyday domains, yet it is often portrayed as either pure freedom or rule-bound execution. While research in music and dance has shown that improvisation draws on structured kinesthetic vocabularies, less is known about how cultural rhythm and embodied memory interact in real time within and across genres. This study addresses that gap through ethnographic fieldwork in West Africa, where the first author, trained in contemporary dance, engaged in learning and performing Malian djembe dance. Drawing on autoethnography with a phenomenological orientation, alongside participant observation and conversations with Malian drummers and dancers, the analysis examines how kinesthetic and procedural memories inform real-time performance. Findings suggest that improvisation operates through culturally specific ways of sensing and attending to movement: dancers navigate genre-specific repertoire, rhythmic cues, and bodily affordances to evoke and transform embodied material. However, rather than merely reproducing fixed repertorial units , dancers also reconfigure embodied resources such as movement qualities in responsive and inventive ways. Our research supports the view of improvisation as structured play rather than unbound invention and advances the discourse by emphasizing the reconstructive play of embodied recall¡ªhow cultural and personal memories are recomposed in performance. Overall, the study contributes to understanding improvisation as a cognitive and cultural process: not the free invention of form but the creative reorganization of embodied memories within shared perceptual and rhythmic systems.

• Marin-Bucio, Diego (2025). Dancing Embryo: Enacting Dance Experience Through Human-AI Kinematic Collaboration. Documenta: tijdschrift voor theater. ISSN 0771-8640. 42(1), p. 247¨C277. doi: 10.21825/documenta.93276. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper explores the intersection of dance, human experience, and artificial intelligence (AI), focusing on how AI can engage in dance-like movements through kinematic co-creation with human performers. The study challenges traditional notions of dance, which are typically centered on human physicality and expressivity, by demonstrating how AI-generated movements can evoke meaningful dance experiences. The project, Dancing Embryo, is a collaboration between a dancer-choreographer and a computational scientist to create an interactive AI capable of generating and transforming dance movements. The AI dancer, designed using motion data from contemporary dancers, participates in real-time performances by synchronizing features of its movements with a human dancer. This work expands the definition of dance to include non-human agents and emphasizes co-creativity between humans and machines. The paper discusses the technological, philosophical, and artistic implications of AI dance, proposing that the experience of dance can be perceived and completed through human interpretation, even when performed by a machine.

• Bucio, Diego Antonio Marin (2024). Consciencia intuitiva en la construcci¨®n de experiencias kinest¨¦sicas: un an¨¢lisis estructural y fenomenol¨®gico de la creaci¨®n danc¨ªstica. Corpo Graf¨ªas Estudios cr¨ªticos de y desde los cuerpos. ISSN 2390-0288. 11(11), p. 92¨C103. doi: 10.14483/25909398.19823. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  El cuerpo atraviesa diferentes estados durante la creaci¨®n de danza colectiva, su comunicaci¨®n con otros cuerpos (al igual que la conexi¨®n con el suyo propio) abarca una compleja interacci¨®n que, adem¨¢s, sigue sensaciones imaginativas sugeridas por el core¨®grafo. Este art¨ªculo expone, a trav¨¦s del an¨¢lisis estructural de una pieza coreogr¨¢fica, los momentos de identificaci¨®n kinest¨¦sica ocurridos en y entre los bailarines durante su creaci¨®n. El an¨¢lisis sigue la metodolog¨ªa de Spiegelberg para el an¨¢lisis fenomenol¨®gico y la metodolog¨ªa de Anca Giurcesco para an¨¢lisis estructural danc¨ªstico, con el objetivo de comprender c¨®mo la relaci¨®n entre las ideas del core¨®grafo toman forma en y a trav¨¦s de los cuerpos de los bailarines. El texto define conceptos como las ¡®formas de congruencia¡¯, desencadena preguntas sobre la consciencia interoceptiva durante la b¨²squeda de congruencia entre respiraci¨®n y movimiento colectivo, y muestra la coherencia entre la propuesta po¨¦tica del core¨®grafo y su interrelaci¨®n f¨ªsica objetiva.

• Wallace, Benedikte; Otterdijk, Marieke van; Zhang, Yuchong; Rajabi, Nona; Marin-Bucio, Diego & Kragic, Danica [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2024). Imitation or Innovation? Translating Features of Expressive Motion from Humans to Robots, HAI '24: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction. Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). ISSN 9798400711787. p. 296¨C304. doi: 10.1145/3687272.3688302. Full text in Research Archive
• Bucio, Diego Antonio Mar¨ªn (2023). Danza y co-creatividad kinest¨¦sica Humano-IA. MAGOTZI Bolet¨ªn Cient¨ªfico de Artes del IA. ISSN 2007-4921. 11(23), p. 1¨C5. doi: 10.29057/ia.v11i22.10684. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  La interaccio?n humano-maquina en la danza no es un feno?meno nuevo, sin embargo, la evolucio?n de la Inteligencia Artificial (IA) en los u?ltimos an?os permite nuevos escenarios donde se plantean novedosos me?todos de colaboracio?n creativa entre la inteligencia humana y la artificial. Desde un enfoque interdisciplinario, este arti?culo provee un ana?lisis de distintos softwares para la creacio?n coreogra?fica y sintetiza los hallazgos provenientes de la colaboracio?n creativa entre el autor y un bailari?nde IA, los cuales fueron presentados en el Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence en la Universidad de Cambridge (Reino Unido). El autor concluye que para co-crear danza con una IA no basta con utilizarla, sino que es fundamental propiciar una experiencia donde el humano y la maquina puedan exponerse a una influencia mutua que no se limite al razonamiento lo?gico, sino que se base en la intuicio?n kineste?sica.

• Bucio, Diego Antonio Mar¨ªn (2021). Dance creative processes during the Covid-19 pandemic. File 1: social distance in the studio. Academia Letters. ISSN 2771-9359. 1(1). doi: 10.20935/AL3664. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The article documents and analyzes how the community of dance experienced COVID-19 Pandemic in some different cities and contexts. In this file, the analysis focuses on the physical contact during rehearsals and dance lessons with three different cases around France, as well as reflections about the socio-cultural conditions of the dance community and the future of dance on the screens.

View all works in NVA

• Marin-Bucio, Diego (2024). Encarnando lo artificial: danza y co-creatividad humano-IA. Universidad Latina de Am¨¦rica. ISBN 9786077030263. 170 p. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  "Encarnando lo artificial" ["Embodying the artificial"] examines how dance changes when humans create with AI, asking whether AI can truly dance, co-create, or only act as a tool. Drawing on theory, history, fieldwork, and the author¡¯s own artistic practice, the book proposes a framework for distinguishing forms of human¨Cmachine interaction in dance and introduces the Machinic Movement Matrix as a way to analyze agency, communication, and collaboration. It argues that genuine human¨CAI co-creation depends on reciprocal, embodied communication rather than simple automation. The book also addresses the aesthetic, ontological, and ethical stakes of posthuman dance in an era of generative AI.

• Marin-Bucio, Diego (2024). Hacia una danza posthumana: encarnando lo artificial. Paso de Gato. ISBN 9786078584727. 143 p. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Hacia una danza posthumana ["Towards a posthuman dance"] questions the boundaries of artistic creation by testing the experience of dancing in an artificial intelligence (AI) entity. This synthesised edition of "Encarnando lo artificial" presents recent experiences of dance creation with machines and introduces concepts and terminology for understanding human-AI interaction in the performing arts. The author also presents a synthesis of the reflections arising from his collaboration with an AI dancer. The author expresses a perspective far removed from anthropocentric premises in order to break with the conventional understanding of dance, challenging concepts such as the body and creativity. He also reflects on the ethics of its application in the performing arts and its impact on the cultural industries.

View all works in NVA

• Marin-Bucio, Diego (2025). The Origins of Intelligence ¨C A performative statement on the primacy of movement. doi: https:/diegomarin.art/portfolio/the-origins-of-intelligence/. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This choreographic performance interrogates the foundations of consciousness and the role of the body in the emergence of intelligence. The work traces the tension between biological evolution and artificial cognition, asking whether intelligence can exist without movement¡ªor thought without sensation. Guided by enactivist perspectives, the piece unfolds between the microscopic pulse of organic life and the glitch aesthetics of computational environments. Through this interplay, human physicality meets digital motion, composing a rhythmic architecture between the living and the synthetic.

• Marin-Bucio, Diego (2025). Machinic Movement Matrix: A framework and tool for human-AI dance-creation. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The Machinic Movement Matrix (MMM) is a conceptual framework for analyzing and designing human¨Cmachine creative interaction in dance. Developed through practice-led research combining dance anthropology, posthumanist theory, and AI design, the MMM offers a structured method for identifying how artificial systems participate in¡ªor fall short of¡ªgenuine creative collaboration. Rather than focusing on the aesthetic outcomes of human¨Cmachine interaction, the MMM examines the underlying creative roles, levels of interactivity, and power dynamics that shape these processes.

• Marin-Bucio, Diego (2025). Matriz de Movimiento Maqu¨ªnico (MMM): Una herramienta conceptual sobre la creaci¨®n de danza humano-m¨¢quina. doi: https:/masters.filescat.uab.cat/muet/classe-magistral-amb-diego-marin-bucio/. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This lecture introduces a conceptual framework for mapping the ontological roles of technology in choreographic creation. Drawing on case studies of AI-integrated works, it examines human¨Cmachine interaction and the redistribution of agency across dancers, choreographers, and computational systems. The resulting framework offers a practical tool for distinguishing when AI functions as an instrument and when it participates as an active co-creator in dance.

• Marin-Bucio, Diego (2025). Co-creation of rhythm in Djembe Music-Dance. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This talk examines the intricate and reciprocal relationship between music and dance in the context of Djembe rhythms. At the heart of these celebrations lies a unique interplay where rhythm serves as both a foundation and a catalyst for collective expression. Alongside Djembe playing, dancers and musicians engage in a dynamic process of mutual influence, creating a multimodal dialogue that evolves in real time. The discussion explored how rhythm emerges, not as a static entity, but as a shared negotiation where movement and sound coalesce to generate meaning and aesthetic congruence. Central to this process is the interplay between music and dance through structured improvisational elements, which provide a double-encoded catalyst that works as a framework and as a creative stimulus. Through video recordings and a comparative analysis of Djembe music and dance structures, I illustrate how this rhythmic catalyst takes shape through elastic sound and movement phrases that influence the decision-making of both, dancers and musicians. This study reveals that Djembe's rhythms transcend unimodal agency to become a collective/multimodal phenomenon. The insights gained underscore the transformative power of rhythm in co-creative processes, offering remarkable perspectives on performance, dialogue, and the interplay between sound and movement.

• Marin-Bucio, Diego (2025). Matriz de Movimiento Maqu¨ªnico (MMM). Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This lecture introduces a conceptual framework for mapping the ontological roles of technology in choreographic creation. Drawing on case studies of AI-integrated works, it examines human¨Cmachine interaction and the redistribution of agency across dancers, choreographers, and computational systems. The resulting framework offers a practical tool for distinguishing when AI functions as an instrument and when it participates as an active co-creator in dance.

• Bucio, Diego Antonio Marin (2024). Dancing Embryo: Danza y co-creatividad humano-IA. Full text in Research Archive
• Bucio, Diego Antonio Marin (2024). Dance in the unequal world of High Tech. Full text in Research Archive
• Bucio, Diego Antonio Marin (2024). Embodying the artificial: a multimodal human-machine performance. Full text in Research Archive
• Bucio, Diego Antonio Marin (2024). ?Puede una IA bailar? Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Las reflexiones y resultados que se presentan en este art¨ªculo tienen su origen en la experiencia de dise?ar un bailar¨ªn de inteligencia artificial y la posterior cocreaci¨®n de danza humano-IA en el proyecto ?Dancing Embryo? (Marin, Wallace y 6A9). La investigaci¨®n gira en torno a tres etnograf¨ªas que captan el proceso de colaboraci¨®n entre humanos y m¨¢quinas para crear e interpretar danza. Esta investigaci¨®n trasciende la mera innovaci¨®n tecnol¨®gica para convertirse en una profunda indagaci¨®n filos¨®fica, que cuestiona la naturaleza y los l¨ªmites del arte de la danza.

• Bucio, Diego Antonio Mar¨ªn & Polak, Rainer (2024). Exploring motion capture systems in dance research: a case study of djembe dance from West Africa. Full text in Research Archive
• Marin-Bucio, Diego (2024). Aproximaciones a la inteligencia artificial en la creaci¨®n de danza: la IA como herramienta, t¨ªtere o colaborador. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This presentation reported the research outcomes of incorporating generative AI in the creation of concert dance, evaluating its role as a tool, puppet, or collaborator. Employing an interdisciplinary theoretical framework encompassing 4E cognition, phenomenology of perception, Actor-network theory and Entrainment theory, human-AI interactions are examined. Ethnographic methodologies and phenomenological analysis reveal power dynamics and modes of creative interrelation in dance creation with AI and other technologies. The results present a taxonomy and conceptual model, highlighting how AI can transcend from a mere creative catalyst to an active agent in producing aesthetic works. This structured approach facilitates the understanding, differentiation and application of emerging technologies in dance, proposing new paradigms for human-machine creative collaboration.

• Bucio, Diego Antonio Mar¨ªn (2023). Curiosity, culture, career and community. [Journal]. London, England. Full text in Research Archive
• Bucio, Diego Antonio Mar¨ªn (2022). Human-AI dance: hybrid co-creativity in the posthuman era. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The talk challenges previous approaches to creative collaboration between humans and artificial intelligence, questioning whether we are only using AI to enhance our own creativity rather than a collaboration between two creative agents. In addition, the author argued for the development of more body-interactive AI systems, as he alerts us to the potential decline of bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. His point was accompanied by a proposal presented together with Benedikte Wallace, where Diego Mar¨ªn and an interactive AI created and performed dance in real-time.

• Bucio, Diego Antonio Mar¨ªn (2022). Dancing Embryo. Full text in Research Archive

View all works in NVA