Cat Jimenez work

// solo dance performance

+ concept + artistic direction + performance

Grief as a strange, constantly shifting terrain: Cat Jimenez’ dance solo ruins of a shell traces the moment of reorientation after impact. What happens when the shock subsides and only traces remain? Here, between longing and irony, shells become objects of remembrance and migration – suspended between what hurts and what allows us to keep going.

In Cat Jimenez’ solo performance ruins of a shell, grief unfolds as an inner movement. In this biographically inspired work, the dancer/choreographer follows those uncanny processes through which sensations reorganize themselves – what trembles and crumbles, what endures, and what slowly returns. Movement and atmosphere emerge from paradoxical tensions and shifting states of bittersweet irony; they condense and disperse, pulling the body into ever-new currents. The titular shell becomes a keyhole into Jimenez’ childhood – to winters spent selling Philippine goods at Vienna’s Christmas markets and carrying their scents back home. No longer associated with the sea, but with labor, longing, and cultural distance, the shell functions as a hand-wrapped souvenir of mixed emotions.

Sincerity and irony sit side by side in ruins of a shell – when grief shifts shape once again, the moment you think you’ve got it all figured out. The intertwining of biography with fleeting references to pop and subcultures, set in quiet defiance of established cultural practices, reveals a subtle contradiction: Life is rarely just one thing; rather, it is a continuous, collective reorientation within the spectrum of what hurts – and what allows us to go on.

Artistic direction, concept & performance Cat Jimenez  Musical direction & composition Martin Mitterstieler  Set design Christiane Peschek  Costume design & styling Katharina Reuschel  Lighting design Sveta Schwin  Dramaturgy Imani Rameses, Philipp Riéra, Darun Dhamija  Press & PR Tania Fuchs  Artistic collaboration stage and production Shan Kim  Production management Magdalena Stolhofer, Nina Samadi/dieKulturtanten

A co-production by Kulturverein Amygdala Wien/Cat Jimenez and imagetanz 2026/brut Wien Funded by the City of Vienna’s Department of Cultural Affairs (MA7), Austrian Federal Ministry of Housing, Art, Culture, Media and Sport (BMWKMS) and SKE With the kind support of Raw Matters and Bears in the Park Thanks to Aaron Josi Sternbauer, Alexandra Filippidou / Alex Waves and Rexx as well as Kristine Stefanovsky / Tate Agency. 

// publication

+ writing

Cat Jimenez was invited to contribute a personal essay to Roots & Wings. The Unspoken Core reflects on artistic process, grief, and the inner negotiations of making work.

Moving between personal experience and broader social contexts, the text explores themes of migration, loss, and the often unspoken emotional layers embedded within them.

// showing

+ performance + research + artistic direction

Photo: Barbara Mair

magic thing is an ongoing exploration of the layered experiences of grief, a presence woven into different stages of life and magnified by recent years, seeking to create a shared space for both individual and collective mourning.

In this current stage, drawing upon images of the “glowing body” of burnt material and the transient nature of smoke—both visible and dissolving—the work experiments with movement to capture grief’s elusive transformation, reimagining it not as a burden but as a magical void created by loss: a fleeting dance that lives on in the aether.

Cat Jimenez explores introspection and fluidity through movement, drawing on over a decade of experience in battles, performance, and artistic collaborations.

// Leon Bernhofer

+ choreography + performance

Idea/Direction: Leon Bernhofer Dance/Performance: Cat Jimenez Text/Dramaturgy: Ana Grilc Sound: Johannes Wagner Set Design/Sculpture: Helmut Machhammer

Costume: Christina Seewald Lighting Design: Robert Herbe

// Katrin Hornek in collaboration with Karin Pauer performance

+ choreography + performance

testing grounds

a performance as part of the exhibition testing grounds by Katrin Hornek

In a collaborative process, Karin Pauer is developing a performance for the immersive installation testing grounds by visual artist Katrin Hornek. Together with the performers Martina De Dominicis, Cat Jimenez, and Mani Obeya, a sensitive, urgent topic will be negotiated: Starting with a local soil sample that showed radioactivity, testing grounds follows the permanent traces that hundreds of above-ground nuclear weapons tests have left in our bodies, plants and waters since 1945.

Twice a week, the three performers execute a score choreographed by Pauer. The score enters into a subtle, intimate dialogue with the spatial setting, with voice messages in collaboration with Sabina Holzer and soundscapes by Zosia Hołubowska. Based on atomic impulses, the performers use their thinking bodies to delve into the depths of physical memory and the unspeakable.

Concept, artistic direction installation Katrin Hornek  Concept, artistic direction performance Karin Pauer  Choreography, performance Martina De Dominicis, Cat Jimenez, Mani Obeya, Karin Pauer Sound Zosia Hołubowska  Text Sabina Holzer, Katrin Hornek  Voices Alex Zehetbauer, Martina De Dominicis, Sabina Holzer, Karin Pauer, Arthur Trembanis  Costume Karin Pauer Exhibition curation Jeanette Pacher  Production management performance mollusca productions  Technical direction Hans Weinberger  Technical realisation Messengers Klemens Waldhuber  Programming Messengers Franz Gasser  Scenographic consulting, production Hektor Peljak (Studio Peljak)  Consulting Julia Hohenwarter, Anne Faucheret, Michael Wagreich  Artistic assistance installation Ivana Lasić  Exhibition sponsor AK Vienna  With thanks to Kunstverein Archipelago / Der Betrieb

Co-produced by Secession with Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF). In collaboration with Tanzquartier Wien

// performance in collaboration with Patrizia Ruthensteiner

+ choreography + performance

Chimeric (Composite being; organism that has genetically different components) Chimes (Windchime; melodious ringing sound) Rocaille (Shell-shaped ornament; german: Muschelwerk)

Chimeric Chimes I – Rocaille’ is an electro-acoustic music performance based on a chime that can be worn as a sculptural extension of the body and set in motion by the dancer. Thus the instrument can be played through her movements. The chime is composed from various materials. Shells, glass, aluminium and the dancers body form a transformation cycle of organic and inorganic materiality, narrating the emergence and decay of temporary forms. Noise meets concrete tones. The composition is based on two independent, coordinated tonal sequences deriving from each side of the sculpture. Through the spatial distribution and interplay of acoustic and electronically amplified sounds they become a sculptural medium. The choreographic composition and improvisation with this wearable instrument unfolds its musical potential during the performance.

‘Rocaille’ draws inspiration from the European stilistic period ‘Rococo’. The interchange between art and nature and the interest in the exotic was at the core of this period. Nature and organic forms were coalesced with various other shapes asymetrically in volutes and ornaments. The materials and aesthetics chosen for the piece ‘Rocaille’ are reflectant upon Cat’s intercultural background. The sculpture is based on a pentatonic composition, that unites the stilistic musical approach of lightness and the asymmetry of the Rococo.

‘Chimeric Chimes’ is a transdisciplinary project based on a collection of wearable chimes that are set in motion by the movement impulses of dancers. The instruments are assemblages of processed natural and industrial materials and therefore exhibit different acoustic properties.

Chimes have been utilized in various cultures since thousands of years. They were hung in gardens, courtyards and similar transition spaces, played by the wind movements. Wind chimes are an important element of Feng Shui, an ancient Chinese Taoistic concept linking the destiny of man to his environment. The Taoistic perception of nature is based on the idea that the land which surrounds us is alive, aiming to live in balance with these energies and in accord with the flow of nature.

The emergence of modern natural sciences came along with the separation of psyche and matter, human and non-human beings, living and dead, culture and nature, as well as resultant concepts of the ‘domination of nature’. In this project these concepts are aimed to be reconsidered and transformed. ‘Chimeric Chimes’ undertakes artistic attempts to imagine and explore alternative, yet unknown relations of man and nature, culture and technology.

‘Domination of nature’ describes the attempt to control, manipulate and design non-human beings, things as well as the human inner nature. In the modern world this is associated with the idea of progress, while the encroachment of the natural realm is resulting in the decrease of ecological diversity and progressive endangerment of natural resources that are crucial for human and non-human beings. Instead of the imagined emancipation from nature, it is our relationship with nature that would have to be transformed.

Funded by BMKÖS, MA7, Bildrecht (SKE-Fonds) and district 1150

13.10.2023 – ‘Chimeric Chimes I – Rocaille’ with Cat Jimenez (Performance, choreography)Patrizia Ruthensteiner (Concept, composition, instruments, choreography)

21:30 – Concert at‘Shut up and listen!‘ Transdisciplinary Festival for Music and Sound Art | Echoraum, Sechshauser Straße 66, 1150 Vienna. The instrument will be part of the exhibition throughout the festival days (12.-14.10.).

photographs by Patrizia Ruthensteiner

// publication

+ writing

Cat Jimenez was invited to write a text for the music issue of the perilla zine. "the current" is the first text by Cat Jimenez to be officially published and it is about music, current and seaweed.

PERILLA is an association for the promotion and visibility of the asian diaspora in Austria.

// collaboration by Daniel Kohlmeigner, Cat Jimenez, Martin Retschitzegger, Ableton, IOT and Ars Electronica Linz

+ concept + dance & performance + dramaturgy

un ctrl a tilt into chaos 

An invisible diagram is laid like a soft cloth over a room which allows three artists to play and interact live with each other: Daniel a musician, Cat a dancer, and Martin a visual artist. From play to jam to competition for control - and suddenly to surrender to algorithms, a tilt into arbitrariness and an acceleration of chances. A state of un ctrl? What comes next? Do we see the threshold? And can we resist the urge to hold on?

New tools are giving artists more and more ways to control and direct artistic output - but does more control really contribute to expanded artistic expression? And how do we organize the flow of unforeseen coincidences into a grid of rules? Where does the subliminal desire for control come from?

un ctrl allows music, body and space to interact in a live improvisation, playing with hierarchies through collaborative devices (SOMI-1) provided by Instruments Of Things and Ableton. An inner experience that begins with one person recalibrating their inner perception and transitions into a collective experience of a pulsating club in the Deep Space, while questioning deep-seated desires of our society.

a collaboration by

Daniel Kohlmeigner: reactive music & sound design         Cat Jimenez: dance & choreography Martin Retschitzegger m box studios berlin: generative visuals

Ableton x Instruments Of Things x Ars Electronica

// own work dance performance

+ art direction, concept, choreography + dance & performance

losing face by Cat Jimenez in collaboration with Imani Rameses, Sebastian Youngung Kim, Miranda Rumerstorfer

losing face takes a deep dive into the convoluted interweavings of the colonial mindset. Compliance is but a small price to pay for an illusion of a quiet existence, but when does existence become submission?

Four non-white performers from a variety of movement backgrounds negotiate their place in a predominantly white country - a supposed harmony. Yet, the living portrayal of harmony invites more dissonance making the lullaby of indifference an enchanting tune. Are the performers able to unlearn and untangle oneself from being made to feel less? The more one tries to save face one loses it even more.

losing face dances through contradictions of colored truths, negotiating the rhythms of an undeniable urgency.

Credits:

Art direction, concept, choreography / Cat Jimenez Co-conception Co-conception, artistic collaboration / Imani Rameses Co-choreography, performance / MirandaRumerstorfer, Youngung Sebastian Kim, Imani Rameses, Cat Jimenez Dramaturgy, Coaching / Philippe Riéra Musical direction, composition / Martin Mitterstieler Lighting design / Veronika Mayerböck Styling / Magdalena Neuburger Outside eye / Jaskaran Singh Anand Head of production, outside eye / Franziska Zaida Schrammel

A co-production by KV Amygdala Wien and imagetanz/brut Wien

With the kind support of the City of Vienna’s Department of Cultural Affairs, the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Civil Service and Sport and Sport and Bildrecht (SKE Fonds).

Supported by SZENE Salzburg, Breakin’ Convention London, Bears in the Park and Tanz Company Gervasi (Raum 33).

Special thanks to Body Consulting / Sebastian Baumann, Physiotherapy / Sophia Kahlhammer, Text contribution / Gerard Rabara and Allround support / Michaela Altweger.

definitions

Colonial mindset A condition in which an oppressed individual or group comes to believe that they are inferior to those in power or who are part of the dominant group. Colonial mindset is a form of internalized oppression.

Internalized oppression, or internalized colonialism, is a concept in which an oppressed group uses the methods of the oppressor against itself. It occurs when one group perceives an inequality of value relative to another group, and desires to be like the more highly-valued group.

Lateral oppression, or lateral violence, is displaced violence directed against one’s peers rather than adversaries.

examples

- as BIPoC in a predominantly white country voting for the right wing party - the promotion of whitening cream as being “clean” within black and/or brown communities - the belief of the own culture as being vulgar and/or ignorant in pre-colonial times - agreeing to physical/verbal violence directed to one's own community - and many more….

// own work opening act for KUBO festival, followed by an artist talk

+ creation + performance

SHAPES explores the ability to transform like an octopus, coping mechanisms in society, and culminates in a gentle negotiation with angry ancestors.

The performance was followed by a talk about the artistic process, the octopus and the Filipinx diaspora identity

“a seeking body / SHAPES" reflects on the immense ability to adapt to different environments, allowing for a toolbox to change language, behavior, supposed values, social positions, and much more. But it's also about sensing the environment itself - like sensing the temperature in water. And when does this coping become a way of existing?

“a seeking body" is an ongoing research by Cat Jimenez that questions the view on the colonized Filipina/Filipinx body.

"a seeking body / SHAPES" takes inspiration from the octopus - a wondrous creature with cognition distributed throughout its whole body. Its ability to instantly perceive and understand its surroundings and finally immerse itself in them through the intelligent use of its body is the starting point of "SHAPES" in the context of the investigation of "a seeking body".

Performance + Creation: Cat Jimenez Song: Rival Consoles - Recovery

// Go Plastic Company site-specific performance

+ performance + artistic research

The third and final part of the project "Asphaltwelten" of the go plastic company deals with the themes of "shelter & life on the street". This last part works on the artistic thesis of a utopia: a group that renounces stability and security: a life without walls, without insurance, without rootedness. Being at home in the body, not in buildings. Independent of origin, orientation and opinion. A throwing together of biographies on public but "neutral" ground. How do we feel and create our own "artistic shelter"? How far does it reach; does it encompass only me or others as well? How can I carry it, support it, take it with me and (co-)share it?

Artistic Research / Performance: Douglas Bateman, Caroline Beach, Joseph Hernandez, Cat Jimenez, Christian Novopavlovski, Steph Quinci, Esther Schachenmayr, Rika Yotsumoto

Künstlerische Forschung und künstlerische Direktion: Cindy Hammer, Susan Schubert Material / Set / Kostüm: Alexandra Börner Video / Künstlerische Dokumentation: Benjamin Schindler, Hans Bauer Technische Direktion: Benjamin Henrichs Produktion / Management: Michaela Jarosch Art Work / Web: Stephan Tautz, Dominik Glöß, Lea Schweinfurth Distribution: Dirk Förster Network / Consulting: Frauke Wetzel

PARTNER* & FÖRDERER*: Eine Produktion der go plastic company in Koproduktion mit TANZPAKT Dresden und in Kooperation mit HELLERAU – Europäisches Zentrum der Künste. Unterstützt durch das NATIONALE PERFORMANCE NETZ – STEPPING OUT, gefördert von der Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien im Rahmen der Initiative NEUSTART KULTUR. Hilfsprogramm Tanz. Gefördert von der Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen. Diese Maßnahme wird mitfinanziert durch Steuermittel auf der Grundlage des von den Abgeordneten des Sächsischen Landtags beschlossenen Haushalts. Gefördert vom Amt für Kultur und Denkmalschutz Dresden.

Mit freundlicher Unterstützung von TENZA und TanzNetzDresden e.V.

// Editta Braun Company

+ dance. acting + performance + movement research

The average person today lives for 72 years - a period of time in which many things fit: Growing up, dreams, love, suffering and getting old. Individual biographies in a collective history that inevitably shapes individual lives.

Trees grow older than humans, up to several thousand years. Their life is deposited in annual rings, countable only after their death, for which man is often responsible. Where do our annual rings lie?

long life reflects the duration, events and traces of a long human life with all its experience and maturity, disillusionment and bitterness, tiredness and mildness, but also with the stubborn longing for a better world. The 74-year-old actress, dancer and founder of the Toihaus Theatre Salzburg Myrtó Dimitriádou once more gets back to stage in this journey of memory through a long life. She is joined by Cat Jimenez as a carefree and life-hungry young woman. Her strength and grace make her a bearer of hope and an extended arm into the future for a long life that is coming to an end.

Designed long before the outbreak of the corona virus, the project is clearly marked by the conditions of the lockdown, which surprised the team before rehearsals began. Even before the two protagonists met in person for the first time, they met online and rehearsed with director and choreographer Editta Braun via ZOOM on the screen. The pandemic had a noticeable impact on aesthetics and the course course of rehearsals - as a restriction, challenge and opportunity at the same time.

long life

artistic direction, choreography, scenography, visuals: Editta Braun dance, acting, choreography: Myrtó Dimitriádou, Cat Jimenez composition, arrangement covers: Thierry Zaboitzeff

covers: "Enjoy The Silence" by Martin Gore/Depeche Mode and "Venus" by Robbie Van Leeuwen / Shocking Blue, vocals Sandrine Rohrmoser

light design: Thomas Hinterberger dramaturgy: Gerda Poschmann-Reichenau texts: e b c  & Josef Wittmann photography: Bettina Frenzel technical assistence: Benedikt Gassner management: Antje Papke

inspired by Peter Wohlleben: Das geheime Leben der Bäume, München 2019 and Richard Powers: The Overstory, New York 2018 Photos by Bettina Fernzl

// Potpourri Company

+ dance & performance + movement research

Pulsating sounds, ecstatically dancing bodies, a sense of freedom. In their dance performance 4 A.M., the two choreographers Olivia Mitterhuemer and Farah Deen invite participants to delve into the spheres of house culture.

Far from hackneyed drug and alcohol clichés, several layers of house dance are choreographically investigated in this homage to club culture. Following the inclusive and non-judgmental character of house culture, the repetitive, upbeat quality of the music serves as the central anchor for the four performers’ physical experience. Inspired by their long-lasting occupation with the house scene in Europe, they bring different human relationships to the stage, all within a spectrum between self-doubt, distancing, intimacy, and ecstasy. 4 A.M. celebrates the “club” as a safe place where social conventions stop being of relevance, thus allowing us to settle in a non-judgemental space of danced transcendence and collective freedom.

Conception and choreography Farah Deen & Olivia Mitterhuemer Dance Farah Deen, Cat Jimenez, Olivia Mitterhuemer, Tina Rauter Dramaturgy Philippe Riera Music edit TJ Hicks Light design Stefan Ebner Costume and set design Magdalena Neuburger Production Verena Pircher

A co-production by Tanzcompany Potpourri and imagetanz/brut Wien. Supported by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Civil Service and Sport, the City of Vienna’s Department of Cultural Affairs, the City of Salzburg’s and the Province of Salzburg’s Departments of Cultural Affairs, Bildrecht. With the kind support of ARGEkultur Salzburg and SZENE Salzburg.

// Editta Braun Company

+ dance & performance + movement research

A doll-like silhouette, a strongly veiled modern Olympia: what lives in the core of this strange figure, under the cocoon of layers that simultaneously protect and hold it captive? Me, who is that? Who could, should, do I want to be? Do what?"

Choreo, Direction, Visuals: Editta Braun Dance, Performance: Cat Jimenez Dance Alter Ego: Pascale Staudenbauer Movement Research: Cat Jimenez, Pascale Staudenbauer, Martyna Lorenc, Nella Turkki. Music, Composition: Thierry Zaibotzeff   Photos: Bettina Frenzel, Efren Montoya, Editta Braun

// n ï m company / Naïma Mazic contemporary dance piece

+ dance

INFECTIOUS is a contagious and pulsating space for conversation: the rhythmic language of the sextet of jazz musicians, house and contemporary dancers operates like a secret system that can be decrypted by visitors and listeners.

-

full credits:

Concept & Choreography: Naïma Mazic Dancers: Margaux Marielle-Tréhoüart, Cat Paz Jimenez & Franklyn Kakyire Choreographic Assistance: Margaux Marielle-Tréhoüart Musical Director: Haggai Cohen-Milo Music & Composition: Haggai Cohen-Milo & Mateo Lugo Musicians: Haggai Cohen-Milo (bass), Mateo Lugo (guitar) & Mareike Wiening (drums) Stage/Costumes: Anton von Bredow, Assistance by Lili Avar

Mentoring: Anne Kersting, Matthias Quabbe, Alain Franco & Robyn Schulkowsky Outside Eye / Inside Ear: Anaïs Mazic, Keren Kraizer and Vincent Jonsson

produced by: K3 Tanzplan Hamburg & n ï m company /more2rhythm supported by: BKA Austria, ÖKF Berlin, Hamburgische Kulturstiftung

// collaboration by Cat Jimenez & Maiko Sakurai Karner performance arts

+ concept + performance + choreography + objects

“I am a banana: yellow on the outside and white on the inside.” (Anonymous)

​'What's the difference?' is a hybrid format between exhibition and dance, told from the perspective of Asians raised in Austria. In this open space, Cat Jimenez and Maiko Sakurai Karner explore their personal Eurasian dualism.

The misunderstanding evoked by the terms “submissiveness” and “respect” and the discrepancy between individual and collective perception are only two examples of inter-cultural misinterpretation. This conflict – the reality experienced by Asians in the west, little recognised by the public – marks the basis of this multi-disciplinary medley.

As Cat Jimenez and Maiko Sakurai Karner guide the audience on a journey through their artistic works of the past, the present and the future, they will encounter bipolar tendencies, cultural hierarchies and everyday racism.

_______

Concept, performance, choreography, objects: Cat Jimenez, Maiko Sakurai Karner Dramaturgic support: Philippe Riera Sound design, music:  Martin Mitterstieler Technical direction Julian Vogel Production management Sophie Schmeiser, Eva Holzinger Costume lila - Lisi Lang   Coaching tobias M.Draeger Physical coaching Daniecell Karner

Video: Kidizin Sane Photography: Ina Aydogan

A co-production by Cat Jimenez & Maiko Sakurai Karner and imagetanz/brut Wien.

With the kind support of the City of Vienna’s Department of Cultural Affairs, the Austrian Federal Chancellor’s Office and the Vienna Dance Festival’s residency programme and Empire Dance Studio

Special thanks to Elio Gervasi / Raum 33, Im_flieger, Edgar Aichinger and Yasamin Nikseresht

_______

Premiere:​

in the frame of imagetanz 2019 / brut Wien 12. - 14. Jan 2019 | 20.00h brut im Atelier Augarten - Raum 2

// Lea Santee - Wine musicvideo

+ dance

Directed by Rupert Höller Cinematographer - Matthias Helldoppler

Dancers: Farah Deen Cat Jimenez Esther Luftensteiner Olivia Mitterhuemer Choreography by: Farah Deen Olivia Mitterhuemer

Steadicam Operator: Stefan Olivier Gaffer: Erich Puchner Best Boy: Matthias Groß 1st Assistant Camera: Emanuel Köll 2nd Assistant Camera: Simone Hart Editor: Rupert Höller Color Grading: Matthias Helldoppler

Unit Manager: Constanze Oedl Production Assistants: Valentin Geiseder, Julia Landgraf