By JESSICA NEU

Pittsburgh native Maria Caruso is known for many things – owning the dance company Bodiography, performing her own solo shows, educating, choreographing, producing, directing, creating, mentoring, and giving. Handling boredom, however, is not at the top of her wheelhouse. Two years ago, some medical concerns forced the always-on-the-go Caruso to take 6 weeks off. Instead of bingeing multiple TV series, Caruso spent her recovery period thinking about what was on the horizon for her career and planning out the next few years of her life. “You have a moment of pause where you think what do I really want to do and how do I want to make it happen,” Maria explained. The result of this “pause” is multiple new shows across multiple mediums, living bi-coastally between LA and Pittsburgh, Bodiography’s upcoming 25th anniversary season, and much more. I had the opportunity to sit down and discuss all of Caruso’s upcoming endeavors as well as the current state of the Dance industry.  

We began by discussing her current endeavors. Bodiography is slated to present Arcadia April 17 – 19th with music by Kevin Keller and choreography by Caruso herself. After that, Caruso is venturing to Europe to premiere her newest work, Counterpoint of Chaos. “I’ve spent the past 7- or 8-years doing pieces that tell deeply personal stories about my life in my solo work,” Caruso explained. Throughout this time, Caruso’s husband, a scientist, has been experimenting with AI. “It is very much the antithesis of my world because we as artists are terrified of AI because we feel that it is going to take over our world,” Caruso explained. I have experimented with AI over the past couple of years, but I have not found it to be productive. I have tried to use it to create posters for an event or create a dance poster from an image, but I have always been left feeling frustrated with it and have never found any utility in it for my creative world. In the sciences, you research and publish a paper you want people to take that knowledge from you and build on it…Incporporating AI into the medical sciences is very inspiring, but in the arts, we don’t want anyone to take our material or take a piece of our choreography. If you choreograph a solo and someone takes it and replicates it, that is stealing someone’s intellectual property. So, in the arts it is much harder to justify that type of AI interface because AI is taking from what is already out there and building on that. AI is not creatively developing anything.” 

As a result, Caruso conceptualized Counterpoint of Chaos. A solo show in which Caruso’s dancing will depict the process of experimenting with and utilizing AI. Caruso’s excitement about the show is palpable as she described the creative process behind Counterpoint of Chaos. “I pitched the idea in London and all of a sudden, I’m opening this show, Counterpoint of Chaos at His Majesty Theater on May 31st after previewing it in Italy.  We are capturing the performance on film and showing the film in partnership with Galaxy Theaters across the United States. We will bring in schools and the students will watch a mini documentary about the arts and my life and what I have done over my career. The students will then watch Counterpoint of Chaos which is the journey of a woman interfacing with AI, the outcomes of that journey and who she becomes. The program concludes with a Q&A between me and the students. So, we are using AI as an educational component trying to touch nearly 18,000 people. We will have a conversation about integrating AI into their curriculum. I get to preview the show in Italy, premier and perform it in London and then tour with it in Brazil, but then to bring my work back to the United States will be very rewarding.”

“I recognize that this show is a risk. I realize that there are people in the arts who are doing shows about AI interface. Counterpoint of Chaos is about people who are scared to use AI and also people who overuse AI. It’s about a woman who comes into this world with rotary dials, and files and cannot enjoy her life because her work consumes her. She cannot find a balance. She does not have the technology to evolve to a point where she can get out of her regular routine and practice. She discovers this computer and AI which she decides to take a risk on, but it completely consumes her and then transforms her and then overtakes her and it becomes damaging in some ways.” Caruso also spoke with veracity and trepidation about the impact that AI has on society. “I think that’s an important thing to note. I do think that AI can be dangerous. I think that it’s an important tool and I do think that it can help in certain areas such as medicine to help develop drug discovery. But do I think that it should be creating actors as avatars and taking away the essence of the human component? I don’t. I think that is a tad bit scary.” 

Looking forward to the opening of Counterpoint of Chaos, Caruso candidly explained that some have questioned why she is premiering the show in London instead of the United States. “My husband is British. England is a second home to me, and I do feel like the art scene over there is far more experimental than in the US,” she explained. “There is a level of intellectual curiosity that is happening over there because there is so much focus on research and development and the development of the idea and the production behind it. Whereas in America, we often produce something and it either flops or succeeds and then there is really nowhere to go from there. It is more about getting funding for your end product and not for the process by which you get there. Opening in London, I hope that I do the U.S. proud and deliver a show that brings about a lot of thought and consideration around AI and the arts, AI in general and finding balance and regulation and rules about ways that we can best utilize technology and not allow it to overcome us. Also, I am still touring with Counterpoint of Chaos and bringing it the U.S., just through a different medium. I think that America is still struggling with the live arts since the pandemic. Economically, things are priced so high that sometimes seeing a performance as a family is nearly impossible. So doing the show in America through an educational film component in movie theaters, I hope to showcase or prove that ballet is still alive and relevant. I hope the film component serves our young people in a way that is different, especially since so many Arts programs have been cut in schools. I am hoping that the 16-movie theater run will move into something that is more global.”

If two shows were not enough, Caruso is moving full-speed ahead through the fall. “In August, I will be heading to Brazil. I was invited to create a new full-length ballet comprised of three men and three women, utilizing the pointe shoe. I have set three concert ballets before, but this is my first full-length ballet. After that, I head to Italy to premiere another new work called Maria Carolina, that I am developing in partnership with the ARB Dance Company. I am really excited about this because Maria Carolina was Marie Antoinette’s sister…I am doing this solo about her life, her creativity, her advocacy for the arts, and her relationship with her husband, who was the king. From there, I will return to Pittsburgh to begin Bodiography’s 25th anniversary celebration. We are bringing the Italian ARB Dance Company to Pittsburgh, and we are going to combine the Bodiography artists with the ARB dancers, perform Maria Carolina here in Pittsburgh, and then take the show on tour around the United States. 

Then we move into Bodiography’s 25th-anniversary season. The idea is that the whole show is completely curated by the alum artists. We are gathering together approximately 40 to 50 dancers who have been with the company for the past 25 years. They will be choosing any of the existing works in my collection that they want to bring back, and then they can vote as to what kind of work that I will create that is new for the company. I love that alums and current artists will create a show that celebrates what Bodiography has accomplished over the past 25 years. I’m so proud of the community that I have built and the way that Bodiography has shaped so many humans along with the way. We are a space and a place and an ideology that focuses on dance for everybody and dance for every body.”

Despite her global travels, Caruso’s heart has never left Pittsburgh. “Amongst all of this, what I have been trying to communicate publicly this whole time is that I am very much still in Pittsburgh. My heart is always in Pittsburgh, and I am still very much present. The children are my world. My dance composition students, my pedagogy students, the work that I do and how I interface with the university. That’s my passion, that’s my heart. Even though over the past couple of years since I have moved to LA and gotten into the film and TV industry, I am still in Pittsburgh roughly half of the month.”

When asked what prompted her to prioritize education, community, and youth so heavily, Caruso paused for a moment before offering a vulnerable, heartfelt response. “I have always had the desire to make the world a better place,” she stated. “Serving others was something that was learned and cultivated in my home, and I remember thinking ‘what more can I do?’ as a teen. I feel like God placed me here to do something and to do good. As a young child, God gave me something special. My call is to service, but it took a little while for me to realize that I can perform this service through education. God is truly life’s best choreographer. We all dance. Dance has been around since the beginning of time. We dance at weddings, in High School, at cultural celebrations. Dance is ingrained in our lives even if we don’t realize it and God is truly life’s best choreographer.”

“I feel called to take these risks, and I always stress the importance of risk-taking with my students. When I come up with these ideas, my brain says ‘Oh, Maria that’s insane.’ And then my heart wells up with excitement and I just have a feeling that I can’t describe, but I feel called to certain projects and to go and do crazy things. I think that’s what God put me here to do. My goal on my journey is to spread the word about the initiatives and the things that I’m doing, specifically here in the United States. I miss being a part of the dance ecosystem in my own country and the initiatives that I’m doing. I want to be changing lives for American children. I just did a scholarship tour in Georgia and will be doing another one next year and that is really important to me. That way, I can really spread the word about what all of my organizations collectively are doing – which is trying to make the world a better place by empowering our youth to step forward in their passion and to give them a platform to do so.”

Caruso is also not naïve to the struggles still plaguing the Arts in a post-pandemic world and is trying to match her calling to the historical moment. “It is such a trying time in our country. I think sometimes as I talk to other colleagues, or creators, or educators, what I hear is a level of exhaustion. There are so many companies in America that are folding because there is donor fatigue and the creators are exhausted and those problems are very, very real. I just can’t imagine a world or a country without dance and without the arts and I know that it’s very controversial now and an unprecedented time that I never thought we’d see. I hope that what I’m doing encourages people to think creatively and think outside the box in a way that allows them to continue their work and how to find the passion and the power to get through these obstacles. I do think it does require us to pivot and reimagine how we bring dance and the arts to our patrons. I’m a live arts advocate, but I feel like we are reintroducing the arts post pandemic. I hope that that’s very clear to the people around me. Whatever we have to do to get dance out there to a place where we can reach the youth from an economical and accessibility perspectives and cultivate the future of arts’ participants and donors, then so be it. I am going to be at every screening of Counterpoint of Chaos. I am still present and I am still there and I will be able to talk candidly about the live arts. The audience who just saw my work interface on a screen, but now I want you to go out and experience live performances as well.” 

Caruso also spoke about the importance of collaboration and community outreach as Bodiography is constantly “cross-pollinating” with different institutions. “We encourage consistent action and interface with others on a regular basis,” Caruso explained. “I think that having that global perspective is really important. I also want to have more opportunities that are open to the wider community, especially in Pittsburgh. I think that we need to set some time aside for togetherness, not in a competitive sense, but to celebrate what we each do. The way I look at it, I need PBT to be a success; I need the competitive dance studios and Attack Theater; I need Texture Ballet; I need Point Park to be successful, because it is about the community and the ecosystem, where nourishment needs to be within all of us. If everyone could see that, then we could build and grow an appreciation for the live arts. I think we are trying, but it has not been an easy road, but I am certainly not giving up.

In Pittsburgh, we are down to the idea of consolidation and sharing resources, which I think is smart. I have full faith that we are going to rebound; it’s just going to take some time. Everyone thought that there was going to be a Renaissance a year after the pandemic. Everything happens in a cycle, and with every cycle, you have to follow the trends of history. I think that people were ambitious in believing that the post-pandemic recovery would happen quickly. I have taken the approach, much like the organizations that are merging, that it is going to be a large, arduous journey back to where we need to be. I think you have to make smart choices, but I also know how difficult that is for leaders because you have to go backwards and, proverbially, put on the brakes. But going backwards can also be refreshing and reflective. Sometimes, when you give your students so much content, they have the content in their brains, but they cannot use it; it’s not functional. So then you have to rewind and go back and say maybe it’s not the content, but the function of the content is not there. That’s how I look at times like these – as a huge opportunity for growth. I really encourage other leaders, developers, and directors to look at this time period in the same way. Sometimes I think we as leaders feel like failures. I think that the only way you can succeed is to fail successfully. I am constantly looking for opportunities to fail, which is why I take so many risks. I see no point in growth if you don’t appreciate failure.” 

With one upcoming show, two upcoming premieres, touring both internationally and domestically, a film tour, Bodiography, a film studio, television production, upcoming theater opportunities, and even a fashion line and dabbling in wine-making, the horizon is bright for Maria Caruso. “I am trying to keep my instrument fresh and keep going,” she stated. “The longer I keep going, the more opportunities it presents for the youth and young people. We need to keep the arts alive and I very much believe that while our industry has a lot of struggles since the pandemic, we do not need to lose sight of keeping the arts alive. We just have to pivot and figure out how art can make sense in the new world that we live in. Ballet is not dying, it is being reinvented in new ways. I do think that so many of us are trying to pivot, reinvent and be relevant. If I fail, so be it. I am happy to fail as long as I am continuing to try to create relevant and accessible work for communities and especially young people.” 

Even though she is happy to fail, with a fierce calling to serve others, a relentless determination to continue her craft, and with God as her ultimate choreographer, it appears that Caruso is, in fact, destined for continued success. 

Maria Caruso’s Bodiography Presents: Arcadia at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater for three performances | April 17 – 19, 2026 | Tickets at https://kelly-strayhorn.org/events/bodiographyarcadia/

Bodiography Center for Movement Spring Concert at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater for one performanve only | June 13 – 14, 2026 | https://kelly-strayhorn.org

Categories: Arts and Ideas, Feature Stories, Festival

Tags: Bodiography Center for Movement, Maria Caruso