OUTSIDE EYE

open perspectives on embodied composition

Email maianunesstudio@gmail.com to set up a free consultation call.

 
 
 

The term Outside Eye is generally used in a live performance context to describe someone who is invited to witness a work and offer an outside perspective in a more casual form of dramaturgy. As an interdisciplinary performance artist working across and weaving together diverse fields of practice I have been crafting a unique Outside Eye practice; a holistic artistic support role that draws on my broad set of creative skillsets and resources to nurture an artist and their project through the process of development to the moment of performance. I am interesting in supporting artists and performers to get free with their creative process and to do so from a grounded and well resourced place within themselves.

My Outside Eye role is designed to be flexible and responsive to the particular nature of an artist and can offer a wide range of supports such as:


  • A deep dive into the practices and processes that underpin a performance practice.

  • Building a warmup and daily practice that will feed a project.

  • Tuning the bodily instrument - how to clear creative pathways so that the work can flow through the perfomer.

  • Developing practices that can expand personal capacity to hold and birth a new work.

  • Building a performance structure / drafting a performance score.

  • Integrating various creative disciplines into a single performance offering.

  • Tending to the transitions; strategies for crafting the in-between spaces in a performance offering.

  • Shaping the container that creative expression can flow into.

  • Postures for approaching the live moment.

  • Identifying the external support and inner resourcing needed to give the best performance.

  • The refinement process; encouraging the artist to identify and let go of aspects of the work that they may have grown attached to, but perhaps no longer serve the overall vision.

  • Tools for performer embodiment, presence, agency and freedom.


In my embodiment of Outside Eye I will endeavour to be as present and sensitive with the work as possible so as to respond in the most nourishing and supportive way. It is my prayer that through sustained presence, open awareness and a soft gaze that the outside eye can offer a renewed clarity of perspective to the artist. As Outside Eye I will engage my criticality as well as my broad base of first hand performance expertise in order to witness a performance at various stages of development and hold the vulnerability of artistry whilst offering tools and support along the way. If the artistic process is a birthing process, then my Outside Eye work is performance doula work.


In 2024 I offered Outside Eye support to a selection of programmed Dublin Fringe Festival artists who gave feedback as follows :

“Working with Maïa as an Outside Eye was an incredible experience! They were able to help me step away from the thinking mode that was my methodology for previous performance works, and allowed me into more of a feeling mindset. Through their exercises, warmups, and practices, we were able to pay more attention to what my characters feel like in the body, rather than how I perceive them. I felt 100% more connected to the work and the story, which really helped strengthen my show overall. The work that we did together will definitely stay with me and inform the rest of my practice.”

- Venus Patel for Monster, DFF 2024

"Navigating the intricate complexities of connecting with individuals who express themselves through art is no easy task. However, I was fortunate to have Maia by my side throughout this journey, helping me to cultivate a deeper connection, primarily with myself. They consistently reminded me of the importance of staying in tune with my own self, which allowed the entire creative process to unfold more seamlessly. Maia played a crucial role in unlocking a powerful energy within me, enabling me to increasingly trust my own instincts. They helped me recognize that I'm enough and I possess everything I need to convey my message on stage. At every turn, Maia reinforced my autonomy in managing my performance, suggesting that I choreograph in a way that would allow me to ground myself whenever necessary during the process. Given that I was confronting real traumas in my performance, having someone with Maia's insight was essential.When healing is intertwined with performance, it's vital to have the right person alongside you—someone who approaches the process with sensitivity and a sense of responsibility. Maia equipped me with all the essential tools to navigate my performance safely and wisely, drawing from a deep well of ancestral knowledge. I am immensely grateful for the support I received, which made me feel protected and accompanied from the beginning to the end of my journey.”

- Alessandra Azeviche for Terra, DFF 2024  

“I’ve never been too sure where to go within my practice when things become overwhelming, be it through the workload or my own personal feelings, but doing the Outside Eye programme with Maia helped me to realise where I can pull that comfort and reassurance from, both in places I had already begun to explore and in places I’d not yet gone to. Beginning this programme I was expecting a very theoretical workout, a conversation that might help me rationalise my way through my practice. I was delighted to realise how practical and physically embodied these sessions were instead, somewhere I really needed to return to within my art. The tools and techniques that Maïa showed me felt incredibly adoptable, they really had an idea of what I was trying to do and how they could best support me in this. One of my biggest takeaways from our sessions together has been the confidence to perform and trust my own voice again. It’s something I’ve struggled with over the past few years and still will, but I now have methods to overcome that. Working with Maïa in the lead up to Fringe was an experience that shaped both me and my work hugely, I now feel closer than ever to having a practice, and that’s down to the care and attention provided through this programme that Maïa has thankfully created.”

- Bill Harris for Accessor, DFF 2024