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Moravia Naranjo is a Vienna-based, Venezuelan-born choreographer, who will be performing her latest work, 'skin, voice and memories of someone else...' as part of ImPulsTanz on 5-8 August.

Tell us a little about your piece, 'skin, voice and memories of someone else...'

It is not a concert, but I will be singing all the way through [songs by Lillian Allen, Miriam Makeba, Billie Holiday and others]. The performance is about exile and displacement. I have a connection with these feelings and the songs I have chosen are connected to those ideas too. They all talk about being in a place that is hard, and say: don't stay there. They talk from the soul.

So is it autobiographical?

It is not an autobiography. I have been very welcome here [in Vienna] so I feel at home. I moved here because I fell in love with a guy so nobody pushed me, I am not suffering and I don't feel out of context. I don't have a tragic experience.

But I've lived outside Venezuela for seven years and I've realised how difficult it can be for people to live outside their own culture. And I realise that it can happen in your own country, you can be outside of the system, disappointed by the system.

It's not autobiographical, but all the work I do is very personal, and in this case it's my personal connection with these singers and these songs.

Why is music such an inspiration, and why did you decide to sing?

In my process as a dancer I knew long ago that the voice formed part of our body, and as a dancer I was always training my body but not using my voice. I was interested to see how I could work with that. I made a solo about what the body had to say and when I watched the solo on video I realised that this body said too little - I thought it was very mute.

Music goes direct to your emotions, words go to the brain; there are different channels of access. I like feelings and emotions. Emotion does not mean drama for me. A drama is one thing but to travel through emotions is another.

Can you describe where your movement comes from?

It's a kind of body release, through sensations and inner spaces. It's about connecting my inner spaces with the audience so the idea can travel - what I do is make a bridge with energy. I go deeper and deeper into the body and emotions, until everything is integrated. Some people have called me minimalist, but I don't agree with that.

How does your work fit in with the Austrian dance scene?

I get influences from the place I live, but I also influence the place I live. I think the background we have always makes a difference. I have a different experience, a different humour, a different taste. My emotions go through my body differently. You can feel that this is not the work of a woman who has grown up in Europe.

You worked with Benoit Lachambre on the piece - how did that come about?

I did two group pieces with him and then I asked him to make a solo for me. But then I had this idea [for 'skin, voice...']. It appeared and was so clear. I told him and he said, 'I like it very much, but it's not my concept, and it's not my experience.' So he said he would help me to make it.

What was it like working with him?

We're very different. When I have an idea, [she takes up props to demonstrate] I take this, and this, and this, [she arranges a coffee cup and sugar and spoon on the table] and I have everything. But Benoit says, 'I am not excited about that,' so then... [she grabs a book, a biscuit, a menu, a napkin, everything within reach to represent Lachambre's flurry of ideas]. He's an extreme guy. But it was the perfect combination.