Merav Cohen is an Israeli choreographer, performer, artistic director and dance educator. Her artistic practice approaches the body as an emotionally and symbolically charged space through which interpersonal relationships, identity and processes of transformation are examined. Her movement language draws on movement improvisation, Butoh, body–mind work inspired by Jerzy Grotowski and live performance. Across choreography, performance and teaching, she considers the body as a living archive and a field of research, while exploring the boundary between action, representation and lived experience.
Cohen studied dance at WIZO Haifa Art School from 1999 to 2001 and performed with the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company in works by Rami Be’er from 2001 to 2002. She later graduated from the professional workshop for dancers of the Haifa Association for Dance. Her continued training included Butoh studies with Maya Dunsky and Shadow Yoga with Dudi Malka, after which she became a certified instructor.
Her choreographic activity developed through independent works presented in Akko, Tel Aviv and at venues including Tmuna Theatre and the Suzanne Dellal Centre. Works documented in her professional record include Dreams in Aspamia, When the Beast Returned, The Chariot, Bugs, The Beast-Bugs and Flying Wild, created in collaboration with Tal Reinan and produced by Haifa Theatre in 2018. Her works have been presented in Israel and internationally.
From 2014 to 2018, Cohen founded and directed Portrait of the Artist, an annual learning path for artists approaching their first creation at the Akko Theatre Center. In 2015 she received the Minister of Culture and Sport Prize for creators with up to ten years of activity, and in 2017 she became a member of the Israeli Choreographers Association. From 2020 to 2023 she directed the professional dancer training workshop founded by the Association for the Promotion of Dance in Haifa.
In 2022 Cohen founded SHINUA Dance Company, serving as its choreographer and artistic director. In 2026 she founded SHINUA Dance Center in Hof HaCarmel. These initiatives bring together her creative, pedagogical and research practices and extend her long-term investigation of movement, memory, transformation and artistic development.