Mar Parrilla
Dancer, Artistic Director
- Dance
Biography
Taíno Afroborikua and award-winning choreographer Mar Parrilla is the founding artistic director of Danza Orgánica (DO). She is a proud mother, an interdisciplinary movement artist, an educator, and a community organizer. After attaining a BA in Languages (Italian, French) from the Universidad de Puerto Rico, Mar crossed the ocean to Nueva York, where she completed a Master's degree in Dance Education at New York University. Now a Boston resident, Parrilla is a recipient of several awards from the New England Foundation for the Arts, the Boston Foundation, and BARR foundation among others. She is also the recipient of the Brother Thomas Fellowship Award from the Boston Foundation, and the Outstanding Community Arts Collaboration Award in Dance from the Arts/Learning Organization.
Mar is the founder of the acclaimed program Dance for Social Justice™, as well as the founding producer of the acclaimed Boston-based annual festival: We Create!. Parrilla is a luminary artist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, where she has been commissioned to create artistic work- and continues to collaborate with in several capacities. In 2018, Danza Orgánica received a Creative Development Residency at Jacob's Pillow, where they also performed at the Inside/Out Festival. Currently, they continue this partnership with Jacob's Pillow through their signature program: Dance for Social Justice™. Since 2018, DO has been working in close collaboration with members of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe through a multiyear partnership with the Aquinnah Cultural Center towards the development and presentation of Âs Nupumukômun. They are also collaborating with Puerto Rico-based artists on an ongoing cultural exchange towards the continued development of Melaza: a project that explores the colonial relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States of North America. Most recently (2021), Danza Orgánica was awarded the Powering Cultural Futures Multi Year Partnership with the BARR foundation.
Mar Parrilla has also been an educator since 1998. Her teaching has brought her to NYC and Boston public schools, as well as higher ed institutions such as: Boston University, New York State University at Stony Brook, Wesleyan University, Roxbury Community College, and Emerson College. Her focus lies on Decolonizing Practices, which she embeds in her Dance for Social Justice™ curriculum.
Mar's production history includes company concerts since 2007, co-producing at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, as well as the acclaimed and award-winning annual festival: We Create! (est. 2014).
Mar speaks Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, and Italian fluently. She is now learning her Taino Indigenous language.
Mar is the founder of the acclaimed program Dance for Social Justice™, as well as the founding producer of the acclaimed Boston-based annual festival: We Create!. Parrilla is a luminary artist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, where she has been commissioned to create artistic work- and continues to collaborate with in several capacities. In 2018, Danza Orgánica received a Creative Development Residency at Jacob's Pillow, where they also performed at the Inside/Out Festival. Currently, they continue this partnership with Jacob's Pillow through their signature program: Dance for Social Justice™. Since 2018, DO has been working in close collaboration with members of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe through a multiyear partnership with the Aquinnah Cultural Center towards the development and presentation of Âs Nupumukômun. They are also collaborating with Puerto Rico-based artists on an ongoing cultural exchange towards the continued development of Melaza: a project that explores the colonial relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States of North America. Most recently (2021), Danza Orgánica was awarded the Powering Cultural Futures Multi Year Partnership with the BARR foundation.
Mar Parrilla has also been an educator since 1998. Her teaching has brought her to NYC and Boston public schools, as well as higher ed institutions such as: Boston University, New York State University at Stony Brook, Wesleyan University, Roxbury Community College, and Emerson College. Her focus lies on Decolonizing Practices, which she embeds in her Dance for Social Justice™ curriculum.
Mar's production history includes company concerts since 2007, co-producing at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, as well as the acclaimed and award-winning annual festival: We Create! (est. 2014).
Mar speaks Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, and Italian fluently. She is now learning her Taino Indigenous language.
Education
Universidad de Puerto Rico - Mar attained a BA in Languages (Italian, French) from the Universidad de Puerto Rico.
New York University - She completed a Master's degree in Dance Education at New York University.
New York University - She completed a Master's degree in Dance Education at New York University.
Awards
Mar Parrilla / Danza Orgánica awarded the Powering Cultural Futures Multiyear Partnership with the BARR Foundation (2021).
Danza Orgánica awarded multiple COVID relief grants.
Mar Parrilla recipient of Opportunity Fund 3.0, awarded by the city of Boston, 2019.
Danza Orgánica awarded the Outstanding Community Arts Collaboration Award in Dance, from Arts/Learning. 2019.
Selected for The Elma Lewis 2018 Women in Community Arts Collectors Edition Trading Cards. Info here!
Awarded a Creative Residency as a Boston Schonberg Fellow at The Yard (by invitation from The Yard Director). August 20-September 1, 2018.
Recipient of Espacio Abierto, a space grant from Villa Victoria Center for the Arts. 2018
Recipient of Live Arts Boston (LAB) grant, awarded by The Boston Foundation- towards the 5th annual festival: We Create! Celebrating Women in the Arts. Spring 2018.
Recipient of Boston AIR (artist in residence) award by the city of Boston. See press release.
Recipient of Next Steps for Boston Dance grant, awarded by a partnership between the Boston Foundation and the Aliad Fund, 2018.
Commissioned by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum to create a fresh new work to be premiered on Summer 2018. This new piece will be a response to Life, Death, & Revelry, an upcoming multidisciplinary exhibition at the ISGM based on the Gardner’s “Farnese Sarcophagus”.
Recipient of the Brother Thomas Fellowship Award by the Boston Foundation, 2017. (by nomination only)
Dance Ambassador at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. 2017 (by nomination only)
Recipient of a Festival Programs Grant, awarded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council towards the annual festival: We Create! Celebrating Women in the Arts, 2017.
Recipient of Opportunity Fund grant, awarded by the Boston Cultural Council- towards our NYC tour of our newest work "Melaza". Spring/Summer 2017.
Recipient of Live Arts Boston (LAB) grant, awarded by The Boston Foundation- towards the annual festival: We Create! Celebrating Women in the Arts. Spring 2017.
Recipient of Development Residency at The Barn Arts Collective, Maine. Summer 2017
Awarded a Creative Development Residency at Jacob's Pillow (by invitation from the Jacob's Pillow Director) February 20-26, 2017. Click here for Boston Globe announcement.
Recipient of New England Dance Fund, awarded by the New England Foundation for the Arts, 2016
Selected as Luminary Artist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Neighborhood Salon 2016-2017 (by nomination only)
Recipient of scholarship for the Urban Bush Women Summer Leadership Institute, 2016
Recipient of New England Foundation of the Arts' Creative City Grant, for the project: Running in Stillness, 2016-2017.
Recipient of a Festival Programs Grant, awarded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council towards the annual festival: We Create! Celebrating Women in the Arts, 2016.
Recipient of space grant (Artist-in-Residence) at the Tony Williams Dance Center, for Running in Stillness, 2015-2017.
Green Street Studios company residency, (2014-2015)
Recipient of E-MERGE residency at Earthdance, MA (2015)
Recipient of I-ARE (Integrated Artist Residency) at the Dance Complex, (2014)
Recipient of Dome Away from Home Foundation's rehearsal and retreat space grant, in Vermont. (2013)
Recipient of Green Street Studios New Works Program. (2013).
Recipient of Boston Dance Alliance's Fourth Rehearsal and Retreat Fellowship (2012).
Selected as a "RAW Artist" in the field of performance/video (2012).
Recipient of Boston Center for the Arts' "Movement at the Mills" rehearsal space and performance grant (2010).
Danza Orgánica awarded multiple COVID relief grants.
Mar Parrilla recipient of Opportunity Fund 3.0, awarded by the city of Boston, 2019.
Danza Orgánica awarded the Outstanding Community Arts Collaboration Award in Dance, from Arts/Learning. 2019.
Selected for The Elma Lewis 2018 Women in Community Arts Collectors Edition Trading Cards. Info here!
Awarded a Creative Residency as a Boston Schonberg Fellow at The Yard (by invitation from The Yard Director). August 20-September 1, 2018.
Recipient of Espacio Abierto, a space grant from Villa Victoria Center for the Arts. 2018
Recipient of Live Arts Boston (LAB) grant, awarded by The Boston Foundation- towards the 5th annual festival: We Create! Celebrating Women in the Arts. Spring 2018.
Recipient of Boston AIR (artist in residence) award by the city of Boston. See press release.
Recipient of Next Steps for Boston Dance grant, awarded by a partnership between the Boston Foundation and the Aliad Fund, 2018.
Commissioned by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum to create a fresh new work to be premiered on Summer 2018. This new piece will be a response to Life, Death, & Revelry, an upcoming multidisciplinary exhibition at the ISGM based on the Gardner’s “Farnese Sarcophagus”.
Recipient of the Brother Thomas Fellowship Award by the Boston Foundation, 2017. (by nomination only)
Dance Ambassador at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. 2017 (by nomination only)
Recipient of a Festival Programs Grant, awarded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council towards the annual festival: We Create! Celebrating Women in the Arts, 2017.
Recipient of Opportunity Fund grant, awarded by the Boston Cultural Council- towards our NYC tour of our newest work "Melaza". Spring/Summer 2017.
Recipient of Live Arts Boston (LAB) grant, awarded by The Boston Foundation- towards the annual festival: We Create! Celebrating Women in the Arts. Spring 2017.
Recipient of Development Residency at The Barn Arts Collective, Maine. Summer 2017
Awarded a Creative Development Residency at Jacob's Pillow (by invitation from the Jacob's Pillow Director) February 20-26, 2017. Click here for Boston Globe announcement.
Recipient of New England Dance Fund, awarded by the New England Foundation for the Arts, 2016
Selected as Luminary Artist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Neighborhood Salon 2016-2017 (by nomination only)
Recipient of scholarship for the Urban Bush Women Summer Leadership Institute, 2016
Recipient of New England Foundation of the Arts' Creative City Grant, for the project: Running in Stillness, 2016-2017.
Recipient of a Festival Programs Grant, awarded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council towards the annual festival: We Create! Celebrating Women in the Arts, 2016.
Recipient of space grant (Artist-in-Residence) at the Tony Williams Dance Center, for Running in Stillness, 2015-2017.
Green Street Studios company residency, (2014-2015)
Recipient of E-MERGE residency at Earthdance, MA (2015)
Recipient of I-ARE (Integrated Artist Residency) at the Dance Complex, (2014)
Recipient of Dome Away from Home Foundation's rehearsal and retreat space grant, in Vermont. (2013)
Recipient of Green Street Studios New Works Program. (2013).
Recipient of Boston Dance Alliance's Fourth Rehearsal and Retreat Fellowship (2012).
Selected as a "RAW Artist" in the field of performance/video (2012).
Recipient of Boston Center for the Arts' "Movement at the Mills" rehearsal space and performance grant (2010).
Artist Contribution
Soy descendant of Taíno Arawak from the Americas y Caribe by way of Borikén; of African people who were forcibly displaced to the Caribe, and of mestizaje from Spanish and Portuguese people. I identify as AfroTaíno Borikua. I live in Massachusetts, the unceded and occupied territory of the Massachusett, Nipmuc, and Wampanoag tribes.
My work explores the imprint of colonizing systems of oppression in our being. I see Art as a liberating lover. My relationship with dance is based on risk-taking, self-discovery, and spontaneity. I am freest when my body can sing through movement. In my creative practice, I am intrigued by the embodiment of my experiences and their outward manifestation. I’m equally intrigued by the collectivity of movement, and its power to examine old paradigms, inspire radical realities, and create new frameworks. My approach entails extensive research, intentional collaborations, and a movement practice that focuses on process rather than product.
My work explores the imprint of colonizing systems of oppression in our being. I see Art as a liberating lover. My relationship with dance is based on risk-taking, self-discovery, and spontaneity. I am freest when my body can sing through movement. In my creative practice, I am intrigued by the embodiment of my experiences and their outward manifestation. I’m equally intrigued by the collectivity of movement, and its power to examine old paradigms, inspire radical realities, and create new frameworks. My approach entails extensive research, intentional collaborations, and a movement practice that focuses on process rather than product.
Contact
- danzaorganica@gmail.com