Priscilla Marrero
Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful Espejo: Ooooohhhhhh! Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh! This is my response to pausing to talk about dance and movement after the year I/we have had. What are you dancing with at the moment? With what feelings and emotions are you moving with at the present?
Priscilla Marrero: ¡LA PELVIS! I’ve been taking this time to research my pelvis. Our pelvises. The missing pelvis/pelvises. La Pelvis and all its power. I feel very fortunate that I did the MFA in Experimental Choreography program at the University of California Riverside during this wild and unforgettable year. It was all virtual of course, but I was able to take this time to really dive into my artistic practice while being actively enrolled in courses that were rich and exciting. I was able to work at BAAD! in the Bronx 2-3 times a week for four hours a day which was such a gift. Feelings and emotions? Whoa! SO MUCH! I will say that every day that I am in the practice I try to first engage with my breath, with my body, with my spirit, with the space...y más...the answers then come…or they go away.
NDERE: We met through Luis A., a dancer and choreographer, and I was immediately drawn to what you do movement-wise. You kindly came to visit and work with two of the SU-CASA groups of elders with whom I have worked in Bronx through Bronx Council on the Arts. You taught us some exercises that helped us reconnect with our bodies and to awaken our brains. These practices spoke to me of neuroplasticity. Would you be willing to revisit one or two of these somatic practices?
PM: Yes of course, always! I’ll guide us through La Mariposa practice, inspired by Susan Kaiser Greenland’s and Annaka Harris’s Mindful Games and Activity Cards. I’ll offer through a bilingual experience.
Find a comfortable place you can lay down on your back and be connected to the ground. (If the floor is too much, you can also do this on a chair, with your feet grounded and back lengthened)
Lay your arms by your sides...palms as you wish…. / You can play music if you would like (sounds of el mar..….sounds of birds…something relaxing....)
Close your ojos / Respira...lentamente... / Slow down your breath...your thoughts… / Take deep slow breaths in through your nose...and out through your mouth…. / Continue on with your breath...slowly…. / Notice the state of your body… Ask yourself...How are you feeling? What are you holding on to?
Imagine a Mariposa… / This Mariposa can look and be any way you wish — imagine all the possibilities... / Your Mariposa has magical powers...anywhere this Mariposa will land on your cuerpo it will make you feel calm...relaxed...awesome…vibrant...beautiful...
Your Mariposa will first land on your feet…your right foot…...then your left foot…. / Respira...adentro...afuera… / Feel the spaces in your feet open...relax...expand…
The Mariposa then travels up to your knees….your right knee….then your left knee... / Respira...adentro...afuera… / Feel your knees relax….open...vibrant…
The Mariposa travels up to your pelvis… / Feel La Pelvis relax...open….respira...adentro...afuera…
La Mariposa travels up to your stomach… / Breath in….and out… / Letting go of any anxiety...or stress you may be holding there…
La Mariposa travels up to your heart… / Respira…adentro...afuera… / Feel the warmth of your heart...see it shine…
La Mariposa travels up to your neck... / Breath in….and...out…. / Imagine yourself singing your favorite song...saying what you need to say today…
La Mariposa travels up to your forehead… / Breath in...and out…. / Relaxing your mind…your thoughts / Letting go of any doubt or fear…
The Mariposa travels to your right palm….then your left palm... / Breath in...and out… / gently expand your palm…relaxing…
La Mariposa then travels onto your back… / Breath in….and breathe out… / Feeling la tierra beneath you… / releasing into it… / be held… / with the earth…
La Mariposa then travels all over your body… / spreading love...light...magic…
La Mariposa whispers in your ear… / “I am here anytime you need me...just call me” / And disappears…
Gently take an inhale...and exhale…. / Feel the love offered by La Mariposa…. / You feel vibrant… / Ready… / Loved…. / Gently roll on your right side into a fetus position… / Bring your knees up… / And give yourself a hug… / Slowly roll up… / And bring yourself to a seated position...with your spine lengthened...your tailbone lengthened…your sit bones connected to the ground / Spread your arms and open them… / Lift them up...and down...as you breathe in...and out….like wings... / Now YOU become La Mariposa… / and share the amor… / the luz../ la magia...
Place your hands on your heart…. / And one more... / Respira ...adentro...afuera... / Muchas gracias. 💜
NDERE: Thank you so much for this practice. I started to dance since way back then. That probably was in my mother’s womb—maybe before that, at conception. There is the dance of the sperm and the that of the egg. Can you picture that fascinating choreography? What about your first encounter with dance?
PM: I think it was the same for me; in my mother’s womb. My mom is a great dancer. My parents actually met at a dance club in Miami. I think my dad threw firecrackers at her feet...or something like that the story goes ...I have always witnessed her passion for dance at home and during our house fiestas. My Cuban family’s love for dancing inspired/inspires me greatly.
NDERE: Who and where are you in your dance practice? Who and where are you in your dance practice? Who and where are you in your dance practice? Can you please answer three times? First time from the belly, second time from the heart, their time from your feet.
PM: I am in deep practice with my pelvis…. / I am listening to the dance from within… / I am taking time to play and experiment ideas...
NDERE: I have been studying with the Interdependence Project in New York about the Buddhist Eight Noble Path, which includes: Right View, Right Thinking, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Diligence, Right Mindfulness, and Right Samadhi ('meditative absorption or union'). I am pondering where would movement fall within this path? I am thinking of Right Movement? How do I move consciously in ways that do not generate more suffering for me and the world?
PM: I am convinced more and more that it begins with the self…self-care….taking conscious awareness of our own patterns of movement before engaging with the world. Only then we can truly heal. We must begin with consciously noticing our habits and how they affect our ecosystem. This takes time, and many, many, many years…and retracing, unlearning, to retrace, to rebuild, to then expand. I find solace in moving with improvisation in order to discover this as a daily practice.
NDERE: How would you say moving for you might have changed with the pandemic? How do you move with it?
PM: I am definitely moving slower...and with more appreciation of it. Simple tasks of cooking more fresh foods at home, taking daily walks, riding bikes to locations…has allowed more reflective time and awareness into my life. In return, I think my movement practice has been affected in a great way by this. Durational time on the computer has reminded me to create a standing desk so that I can be aware of my spine while I zoom. Taking long walks with my partner offers new possibilities in connection with each other and with our community. I am also way less afraid of technology (JA JA JA) and looking forward to keep learning and playing with filmmaking and making virtual gatherings in the future.
NDERE: Do you have a spiritual practice? If so, what is it, if you do not mind sharing it with me?
PM: I am very interested in learning diverse cultural ways of spiritual connection through ritual and community gatherings. My uncle, whom I am very close to, introduced me and my brother very early on to meditation. We would sit with my uncle and talk to God and have conversations and ask all sorts of questions. He also practices Hermetic Philosophy, and has shared with me the many ways that all spiritual practices connect or are different depending on where in the world they are learned/practiced.
I like to create my own practice, depending on what is going on at the time...or is needed. I met a couple of years back a beautiful womxn named Queen Catherine Hummingbird Ramírez of the Native American Carib Tribal Queen (she liked to be called Reina) who performs ceremonies each Tuesday at the Miami Circle, for Tequesta peoples. She burns sage and invites anyone to join her in the ceremony. I’ve been inspired by this practice and on Tuesdays, I try to honor her by performing cleansings in my own home and in my own spirit. I feel spirit when I am in nature, when I am close to the ocean, or when I am deep into an improvisational creative practice. I am always looking for new ways to connect and build relationships with Spiritual practices.
NDERE: I am curious about aging and dancing. My perception is that many dancers turn choreographers as they get older? Is that true? If so, does that leave me/us with a vacuum of older, aging bodies in dance, and does this curtail mine/our opportunity to learn about this process? After all, aging is not negotiable, no matter how many plastic surgeries I undergo—gravity always wins—and those beautiful wrinkles and grey hair manage push their way through, like a dance.
PM: Oh Nicolás.. :) Sadly many dancers do choose to retire early on.. I tend to think it might have more to do with the unfortunate lack of stability that our career offers. Although there are some new and exciting Unions that are forming that will hopefully help with this in the near future. And yes, dancers turning into choreographers can also do with aging, but perhaps more with clarity in their voice… discovering their voice in movement as you age… I feel my voice just gets clearer and louder as I age. Ja ja ja! My favorite movement/dance/performance collaborators tend to be older artistas–there's so much more awareness and appreciation of what our bodies are capable of as we age–so much beauty and so much to share.
NDERE: Thank you so much for your words. Any suggestions as to how I can continue to dance with the unknown. It seems to me that I/we are still going through this—Covid-19. Wait! How do I move through something difficult instead of trying to climb over it, go under or around it? Would you teach me a movement or a dance to walk graciously though the very eye of the storm and make it alive and full of life to the other side?
PM: YES! Talk with your pelvis! :) Take time everyday to really listen to it. start your day engaging with it, breathing with it, dancing with it, play your favorite song or play in silence…. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. Let me know how it goes
NDERE: Anything you would like to say that we have not talked about?
PM: My partner and I adopted two cats from Miami literally right when the pandemic began in March 2020. We named them Celia and Tito and they have been the most precious gift this year could have offered us. We’ve learned so much from them, especially about the importance of resting–resting with the Sun..
NDERE: ¡Muchas gracias y bedicones pa’tí!
PM: Muchas gracias Nicolás. Pa’tí también. It is always a pleasure to be in conversation with you. Un abrazo.
Priscilla Marrero (ella/she) is an experimental performing + teaching artista from sunny Seminole, Taíne and Tequesta land, also known as Miami, Florida. She is a passionate storyteller and loves to discover new ways to collaborate with interdisciplinary artistas through live performance or filmmaking. She has performed and presented her collaborations in the Musée Dapper (Paris, FR), The Empty Circle (Brooklyn, NY), Miami Light Project (Miami, FL), Inkub8 (Miami, FL), BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (NYC), Korea Art Forum (NYC), Movement Research at Judson Memorial Church (New York, NY), y más. Priscilla has received support from grants such as Artist Access Grant, Miami-Dade Community Grants, Here and Now Grant, and Gluck Fellowship Grant, MFA Graduate Fellowship, and currently the Chancellor's Distinguished Fellowship Award. She graduated from Florida International University with a BA in Performance and Choreography, and from the University of California Riverside with an MFA in Experimental Choreography. In 2022 she graduated as a Mindfulness Meditation Teacher from the Interdependence Project in New York City. Priscilla lives and works on/with Munsee Lenape land, known as Harlem, N.Y., and often travels to Miami Beach for el mar and some familia time.
All images courtesy of Priscilla Marrero
Credits for images of La Pelvis Project (April 2022) / Creation and Performance: Priscilla Marrero with collaborating artistas for her MFA in Experimental Choreography from the University of California, Riverside Dance Department / Photos by: Ryan Poon and Kali Veach / Collaborating artists with Priscilla Marrero in images / Dance artists: Justin Morris, and Al Ellison / Experimental sculptor and visual artist: Ferran Martín / Clothing design: Liliam Dooley / Composer: Dr. Matthew Evan Taylor / Lighting design + technical director: Omar Ramos / Mentors and committee: Luis A. Lara Malvacías (Chair), Anusha Kedhar, and taisha paggett