Today we’d like to introduce you to Marissa Brown
Hi Marissa, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My name is Marissa and I am a dancer, choreographer, director, artist currently based in Los Angeles, CA. I asked if I could be put into dance classes when I was in middle school and started dancing seriously when I was in high school. I was shy growing up so dance for me was a way I felt I could express myself without having to use words. I wanted to keep pursuing dance so I studied dance at University of California Irvine where I got to work with incredible people like Donald McKayle and Loretta Livingston. After college I briefly danced in San Francisco before moving to New York City. I feel that my time in New York was when I was able to build confidence as a choreographer and creator. It was easy to get cheap space and I would sign up for as many work showings as I could. Years later, I felt burnt out from New York and I longed to have the resources and space to create bigger works and focus solely on being an artist. I was accepted into grad school at CalArts where I obtained my MFA. I took a year off in between my studies to move back to New York and work on West Side Story Broadway until the pandemic closed down the show. After graduating I began dancing with LA Dance Project in Los Angeles. I now work as a freelance dancer and choreographer in Los Angeles, New York, and abroad. I’ve been experiencing a lot of transition in my life the last few years helping me to relate to my work and relationships in new ways but also bringing up a lot of questions of sustainability and redirection. In process…
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I think the biggest struggle is that dance is not financially well supported if at all in the United States. Dancers work so hard and have incredible value and yet they are often not given equivalent value in terms of money. This makes it challenging to support yourself as a human while pursuing dance.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a biracial, Black and Portuguese, Multidisciplinary artist. My primary language comes from movement of the body and translates into works of live performance, film, installation, photography, and publication. I feel most excited to create and share intimate moments of expression. I perform as a freelance dancer in Los Angeles, New York, and abroad. I am curious about the energy of human emotions and how they move and I research this in my own movement class, choreography, and movement direction. I’m most proud of the relationships I get to build as an artist when collaborating with other artists and creatives. Please find out more about my work at www.lonekingprojects.com and find out about upcoming events on my instagram @marissajbrown
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
If I am watching TV it is likely a cooking show
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lonekingprojects.com
- Instagram: @marissajbrown
Image Credits
Max Harper, Josh Rose, Simon Gulergun
