Marsha Parrilla / Danza Orgánica

Marsha Parrilla

 Artistic Director - Performer

Marsha Parrilla is the Founder, Artistic Director, and Choreographer of Danza Orgánica. She holds a Master's degree in Dance/ Dance Education from New York University, and she is a NYC and Massachusetts Certified Dance Teacher. Currently, she works as a full time Dance Educator at the Orchard Gardens Pilot School in Boston. She also teaches Modern dance at the Roxbury Community College. 

Marsha has been awarded the prestigious Boston Dance Alliance Rehearsal and Retreat Fellowship, 2012. 

Fran de Paula

Performer

Marissa Molinar

Performer

Born into a family of Mexican Folkloric dancers, Marissa Molinar started learning folklorico from her mother at an early age while growing up in Texas. After moving to Boston, Marissa became enthralled with Bharatanatyam, a South Indian dance form, and began training with Aparna Sindhoor at Navarasa Dance Academy.  

After a dance hiatus while earning a degree in Environmental Science from Brown University, Marissa returned to dance and has been performing with many choreographers in the Boston area, including Daniel McCusker. In addition she is a member of Anna Myer and Dancers. She is thrilled to be joining Danza Orgánica.   

Aside from dancing, Marissa works as an Administrative Assistant for the Boston Dance Alliance, an iconic institution in the Boston dance community.   

  Tara Weaver

Performer

As a professional dancer, a dance teacher to youth, a Certified Personal Trainer, and a dedicated beginner kickboxer, Tara is committed to movement, performance and community involvement. 

      She holds a B.A. in Anthropology from UMass Boston, and has worked for the National Park Service, facilitating consultations with New England Native American communities, and leading a youth environmental employment program. In 2007, she traveled to Ecuador to act as a cultural liaison between Bronx, NY high school students and native Kichwa families. And, in 2011, she toured, performed and taught all over India with ANIKAI Dance Company. 

      Tara began studying West African dance 8 years ago, and quickly started studying more styles and techniques such as, Release, Horton, Graham, Haitian Folkloric, ballet, and Capoeira Angola. She currently teaches dance in high schools and for Boston Ballet outreach programs. She also performs traditional West African and Contemporary dance throughout New England with Benkadi Drum & Dance and Kairos Dance Theater. She is happy to be moving again with Marsha P. and is very excited about Danza Orgánica.

 Kara Fili

Performer

Since her discovery of being able to walk on her toes, Kara has loved to dance. She is highly influenced by her studies of Senegalese and other West African dances. She studied ballet, tap and jazz through high school, but  college  took her on a six year hiatus from her passion. Kara holds a B.A. from Endicott College, with concentrations in Studio Art, Psychology and Spanish. In 2009 Kara returned to the Dance scene with a strong commitment to performing, learning, and teaching dance and movement . Currently, she is a proud member of Elm City Dance Collective of New Haven, Benkadi Drum and Dance, Angie Moon Dance Theater and, most recently, Danza Orgánica. 

While Kara loves to perform, she is also interested in making dance accessible to all. She is a firm believer in the power of the arts to enhance, heal, and change lives and communities. For the past eight years Kara has been a dance instructor for  Express Yourself, Inc., a non-profit organization that uses the arts to empower mentally ill and at-risk youth. She has also been a teaching artist in the City of Cambridge’s summer youth programs and has taught children’s after school and studio classes in creative movement, tap, and jazz. 

She looks forward to many new projects and collaborations to come, and is so happy to be a part of Marsha’s company. 

                      Ryan Edwards

Musician - Performer

Ryan Edwards is a career musician for dancers. From a beginning in big band jazz, to an extensive study in West African music and dance, he has been on the path to make people dance since he began in music. Notable achievements include an 8 year run with the group he founded and directed, Like Water Drum and Dance of southeast Michigan. The ensemble toured regionally and nationally, was featured in a documentary film and performed extensively in educational settings, festivals and theaters. Ryan has been featured on many recordings as a composer, arranger, soloist, percussionist and drumset player. He graduated with Honors from Berklee College of Music with a degree in performance and a minor in Africana Studies.

Ryan plays drumset with the Boston-based afrobeat ensemble Federator N° 1, as well as playing for regular classes through the Boston Ballet School. He is also an employee of PhenomenArts of Lexington, MA; a large-scale multi-media art-performance and installation company under the direction of Christopher Janney. 

Ryan is most proud to be a father of two beautiful children, Jafiah and Maya. By far the proudest moment of his life so far is when his son scored an AMAZING header in a soccer game against his teamʼs arch rivals with just 2 minutes left in the game. If that isn't enough information about Ryan, you can visit his website at www.ryanedwards.info

                                                 Wayne Ong

Performer

Wayne Ong began dance at the age of 17 in high school, where he fell in love with the discipline.  He danced at a pre-professional level with the Singapore Armed Forces Music and Drama Company while serving as a military conscript in Singapore.  He then enrolled in the Connecticut College Dance Department where he trained in the disciplines of ballet and modern under the distinguished faculty David Dorfman, Lisa Race, Adele Myers, Heidi Henderson, Shani Collins, and guest artists such as Nicholas Leichter, and Kyle Abraham. He has had the opportunity to perform in repertory works such as Paul Taylor’s Aureole and Daniel Nagrin’s Strange Hero during the course of his education.  

Collaborators

                                              Nicole Hirsch

Performer

Nicole Arlette Hirsch began dancing at the age of two and hasn’t stopped since.  Her early dance training was in modern and ballet, but she quickly became captivated by hip-hop, West African, and other dance forms of the African Diaspora.  She continued to nurture her passion for dance at Camp Winnarainbow, a performing arts summer camp, and at dance schools in San Francisco, New York, and Boston.  

Nicole has taught hip-hop, West African dance, and creative movement to youth in public and private schools in New York; hip-hop at the Presidio Performing Arts Foundation in San Francisco; and choreographed performance pieces in hip-hop and West African dance, as well as for an experimental musical theater class entitled “Theater Experimento” at Camp Winnarainbow.  She danced with Brooklyn’s Rubí Theater, a hip-hop theater company, and served as the artistic director of Dolé: Columbia University’s Premiere African Dance Ensemble.  Most recently, Nicole has joined Danza Orgánica. 

Additionally, Nicole is a doctoral student at Harvard University, where studies the use of the arts in the fight for social justice.

                       Omar Robles

Binarius Collaborator

Mime, Physical Actor and Director.  He is a Graduate of L'École Internationale de Mimodrame de Paris Marcel Marceau, where he learned the trade under the mentorship of Marcel Marceau. Omar has performed in theaters across France, Spain, Israel, Poland, Russia, Puerto Rico and the United States. His work is notable for the lyricism  and emphasis of  movements and gestures that express the emotional intensity of his characters. Today he is known as  one of the most outstanding exponents of contemporary mime emerging from Puerto Rico. Omar is currently the Guest Artistic Director for  Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble for their 2012 season. 

Omar is also a Professional Photographer  and Owner of  Paumé Studio Photography http://www.paumestudio.biz 

                     Alejandro Carpio

Writer

Alejandro Carpio was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He finished his PhD in Spanish Studies in 2009, and has worked as professor at the University of Puerto Rico since. 

In 2011 Alejandro won the Alba Narrativa award for his first novel El papel de lija (Sandpaper). He is currently a literary critic at El Nuevo Día, where he publishes book reviews on a weekly basis. 

Additionally, since 2006, Carpio has been active with Teatro Breve, a theater troupe he also co-founded. 

 Fernando Huergo

Musician - Composer

Fernando Huergo was born in Cordoba, Argentina. He has recorded over 100 albums, including 9 as a leader. Fernando has toured in North, Central and South America, Europe and Asia. He leads the Fernando Huergo Jazz Argentino Quintet, and The Jinga Quintet. 

Fernando graduated from Berklee College of Music in 1992, where he is a Faculty Member in the Bass Department since 1996, with the position of Associate Professor. He also teaches at Tufts University since 2001. Currently, he plays in the groups of Guillermo Klein and Los Guachos, Marta Gomez, Enclave, Leo Blanco, Victor Mendoza and Felipe Salles among others.
 
Fernando has given clinics in Argentina, Costa Rica, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Portugal, England, France, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Spain, Turkey, Japan, South Korea, China and in many cities in the United States. He studied with Charlie Banacos, Jerry Bergonzi, Cecil McBee, John Lockwood and George Rusell among others. 

For more information on Fernando's ensemble, please visit: 
http://www.fernandohuergo.com

                             Yulia Musayelyan

Musician - Performer

Yulia Musayelyan is a flutist and composer from Moscow, Russia.  A versatile performer in classical and jazz idioms, she is the founder of  New Music Collective, a fluid ensemble dedicated to performing cross-over and new original chamber music. In addition, she leads a jazz quartet, releasing their debut album, "Caminos", in 2009. She records and performs regularly with the Marta Gomez Group, Fernando Huergo Quintet, TriDos, and Manhattan Camerata, among others. Yulia has toured the US,UK, Europe, Central and South America with various musical projects. She holds degrees from Manhattan School of Music and New York University. 

For more information, please visit www.yuliamusayelyan.com