Marsha Parrilla Fights Oppression And Trauma Through Dance

“¡Juntos!” ("Together!"), says Marsha Parrilla good naturedly as she watches members of her company, Danza Orgánica, work through a piece at the Tony Williams Dance Center in Jamaica Plain. Company members practice movement and together with Parrilla, choreographer and founding artistic director, decide how to best embody the work. This inclusive approach makes their performances powerful and their social justice work resonant.

The contemporary dance theater company, launched in 2007, uses dance as a tool for social change by creating work with diverse narratives and engaging various communities in "Dance For Social Justice Workshops." The workshops — with curriculum informed by Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” — are open to everyone, but sometimes center around themes like environmental justice or cater to specific populations such as indigenous groups or women of color. Parrilla cultivates a space where people can talk about what's on their hearts, including personal trauma. There, they can be heard and then express ideas through movement. Read more.

At The Gardner, Choreographer Peter DiMuro Creates Dancing Tour In The Vibrant Spirit Of Isabella

When Peter DiMuro, executive artistic director at The Dance Complex in Cambridge, was tapped as the first choreographer-in-residence at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, he sought to illuminate the complicated life of its founder and namesake and animate the collection she spent her life amassing. He wanted to tell the story of the Gardner with love and respect and to highlight everything, “warts and all through dance,” DiMuro said.

The resulting work is a series of tours, called “The House of Accumulated Beauties,” that runs through Oct. 25 and aims to balance the sadness of loss — Isabella’s son, John, died before his second birthday — with her kaleidoscopic, art-filled existence. Read more