Marika Brussel is a contemporary ballet choreographer. Her work reshapes narratives through ballet, showing our inter-connectedness and equity as humans, bringing ballet into the 21st Century. Her work has explored myths, plays, and personal stories such as Unraveling, a ballet about dementia. From Shadows: A ballet about homelessness, premiered in October 2017, to sold out audiences in San Francisco. Her ballet, Still Time For Impossible, looked at the climate crisis. Her ballets have been commissioned by Kansas City Ballet, New Ballet Studio Company, ARC Dance, Columbia Repertory Ballet, Bay Pointe Ballet, Emote Dance Theater, Berkeley Ballet Theater, and Ballet Theater of New Mexico. She has shown work at festivals around the country. Marika has held residencies at the Dresher Ensemble Residency, Moving Arts SF, SAFEhouse Arts and at Keshet Makers Space. She has twice been part of ODC’s Pilot Project, and was a choreographer in Doug Varone’s Devices 5. Her other awards include two Fleishhacker Opportunity Grants and a grant from The Classical Girl. Marika was a 2019 recipient of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts Fellowship for Contemporary Ballet. She was a 2020 fellow at LABA East Bay, and is a current fellow with The Peace Studio.
About Mira: Lot’s Wife
Mira: Lot’s Wife, is a section of a longer work (House of Names). This is a stand-alone, 10 minute contemporary ballet piece, explores Lot’s Wife as a woman who decided to stay in her country, instead of blindly following her husband. She is a rich and complex character, with a name (Mira). Mira is embedded in her life as a mother and friend, a part of the fabric of her community. When Lot tells her to pack and leave at first, she does, but with introspection, decides to stay and not immigrate from her home. It is a contemporary ballet, performed during Covid at 2 outdoor venues. The larger work will be filmed and streamed in summer 2021. The music for the ballet is an original composition by Carla Lucero. NOTE: please go to 7:24 in the YouTube link