afrotaíno borikua and award-winning choreographer mar parrilla is the founding artistic director of danza orgánica. she is a proud mother, community organizer, and aspiring herbalist. after attaining a bachelor's degree in languages (italian, french) from la universidad de puerto rico, mar crossed the ocean to nueva york, where she completed a master's degree in dance education at new york university. now a boston resident, parrilla is a recipient of several awards from the new england foundation for the arts, and the boston foundation, among others. mar is also a luminary artist at the isabella stewart gardner museum, where she has been commissioned to create artistic work. in 2017, parrilla was awarded the brother thomas fellowship award from the boston foundation. danza orgánica was invited to a creative development residency at jacob's pillow, and performed at the jacob's pillow dance inside/out festival. parrilla is the founder and producer of the boston-based acclaimed annual festival: 'we create!'. in 2018, mar was selected for the city of boston artist in residence program, with a focus on environmental justice. currently, she is collaborating with local native american communities in massachusetts, with a focus on best practices towards decolonization. she is also collaborating with puerto rico-based artists on a residency-based cultural exchange towards the development of proyecto melaza: a project that  explores the colonial relationship between puerto rico and the united states of north america. most recently (2019), parrilla was awarded an 'outstanding community arts collaboration award in dance' from the arts/learning organization.

Danza Orgánica supports women’s rights. We bring this to light with our annual festival: We Create! Celebrating Women in the Arts.

danza orgánica core values

misión

    we strive to leave the world and planet better than we inherited it for our future generations. amor y justicia social are our foundation. we are in solidarity with bipoc (black & brown, indigenous, poc), lgbtqi, and underrepresented/marginalized communities that face racial, ability-based, economic, xenophobic and/or colonial oppression. we rewrite our stories through peeling off layers of conditioning, extensive research, generating new movement, and creating new narratives that represent us as we want to be represented. we actively work towards an antiracist artistic and community-based praxis that decolonizes: the mind/body/spirit, the earth, food, wealth, education, health, and our colonial systems- hence reinventing our way of existing-in and experiencing the world.

compromiso

we are committed to working with and for the community. we start within our own community in danza orgánica- a relationship based on love, openness, solidarity, mutual respect, and commitment to our mission. 

our commitment includes:

an anti-racist and de-colonial praxis within our creations, performance, and work with the community.
performance: we are committed to bringing high quality dance theater to boston and beyond. we recognize the need for equity and anti-racist frameworks in our community, and work towards that goal. 
dance for social justice: we are committed to working collaboratively with the community through a facilitated process of social justice-oriented art creations. our signature program: dance for social justice, has been designed for all members of society, of all ages and abilities.
bipoc artists: we facilitate a platform that amplifies the experiences of bipoc artists in our society, through our annual festival: we create!  this is an anti-racist, anti-patriarchal, and decolonial platform.
puerto rico: we are committed to amplifying the puerto rican experience in the united states and beyond. we do so via our collaborative project: proyecto melaza.
we are committed to supporting indigenous communities as we continue our journey towards decolonization. we do so through community-oriented gatherings, community-based artistic creations, performance work, collaborations, and solidarity.