Priscilla Marrero is pure energy. Her work as a contemporary performer, choreographer, teaching artist and writer reflects that luminous, kinetic spirit that flows through her veins and erupts during her performances. When one watches Marrero on stage, one gets the sense she embraces and even flirts with risk as she pushes herself to find new forms of physical expression. She also has a beautiful cat named Garfield that looks just like Garfield. I spoke with Marrero after her trip to the Florida Dance Festival, where she worked with Heather Maloney’s Inkub8, took some classes and wrote about her experiences on Artburst Miami. We also spoke about what motivates her and keeps her moving, even when she wants to give up.

Neil de la Flor: Hi Priscilla, I heard you’ve just returned from the Florida Dance Festival where you worked as stage manager on Heather Maloney’s “Vertical Sprawl.” Tell us about your experience at the festival as a stage manager and what you took away from your experience.

Priscilla Marrero: I went on the journey with the Inkub8 team, worked as the stage manager for the piece and was able to take some cool classes. It was interesting to go up to the festival this year with a different hat. I had to call cues for the performance and share time with the group. It was nice to share our work and experience with other movers and familiar faces, as well as spend time together as a group. Along with the experience, Artburst Miami asked me to blog about the road trip and my experiences. It was quite a different perspective to blog about my day and my encounters. I enjoy writing and have been writing in a journal since I was a kid — about daily adventures, trips or as part of my process during creation — so this time wasn’t really different except that I knew people were going to actually read it.

ND: What was the highlight for the Florida Dance Festival?

PM: I was able to take class with Karl Rogers and Jennifer Archibald. I really enjoyed being in their presence and learning from them. It was nice to be challenged mentally, physically. And everything was spicy. It was just right. I saw some other cool stuff around the campus during my walks. I saw students playing in the water fountains of the school for Dale Andree’s Site Specific Choreography class, the Waterways project. That would have been neat to try.

ND: I heard through the grapevine you’ve been working with Celeste Fraser Delgado on Carnival Arts at Miami Bridge. This must be a wonderful experience. What can we expect from your collaboration at Carnival Arts?

PM: I am blessed and honored to be in this project. Every session feels like a new beginning — it is beautiful to see the development in only two hours with the students. The way they respond to the drumbeat, create pure poetry, transform when they put on a mask and cape or the simple joy dancing does to them. Celeste has brought me in as a movement/dance collaborator, so I am able to work the students on creating phrases, improvising or whatever it is we are focusing on during the session.

ND: Will you perform with the students, or are you strictly a mentor?

PM: It is not a formal performance structure like a stage and a big finale piece. In every session, we mentor the students within our disciplines or focus on another discipline, such as music or film. In this particular session, we are working with Dominican Republic Carnival. At the end of this session, the students will have put together a film with all their creations. So, I’m performing and mentoring, even though during some sessions I feel like they are teaching me.

ND: After Carnival Arts, what’s next for Priscilla?

PM: I am into Ashtanga yoga, so the next couple of weeks I am focusing on practicing with Joanne Barrett. I am also in the middle of planning a trip to N.Y.C. for the Movement Research Summer MELT series for a couple of weeks in July. I’m pretty thrilled for my study and quiet time.

ND: We spoke about the work you’ve been doing with Director José Manuel Domínguez on a new project called “I See a Sailor That Sees a Geisha.” Can you tell us about the project? The title is intriguing.

PM: We are very excited about this collaboration. From the very first meeting with José, we had an instant connection. José comes from a more theatrical background from his native Cuba. I come into the project with more of a movement perspective. We are having fun during rehearsals and getting into each other’s creative minds. We have just recently been joined with Thomas Aratanha Fonseca, a physical actor with depth of experience and knowledge from the theater world. Together, we are improvising and working from a text that José wrote originally in Spanish, and we are combining our language backgrounds: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and playing with new ones we create along the way. There are two characters named Nada (Nothing) and Nadie (No one), a tourist called Geisha and a dreamer named Sailor who are all on a journey to a place that was once a happy memory but now find themselves lost at the end of their journey back home while someone else watches over them. We are mixing all this up and having a good time figuring it out. Can’t share too much, though, because the fun part has just begun.

ND: When will it debut?

PM: Whenever we get the money. Haha, no. It would help though. We are actually in the beginning stages of the process and planning for the premiere for spring 2012. We are planning on showing the work-in-progress during the fall for feedback from our colleagues and community, so be sure to be on the lookout.

ND: I’d like to know where you get your energy?

PM: People ask me that every day. I think it comes from my curiosity from life and everything involved with it.

ND: What inspires or pushes you to perform?

PM: I believe it is the risk of being transparent. It is one of the only times where you are really able to completely just be. After all the layers of research, work and time, depending on the character, it fascinates me how we can really become these characters that live within us during performances. The audience is also vital for breathing life into the work. I’m also aligned with the intimate self: familia, fellow students, my soul family, my opposition, the interesting spaces around me, the ocean and the spontaneous events that remind me to continue performing. As much as I have tried to walk away, something always brings me back.

ND: What has been your biggest challenge so far as a performer?

PM: I would have to say staying in shape. If you are not involved directly with a performance company, it is difficult to find professional classes as an independent performer. I guess that is what we are working on at Inkub8, but I think I’m starting to figure it out.

ND: Proudest moment?

PM: This is a recent moment. I recently had a first collaboration with Carlota Pradera on “Think Like a Guy,” where we experimented with questions and movement. During our run, I finally felt like I said what I needed to say. It was the Saturday evening performance. As I was doing my structured improvisation on the red table, all the right energies were in the room and, through the fears and doubts, we lived. There are many other moments to be proud of, but this one stays pretty present in my mind.

ND: What would you like Knight Arts readers to know about you that they may not already know?

PM: I have an awesome cat named Garfield. He came into our lives completely spontaneously and stayed. And yes, he looks like Garfield.

Priscilla Marrero, a Miami native, is a contemporary performer, choreographer and teaching artist. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Dance specializing in Performance and Choreography from Florida International University in April 2009. She has been an active student of the arts since a young age, receiving scholarships and work-studies to programs, including American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts and, most recently, with Florida Dance Festival in Tampa, Fla. She is a diverse performer with experience in film, television and theatrical productions. She has collaborated with fashion designers, figurative painters and performance companies, including Animate Objects Physical Theater, Afro conTempo Dance Theater, Artistic Dance Theater, Florida Grand Opera, Josée Garant Dance and Momentum Dance Company. Her most recent collaboration with performing artist Pradera, “Think Like a Guy,” premiered in March 2011 at Inkub8. Currently, she is an active member in the arts community collaborating with organizations and schools, such as Artistic Dance Center, Arts for Learning, South Miami Senior High School, Carnival Arts and Inkub8.