Marisa C. Hayes is a multidisciplinary artist working within the realms
of video-dance, photography, performance, and film. She takes her
inspiration from the idea of the "polymath" or "Renaissance
Man", pursuing studies in a wide variety of subjects. In this
vein, her work is often informed by complementary fields of interest
including linguistics, travel, science, literature, and cultural studies,
among others.
Marisa's work has been performed, exhibited,
and produced throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
Recent awards include a Fulbright Fellowship for cultural exchange in
France, a grant from the New York Theatre Communications Group/Trust
for Mutual Understanding, and a jury prize at the Brasov Festival of
Experimental Theatre. This year, Marisa was the recipient of the Ella
Lyman Cabot Trust. She is currently an artist in residence in Burgundy,
France.
Trained as a ballet dancer from an early
age, Marisa went on to pursue contemporary dance and other movement
practices, the most influential being Butoh, which she studied in Yokohama,
Japan with Kazuo Ohno and his son, Yoshito. Marisa holds a degree in
interdisciplinary arts from Goddard College, having previously studied
video/film and contemporary dance at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Today Marisa divides her time between France and the United States,
often collaborating with her partner Franck Boulegue.
Regardless of the medium, Marisa's work explores
site-specific environments in order to assemble internal and physical
responses to questions of time, place, memory, and sensory perception.
Recently, Marisa completed a series of life-size black and white photographic
prints that explore the physicality and ambiance of a two-dimensional
environment from a choreographic point of view. These images were also
incorporated in Marisa's dance film, Scattered Selves.
As part of her artistic practice, Marisa is also keen to develop
and expand opportunities in arts education for both children and adults.
She has taught workshops at diverse venues such as the Virginia Museum
of Fine Art, The Cultural Center Reduta (Romania), and The Barrett
House School of Music (Cincinnati). Marisa is currently teaching an
improvisational dance class at a residential center for adults with
disabilities and in the public school system in Burgundy. In the Spring
2007, she will be a guest artist at the University of Cluj-Naopca
in Romania.