About Marina

She/Her(s)/Ella

Interdisciplinary Artist/Performer

I am an Ohio-Rican raised in the Rio Grande Valley. My parents transplanted me to Edinburg, Texas at the ripe age of 6 months. I grew up dancing in living rooms, singing down grocery aisles, and “producing” solo shows for my family and friends to patiently watch.

Eventually, I grew of out of my living room. I received a BFA in Performance from Hofstra University. Then, moved to Austin where I started my career as an actor/dancer/puppeteer. The community of artists where I found my home were Trinity Street Players, Glass Half Full Theatre, Trouble Puppet Theatre, Teatro Vivo, Salvage Vanguard Theatre, and Ballet East. While in Austin, some of the notable awards I received were Outstanding Lead Performance in an Edited Digital Production for Vulva Pope: Our Lady of the Sacred Part (2021) and Best Actress in TYA production for Las Aventuras de Enoughie (2018).

Now, I live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where I am finishing my MFA in Acting at LSU. Grad school has given me the space to stretch as an actor, create original work, and explore directing. Playing leading roles, like Emma in People, Places and Things, taught me that there is strength in vulnerability. Creating original work, like my solo thesis The Hoader, revealed that my stories are worth telling. Directing Rosita y Conchita illuminated a new creative path for myself.

As an artist, I refuse to specialize in one form. I don’t fit into a box. I am not just an actor or dancer or puppeteer or fill in the blank. I am story teller, and I will use whatever skillset that makes the most sense to tell any given story.