{"id":965,"date":"2023-10-25T12:14:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T12:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blackandworldly.com\/?p=965"},"modified":"2025-12-30T10:52:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T10:52:53","slug":"marina-santo-healing-with-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blackandworldly.com\/marina-santo-healing-with-dance\/","title":{"rendered":"Healing with dance &amp; Representation for racialized persons of Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Marina Santo - Healing with Dance  | Black &amp; Worldly with Adobuere Ebiama\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uv6NoFnSTmQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Marina Santo wants to help you heal, through physical movement and specifically with dance. In her early years, training as a dancer, Marina was taught to compete and to compare. The limiting ideas of what modern dance should be didn\u2019t leave her much room to feel authenticity within her life as a dancer.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, after a long career of working with various communities throughout Spain (and otherwise), Marina has the space, means and financial support to direct her own project&nbsp;<em>M\u00e1s All\u00e1 de la Piel.&nbsp;<\/em>The project which translates to \u2018Beyond the Skin\u2019 in English, is a tribute to racialized people who generally lack representation in Madrid, Spain.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Marina has devoted her time, artistic passion and love of education to teaching dance in working class neighborhoods to those who are not dancers by trade. When she first started, she noticed that the older women in her classes had not only spent their lives feeling repressed in their bodies but had also put much of their energy towards mere survival and nothing more. Their dreams for anything including having an art career were diminished by oppressive conditioning. \u201cIf you can\u2019t have pleasure with your own body, how are you going to dream? How are you going to follow your passion? Which passion? To pay the bills?\u201d Marina asks.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The world has evolved and perhaps things have gotten better with time. But Marina understands successfully pursuing a career in art is still no easy feat. Having a successful career in the arts is a privileged position that requires major financial support. It isn\u2019t a coincidence that contemporary dance is very white, Marina reflects. If we are to have a conversation about representation and access in the art world, then we also have to talk about class structures as well.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While Marina is the creator of&nbsp;<em>M\u00e1s All\u00e1 de la Piel<\/em>&nbsp;and had the tough task of choosing four individuals for the project\u2019s final presentation, she still sees herself as merely a facilitator of the magic that happens within the rehearsal room. She even hesitates to name the participants, \u201cMovers, dancers, I don\u2019t know\u2026\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One thing is for certain. This project is an exciting moment in Marina\u2019s life as an artist. Never before has she had this kind of project support available to her, with the financial backing to be able to pay the project\u2019s participants as well. The opportunity to create more representation for racialized communities of Madrid is an important one. Marina leans into it with eagerness and focus.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In one corner of the rehearsal room for&nbsp;<em>M\u00e1s All\u00e1 de la Piel<\/em>&nbsp;there is a small table with a few important items: Marina\u2019s phone connected to the speaker for playing the music that guides the group, a lit candle carefully placed on a flower patterned fabric that has been folded into a neat square in the center of the table. The fabric also holds a pink lighter and a lone stick of palo santo incense. These items are simple and intentional; exuding care into the room. A care you can feel when you first meet Marina; she smiles easily, her energy is lightweight but steady. She facilitates the group within the rehearsal room but she does not bombard the participants with a rigid end goal. She allows them to search, look, breathe, freely wander and play, guided by the safe protection of her voice in the background. \u201cBuen viaje!\u201d, she says as she starts a new song on her playlist. \u201cHave a good trip\u201d.&nbsp; She wants to meet everyone in the room where they are, to be in conversation and facilitate a mutual meeting point that feels not like an end but a fluid opening.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Marina continues to have performances of&nbsp;<em>M\u00e1s All\u00e1 de la Piel&nbsp;<\/em>throughout Madrid. Follow her Instagram page&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/soymarinasanto\/\">@soymarinasanto<\/a>&nbsp;for updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier this year I sat down with Marina to discuss her work. You can view the conversation&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/open.substack.com\/pub\/adobuere\/p\/full-chat-w-marina-santo?r=2e6flg&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For all other Black &amp; Worldly content, please follow our IG page:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/blackandworldly\/\">@blackandworldly<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marina Santo reflects on healing through dance and creating representation for racialized communities in Madrid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":975,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Healing with dance and representation | Marina Santo","_seopress_titles_desc":"An interview with choreographer Marina Santo on healing through dance, class, and representation for racialized communities in Madrid.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/blackandworldly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/marina-santo.webp",1456,686,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/blackandworldly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/marina-santo-150x150.webp",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/blackandworldly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/marina-santo-300x141.webp",300,141,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/blackandworldly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/marina-santo-768x362.webp",768,362,true],"large":["https:\/\/blackandworldly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/marina-santo-1024x482.webp",1024,482,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/blackandworldly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/marina-santo.webp",1456,686,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/blackandworldly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/marina-santo.webp",1456,686,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"reshaute@gmail.com","author_link":"https:\/\/blackandworldly.com\/author\/reshautegmail-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Marina Santo reflects on healing through dance and creating representation for racialized communities in Madrid.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blackandworldly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blackandworldly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blackandworldly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackandworldly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackandworldly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=965"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blackandworldly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1010,"href":"https:\/\/blackandworldly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965\/revisions\/1010"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackandworldly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blackandworldly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackandworldly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackandworldly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}