10 Questions With…Sharon Marroquin

1. How did you become involved with dance?  I began dancing when I was 5 years old.  My first teacher was my aunt, who was a dancer herself.  The studio was a tiny elongated rectangle on the second floor of her house.  The walls were bright pink and the floor was marble tile.  A black piano stood in the corner. Music played from an old-fashioned record player, and the parents waited for their daughters in the living room.

2. What are you currently doing in the field?

I choreograph and perform as a guest with various companies in Austin, Texas.  I also teach dance at Tapestry Dance Company Academy.

3. Would you share a special moment from your career with readers?

I remember clearly the first modern dance performance I ever went to.  I sat in the audience mesmerized by the unitard-clad dancers who were moving in ways I had never imagined possible.  At that moment I decided that is what I wanted to do.  Several years later I threw my pointe shoes in the trash, and embarked upon the journey of discovering modern dance.

4. What is the best advice you have ever received from a teacher or mentor regarding dance?

A choreographer once said to me, “I see the steps, but that is not enough.  Give me something more.  Make me laugh or make me cry, but PLEASE give me MORE.”

5. What has been your greatest challenge?
My greatest challenge has been balancing my artistic endeavors with the demands of everyday life.  Holding down a full time job as a fourth grade teacher, being a mother, and still finding time and energy for dance is not easy.

6. Do you have any advice for dancers who want to go on to a professional career?

I believe that the best dancers are interesting human beings first.  They cultivate their minds and spirits, as well as their bodies, so that there is something worthwhile to share.  Beautiful technique is boring if it is not accompanied by a certain depth of experience and intelligence.

7. Do you have a special routine that you go through prior to a performance?

After warming up, I set out all my makeup in the order that I am going to use it.  I take my time and don’t rush.  Putting on eyeliner and lipstick becomes a ritual that prepares me to focus and shine onstage.

8. Do you have any advice specifically for men who want to go into ballet?

You have it easy! There are many fewer men in the field so competition is not quite as intense.

9. What do you enjoy most about your life in dance?

Dance is a forum where I can process issues I grapple with in my life.  It is a window into my spirit and a vehicle towards the divine.

10. What is next for you?

I am raising funds for the creation of The Materiality of Impermanence, a dance performance based on my experience as a breast cancer survivor.  Rehearsals have begun and a documentary about my creative process for this project is in the works. I am excited, and can’t wait to see it come to fruition!

BIO: Sharon Marroquín was born and raised in Mexico City.  As a dancer she has toured nationally and internationally with companies in Mexico, the United States and Europe.  Relocating to Austin in 2000, Sharon has performed with Diverse Space Dance Theater, Wicked Cricket Dance Theatre, the Kathy Dunn-Hamrick Dance Company, and various independent choreographers. 

As a choreographer she has created pieces for Big Range Austin Dance Festival, Forklift Danceworks, Ballet East, Hot September Flurries, Tapestry Dance Company, and various Latino/a showcases.   She has been listed several times as one of the top ten dance events by the Austin Chronicle, and is a three-time winner of the Austin Critics Table Award for Outstanding Choreographer (2004, 2007 and 2009). Sharon teaches dance at Tapestry Dance Company, and is a bilingual fourth grade teacher.