Marie Paspe
I’ve gone back to playing piano, which I used to play when I was a kid. This time has been beautiful. I’ve just been creating to see what I can make. I’m doing silly improv, creating music compositions with piano and voice that I am just trolling around with—not recording but just seeing what I can make. Reading a lot and trying new things, doing things without rushing and taking my time to decide with my intentions what I do; like whether or not to see a client. Happy hour, with intention. Seeing my friends if I want to, but with intention. Everything I choose to do is with very set intentions, so that when I do it, I am fully present and when I arrive, I am there for the person I am talking to, or for myself. That has been the most beautiful part of this whole thing.
Marie Lloyd Paspe, born in Singapore of Filipino parents, first began training in classical ballet with Rajka Kupesic in Ontario, Mississauga, Canada. Her family moved to Bellingham, MA, where she continued to train in ballet, pointe, jazz, and contemporary extensively with Jessica Wilson at MetroWest Ballet. Marie, a Rev. Thomas V. Bermingham Scholarship Recipient, graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program in NYC, obtaining a BFA in Dance Performance and a Minor in Business Administration. She studied with Ana Marie Forsythe, Milton Meyers, Nancy Turano, Elizabeth Roxas, Dudley Williams, Penny Frank, Jacqulyn Buglisi, and Jenny Chiang, to name a few. Marie has had the privilege of performing works by Peter Chu, Igal Perry, Jae Mann Joo, Omar Carrum, Claudia Lavista, Jon Ole Olstad, Rami Be’er, Martin Harriague, Matthew Rushing, Manuel Vignoulle, and Sonia Dawkins. In NYC, she performed with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in Memoria at New York City Center, in Matthew Rushing’s choreography for the Park Avenue Armory Gala, and in the company’s 2013 Gala at the Apollo Theatre. In 2015, she studied abroad in Kibbutz Ga’aton, Israel in Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company’s International Dance Program. In 2017, she attended Springboard Danse Montreal, performing works-in-progress by Peter Chu and Eva Kolarova in Montreal’s Usine C. Marie has presented her own work in Israel, and in 2016, she was selected to present her duet what lies beneath the surface at Dance Theatre of Harlem, NYC. Marie, inspired by her coworkers, received her Pilates certification from Balanced Pilates NYC this past Spring. She currently teaches at Balanced Pilates and Groundfloor Exercise, and teaches clients around New York City.