Mara is an independent dance artist based in Brighton and Hove (UK) with roots in Venezuela and Colombia. She works in the fields of dance and therapeutic movement. Mara was awarded a distinction on the completion of her MA in Choreography, and Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Dance Studies at The Place - London Contemporary Dance School. She has developed work for film and the stage as well as site specific work. Mara is interested in collaborating across media to enrich and challenge her practice. She creates detailed intimate performances, bringing a sense of awareness to the whole and the unseen. She is particularly interested in devising work that invites reflection and introspection, and builds community.
Mara’s training and performance experience ranges from classical, classical, neoclassical and contemporary Ballet to Tanztheater, Modern Dance, and Postmodern Dance. She has performed around the world as a member of European, South American and US based dance companies including; Berlin Ballet Komische Oper, Staatstheater Braunschweig (Germany), Opernhaus Graz (Austria), Ballet Clásico de Madrid, Santamaría Compañía de Danza (Spain), Jose Mateo’s Ballet Theatre and Ballet Florida (US), Ballet Nacional de Caracas Teresa Carreño and Ballet Metropolitano de Caracas (Venezuela). She has danced works by international choreographers Katrin Hall, Cathy Marston, Rami Beer, Didy Veldman, Meryl Tankard, Blanca Li, Marguerite Donlon, Dominique Bagouet, Deborah Colker, Olga Cobos and Peter Mika, Hans Henning Paar, Darrel Toulon, Dominique Dumais, Juan Carlos Santamaria, Joan Cleville and Joanna Young among others.
Mara’s choreographic work has been performed in Europe and South America. She has created work, collaborated with and performed for Young Blood Initiative, Resolution Festival, Almada Dance Festival, GoLive Dance and Performance Festival, Bolivar Hall London, and goldextra among others. Mara has worked with Bachelor of Arts students at the London Studio Centre as their Practice Based Dissertation tutor, and has been invited to facilitate dance improvisation classes at Independent Dance, The Evening Space, and The Dance Workshop. She continues to develop her own choreographic work, collaborating with and performing for other artists.
Photo by Astrid Randrup. In the image Mara Vivas and Julie Schmidt Andreassen, Winter Hibernation Residency 2025.
