Marc Anthony Mercado
Director, Producer, Editor, Dancer
As an artist, Marc was able to hone in on his skills and apply graphic design, dance, and love of music to La Danza... which was created entirely by him.
La Danza
Raised in a village, then raised by himself*, Marc knows the struggle of choice, the struggle of freedom, and the dance of life.
"When people say 'oh, I grew up like this, that's why I am the way I am' my face goes *-_-*, because I never resonated with the environment I grew up around. I was surrounded by misogyny, homophobia, ignorance, and violence. I grew up around alcoholism and abuse, it was my norm. Around the age of 6 I practiced reflecting for the first time. I hadn't developed it as a skill until now, but this ability has always been in me, it's been my instinct to double check where I am at with myself. It was the first thing I did one morning, I thought about how I didn't like being mean, how I didn't like that I would fight the kids I lived with. It's all I knew, what I picked up, and what I decided I did not want to carry with me."
This dance also represents the struggle of letting go, the struggle of accepting something different.
*This is figurative language used to describe the many people that have impacted Marc's life and the journey of adulthood and having to continue to raise himself on his own.