Highways' a/o/x series: MARYSAN - “El Viaje a Casa”

As part of Highways' annual a/o/x series (formerly Latinx New Works), El Viaje a Casa by MARYSAN is a fiercely intimate duet tracing the layered terrain of identity, family, and the longing for home. Crafted by a first-generation Mexican immigrant and a second-generation Salvadoran-American, this work is both a confrontation and a confession—exposing the push and pull of being perceived as “not Latin enough” or “too Hispanic” in both familial and artistic spaces. With raw physicality and unflinching honesty, MARYSAN invites us into a choreographic excavation of cultural memory, ancestral echoes, and personal truth. This is more than performance—it’s a reclamation of space, voice, and self.

MARYSAN centers Latinidad while amplifying the voices of the marginalized through their dynamic choreographic language. As a Mexican and Salvadoran-American dance duo, they investigate themes of mental health, trauma, religion, femininity, womanhood, and queerness. Using improvisation and dance theater, Mar Lopez Tovar and Santiago Rivera explore the human condition with brown, queer bodies at the center.

Mar Lopez Tovar (B.A.) is a choreographer, dancer, educator, and poet originally from Mexico. She holds a B.A. in Dance with a focus on Choreographic Inquiry and a Minor in Film from UCLA. Trained at the National Contemporary Center of Mexico, in musical theatre, and competition studios, Mar brings a humanistic, interdisciplinary lens to her work—where dance becomes the glue of storytelling and the individual body is the focal point. Her work has been presented at venues and festivals such as OC Dance Festival, Red Rock Dance Festival, Brockus Dance Project, and MixMatch Dance Festival.

Santiago Rivera (M.F.A.) is a dance artist, educator, and choreographer from Los Angeles, CA. They earned their M.F.A. in Dance from California State University, Long Beach, a B.A. in Drama with a minor in Educational Studies from UC Irvine, and an A.A. in Dance with a Dance Instructor Certificate from Orange Coast College. Santiago is also a graduate of the José Limón Technique Certification Program. Their work interrogates the erasure of queer Latine and BIPOC identities in institutional dance spaces. Santiago teaches at Cypress College and San Bernardino Valley College, is on faculty for the Young Choreographers Project, and serves as a guest artist in residence at Irvine Valley College.