Born in Portland, OR, Marissa studied contemporary dance at London Studio Center, graduating with distinction. She is a certified Body-Mind Centering® Practitioner, Somatic Movement Educator, and Somatic Movement Therapist through MOVEUS, in Germany, and she has additional certifications through the School for Body-Mind Centering® in Embodied Anatomy and Yoga, and Embodied Developmental Movement and Yoga, as well as a 200 hr yoga teacher’s certification through the Yoga Center of Brooklyn. 

Marissa is a founding member of Third Rail Projects, performing and generating work since 2001, and has served as TRP’s Associate Artistic Director since 2011.  She was a generative artist and performer in the award-winning and long-running show, Then She Fell, as well as The Grand Paradise, Behind the City, Ghost Light, Confection, Return the Moon, Beautiful Dreamer, Anthem, Midnight Madness, and many more.  She was Assistant Director for Then She Fell, The Grand Paradise, Confection, Midnight Madness, and Return the Moon, and Rehearsal Director for Then She Fell and Grand Paradise.  Marissa was on the directing team for Learning Curve, TRP’s collaboration with The Chicago based youth theater company Albany Park Theater Projects, Director of Immersive Experience design for Yours Truly, and is currently co-creating a new show with the same team, Port of Entry, which opens in the Summer of 2023.  She was the recipient of the Back Apartment Residency through CEC ArtsLink in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2014 and 2018 and co-created the award-winning short experimental film, The Night Garden.  Marissa has performed internationally in Hong Kong, Russia, and Kazakhstan.

Marissa has taught immersive performance skills, devising for immersive work,  and somatic workshops and intensives through TRP since 2013. Additionally, she has led workshops presented by LEIA and No Proscenium in Los Angeles,  for Control Group in Denver, CO, for Illinois State University, and at the Guerilla Science Conference in 2018.  She has been a guest teaching artist at Brandeis University and Trinity University.

Marissa teaches Body-Mind Centering® in NYC, offering workshops in person and online, 1on1 sessions, and bodywork. She has guest taught in the Embodied Anatomy and Developmental Movement & Yoga programs through the School for Body-Mind Centering® in Oregon, California, and New York. She’s led Body-Mind Centering® intensives in Switzerland for Le Marchpied, a professional dance training program, for Compagnie Nuna, and taught Embodied anatomy for Yoga Teacher Trainings at Kusala Yoga in Brooklyn. 

From 2003-2013, Marissa taught yoga classes at numerous locations around NYC including multiple yoga studios, offices, the Women’s Prison Association,  public and private schools, and individuals in their homes.