Be In It
Marlies Yearby is an internationally recognized artist whose work spans theater, film, and multimedia performance. She is the Tony and Dora Award–nominated choreographer of the original production of RENT, receiving the Drama League Award for its Los Angeles run. Her choreography was licensed for the film adaptation and the Cinecast of RENT’s final Broadway performance.
Yearby’s creative process, In Our Bones Technique, honors the legacies, lived experiences, and energies embodied in movement, centering observation, discovery, and play to cultivate authentic, visceral performance.
Her credits include a Helen Hayes Award nomination for The Oedipus Plays at Washington’s Shakespeare Theatre and a Bessie Award for Stained, a collaboration with Lisa Jones and Alva Rogers. She choreographed Talking Bones by Shay Youngblood (Penumbra Theatre), The Darker Face of the Earth by Rita Dove (Guthrie Theater), and The Mystery of Love by Sekou Sundiata (American Music Theater Festival).
Marlies Yearby earned acclaim for Brown Butterfly, a multimedia tribute to Muhammad Ali, which she co-conceived with composer Craig Harris. With collaborator Aku Kadogo, she also directed and choreographed Jessica Care Moore’s Salt City, an Afro-futuristic techno choreo-poem. She is currently writing a libretto for her Seed: Awakenings On The Eve Of Blue, an Afro-futuristic Funk Da Opera that explores memory, environment and real food.
