Mary Power Bio
MpowerDance Project Director, Choreographer, Producer
MpowerDance Project, a member of the San Francisco non-profit dance community through Independent Arts and Media, has been making dance since 1992. Our choreography is sourced from Butoh, Contemporary Dance (Modern, Ballet), African, Flamenco and other mind-body systems: Pilates, Gyrotonic, Yoga, Martial Arts and body leverage for partnering/TRX. Our Project offers interdisciplinary performance works, dance training, process and performance opportunities, collaborations with dancers, artists, writers and film makers, musicians, and connects community experience through dance art performance and dance film media. Artistic Director, Mary Power choreographs, performs Butoh dance, produces events, is a visual artist with film, photography, paint, as well as ceramics.
Mary Power, holds a Masters of Arts in Exercise Science and Kinesiology with an extensive background in Sports/Dancemedicine.
In the Masters program at San Francisco State University, Mary Power collaborated her research on body composition, bone density and hormonal replacement therapy with the USDA Human Research Western Division and UC Davis. She won several scientific awards in Biomedical Research:
*The Graduate Achievement Award 1999
San Francisco State University
*RIMI Biomedical Research Competition 1999
Second Place In Clinical Sciences & Nutrition
*California State University Research Competition 1999
Third Place In Clinical Sciences And Nutrition
*California State University Research Competition 1997
First Place In Clinical Sciences And Nutrition
From 2009-2020, Mary successfully ran Nob Hill Pilates and Gyrotonic Studio for athletes and dancers until the 2020 COVID pandemic shuttered its doors. That following year, author Mary Power published a new choreography book, Visionary Dance Oracle, A Book of the Soul (2021) accompanied with her 22 graphic art pieces. She continues to teach mind-body arts including Pilates, Gyrotonic, TRX, Butoh and Contemporary Dance, Martial Arts.
From 2021-2022, Mary curated a yearlong art exhibit, MOTHERpeaceMOTHERwar, at the San Francisco Theosophical Society (SFTS). The MpowerDance Project collaborative effort involved ten local artists, featuring two works of installation art, photography, dance performance, spoken word and live music. Mary not only contributed an installation art piece for the show, but choreographed and performed two different twenty-minute dance pieces at the opening and closing of the exhibition.
In 2024, MpowerDance taught Butoh workshops at Joe Goode Studio in San Francisco, and at the Performing Arts Center at the University of Texas San Antonio.In October 2024, she performed two Butoh performances at the art opening exhibit of "Mementomorium" at Space C7 in San Antonio. Mary Power made original ceramic art pieces to go with her graphic art piece "13. Extempore" shown at the exhibition. She made original costumes for each of the two fifteen minute Butoh dance pieces she choreographed and performed at the opening.
