Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gris Manzanares. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Gris thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I am a person of empirical learning, so everything I have learned about my acting I’ve done it “on the stage.” I have carefully chosen my guides and teachers, because learning about artistic topics is something very sensitive. I have seen how academies or universities generalize or do not treat students in the midst of their artistic development with their respective delicacy, which can be very costly at creative and artistic levels. If there’s anything I would’ve done to speed up my learning process would be: WORK THROUGH FEAR. Don’t wait “for the perfect moment” to learn, try, improve something. That’s just an excuse that comes from insecurity. There are skills that are essential for me in the learning process: discipline, perseverance and conscious listening. One of the obstacles I have faced when trying to learn more is my ability to tell where to start studying or which book to read first. Nowadays we have so much information at hand that it can be overwhelming where or what to start with. Something that has helped me is remembering: what do I need to learn right now? And go from there.

Gris, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

It started at a musical theatre company when I was 9 years old back in my hometown. Through the years, after phases of re-thinking myself and my craft, I’ve transformed my acting into a physical theatre. I have experienced profound processes that make it clear to me that, in order to transform our life story, it is essential to move. Move the body and dig deeper into ourselves to understand what makes us.

Nowadays I mainly do theater that contains little text and a lot of body movement. Besides acting I discovered I love dancing and that I have a great ability to move my body anyway I want.
It is all build up by discipline in different aspects of my life. In order to be able to move as pleased, I must be healthy. And that means: eating properly, good amount of training (I love doing pilates and yoga), good sleep. It can be considered as a pretty “boring” lifestyle but I pays off.

I really love to give myself in a performance, to live that moment, so everything else that needs to be considered in order to make it happen it’s as pleasant. Once you find the courage to do what drives your passion, everything else falls into it’s right place.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

To share, to connect with anyone who’s on the same path. To create, act, play with my similars. With people that understand how profound that art can take us if we let ourselves experience it.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

During a performance, at the beginning of the play (in the first 5 minutes), I had an accident in a hallway of the theater. Not caring about the strong blow, I continued non-stop dancing and acting until the very end of the play. Of course at the end my hip, leg and ankle were in big-time pain, but I had a compromise.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grisdecolores
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grismanzanaress
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@sritagreyson?si=uY8gH577qUudC4o-

Image Credits

Marcela D’Agostino, Evelyn Muñoz, and Alejandra Bucio.