In 2015, Marisa entered an Irish heritage beauty pageant in an attempt to cure their depression. To no one’s surprise, that didn’t quite work. The process led them on a journey of exploring their identity and general purpose in life.
Funeral for Solo is a dance theatre piece created and performed by Marisa Conroy. Using the rituals of a Catholic funeral, a ceremony at odds with the performer, they queerify the ritual and meditate on whether or not they can discard old layers of themself that no longer serve them. Using the gowns they wore during their time as the San Francisco Rose of Tralee, an Irish-heritage beauty pageant, they releases her feminine self to make room for something new. Created at a moment of transition in gender identity, Conroy lays to rest the “she” they existed within for 30 year years in an attempy to make space for the newfound “they.”