Who we are

In an era in which matters of reproductive health can be highly political and polarizing, Chalk — a dance theater performance weaving stories of pregnancy loss and infertility, focuses on commonality and shared humanity. 

Created and performed by dancer/choreographer Kristin Marrs and theater artist Anne Marie Nest, Chalk lays bare the intensity, complexity and absurdity of the artists’ struggles through miscarriages and extreme medical interventions, transforming private grief into collective understanding.

  • Anne Marie Nest

    THEATER ARTIST

    Anne Marie is a professional actor, voice and speech specialist, and executive communications coach. As a professional actor and voice coach, she has worked at Playwrights Horizons, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Denver Center Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Ensemble Studio Theater, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, and Shakespeare Orange County. She has also appeared on television shows including: Law & Order, Life on Mars, Untitled Even and Garth Project, Guiding Light, As the World Turns, and One Life to Live.  Anne Marie has devised many new works of theatre with companies such as Anne Bogart’s SITI Company and The Beggars Group NYC (founding member). In addition, Anne Marie has taught at University of Iowa and Marymount Manhattan College and worked as an executive coach for hundreds of companies within the Fortune 500 and AM Law 200.

  • Kristin Marrs

    DANCER/CHOREOGRAPHER

    Kristin Marrs is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher of dance and Alexander Technique based in Iowa City, Iowa. A native Iowan, she is passionate about promoting the arts and arts education in her home state.

    Kristin has performed as a company member of Columbus Dance Theatre, Ballet Quad Cities, Northern Ballet Theatre, Arova Contemporary Ballet, Paradise Ballet Theatre, Opera Columbus and Images of Dance. Some of her favorite roles include the Milkmaid in Ashton’s Facade, the Snowy Egret Queen in Alun Jones’ Nutcracker Key West, solo performance in Kennet Oberly’s Goldberg Variations.

    Kristin’s choreography has been performed at universities and ballet companies around the United States. Recent collaborations include O Quanto Qualia, a multi-disciplinary work featuring original composition by Jacob Bancks and performance by violinist Sabrina Tabby of Atlys String Quartet, and When Trees Say Nothing, created with fiber and paper artist Mary Merkel-Hess.

    Kristin is an Associate Professor of Instruction at the University of Iowa Department of Dance.