Training

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dancers are athletes of God.”

       -Albert Einstein

Photo credit: Peter Paradise Photography

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Aria began her artistic training as a gymnast at age 4, intensive classical piano training at age 6, and transitioned to ballet training in the Vaganova method at the age of 13. At 15 she became a founding member of the Fall River Civic Ballet , and at age of 16, Aria become a corps member of the State Ballet of Rhode Island. She attended summer long dance intensives including the Svetlova Dance Center in Dorset, VT where she studied with Russian ballerina Marina Svetlova. During her first full summer of study at the Svetlova Dance Center, Madame Svetlova appreciated Aria's innate talent for dance, taking a  personal interest in mentoring her, offering increasingly more challenging and advanced technique, guiding her towards a professional dance career. 

 

Aria also attended the Rabovsky Ballet Center in Saratoga Springs, NY and took specialized classwork in classical piano, ballet technique,  pointe work, acting, modern, jazz, Flamenco, and mime. She studied privately with Istvan Rabovsky focusing on classical piano technique and musicality training.

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During Aria's tenure as a company member with the State Ballet of Rhode Island and her performance in Giselle, she discovered how art can highlight the journey into the underworld: the paradox of beauty and the grotesque, light and dark, and mourning the temporary while celebrating the eternal. The celebration of narrative found in classical ballet is evident in Aria's solo and group choreography, and she often returns to her classical roots for artistic inspiration.

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Aria entered the University of Massachusetts/Amherst as a Dance Major and took advanced coursework in ballet, modern, jazz, choreography, and dance history. Aria began her study of Oriental/ Cabaret style Belly Dance in 2001 and discovered the Tribal and Gothic styles in 2008.  In 2008 she joined Boston based Snake Dance Theater and performed with the company until the end of 2009.  In 2011 she founded ABRAXAS Dance Theatre.

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