At the young age of 3 years old, I was placed into my first combination dance class and absolutely loved it. This first class would soon grow into a 24-year commitment, a BFA degree in Dance Performance from Chapman University and elite level training and devotion.

During my performance career, I trained in contemporary and modern dance under renowned dance artists such as Tiffanie Carson, Sean Greene, Ilya Nikurov, and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, performed repertoire by the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, Alessio Silvestrin of the Frankfurt Ballet (Forsythe technique), and Robert Moses and trained with local DMV dance companies, Gin Dance, Motion X, and Therese Gahl and Company.

Due to major life changes in 2019, my focus shifted to visual art and education causing my performance career to take the back seat. However, I still find myself performing once a year and have brought visual art to the stage by incorporating live painting into dance performance.

My interest in visual art began while I was in middle school. Despite receiving numerous awards from local art contests, my love of dance superseded my visual art talent. However during breaks in my training, especially in college, I often enjoyed drawing photorealistic sketches, painting brightly-colored abstract artwork, creating improvised dance films and playing guitar.

What I imagined would remain a hobby turned into the accidental start of a profession in 2020 as I sold paintings from my first series, ‘The Cosmic Tunnel’, a collection reflecting my grief process from the death of my dad, loss of normalcy due to COVID-19 and my transition out of dance.

Later in 2021, I painted my first mural as an independent artist with Meich’e Goode of Good Art Fam Public Arts Company who since then has given me opportunities to paint 4 additional murals for DC Public Schools.

In building my presence as a visual artist and muralist, I was a Resident Artist at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, VA in 2023 and am currently a commissioned visual artist for both private and public spaces.

My role as an educator began as a part-time dance instructor for Metropolitan School of the Arts (MSA) in 2018. Since then, I have supported the learning of over 500 students ranging from ages 2-70 years old in numerous private, public, virtual and community settings. I have taught dance for private studios (MSA, Greater Washington Dance Center, Local Motion Project (LMP), BalletNova) and after-school dance programs (Tippi Toes Dance Company) and designed/implemented unique movement arts curriculum for Glebe Elementary School and LMP during COVID-19.

My experiences with teaching children brought forward a sincere interest in the field of expressive arts counseling. I already believed in the healing power of movement and art and through teaching, saw its positive impact on children’s motivation and behavior. This interest inspired me to work as a Childcare Teacher at Reston Montessori School (RMS) where I further developed an interest in developmental psychology and educational policy.

I chose to leave full-time education to pursue my talents as an artist with awareness that I could return. Today, I currently teach a weekly class for adults at BalletNova called Contemporary Intermediate where I teach my unique style of dance combined with technical skills and original choreography.

My decision to join the field of the massage therapy was the result of passion for therapeutic arts, clinical research and helping others. I first experienced sports massage therapy when I was in middle school due to a lower back injury. This experience combined with physical therapy opened my awareness to the intriguing, mechanical and somewhat mysterious inner workings of our body.

As a dance professional, I can attest that the information I received by expert massage therapists, physical therapists and somatic educators critically helped me prevent injury and significantly improved my physical performance. Personally, somatic bodywork has been a huge resource for managing trauma caused by stress and grief from major life events.

In August of 2023, I received my foundational training in Swedish and Deep Tissue Massage Therapy from Potomac Massage Training Institute in Silver Spring, Maryland. Currently, I am a Licensed Massage Therapist in Virginia and conduct a private practice from Annandale and Clifton.