MARA RIVERA
Dancer/Choreographer/Dance TherapistMara Rivera was born and raised in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. She started her dance training in New York City mentored by Afro-Caribbean dance teacher and choreographer Richard Gonzalez. She has also traveled to Cuba for an intensive study of the Yoruba-based folkloric dance and religion, which has contribute a lot to her belief of dance as a healing vehicle. More recently, she has re-explored her own traditional roots of Afro-Puerto Rican Bomba dance, using its improvisational element to restore and maintain physical, emotional, and spiritual health.Mara completed a Masters degree in Dance/Movement Therapy from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY in May of 2006 (abt). She currently works as a dance/movement therapist and has acquired extensive experience working with children, adolescents, and adults with severe mental disorders and emotional disturbances.
As a therapist, dance instructor, and choreographer, she intends to bring together the traditional/folkloric aspect of the dance with the demanding and ongoing transformations of our spiritual beings. Her work integrates elements of traditional Afro-Puerto Rican, Afro-Cuban, Haitian, African, theater dance, and contemporary styles. Mara's unique passion for dance expresses itself in a very inspiring and invigorating way.
Mara is a dancer and choreographer with the Ase Dance Theatre Collective (pronounced Ah-shay), a New York City-based neo-folkloric performance ensemble consisting of young adults of color under the artistic direction of it's founder, Adia Tamar Whitaker , a dancer and choreographer from San Francisco's Bay Area.