Hi! I’m Ariana.
Some call me Ari, and some of my high school students refer to me as the baby rattlesnake (because I am little and fiesty).
I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago memorizing stats of baseball players (for the Cubs and the Sox), twirling instead of running on the soccer field, and watching my brothers play hockey and my sister play volleyball. I’ve always loved being active and spent most of my childhood dancing in the studio and on the stage.
I was torn between studying dance and psychology in college. After 4 years, I ended up graduating summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in both Dance and Psychology from Hope College in Holland, Michigan. Along the way, I was awarded the DeLong Senior Dance Award, and a Psi Chi Research Award.
Once back in Chicago…
I decided I wanted to pursue a career in musical theater while attending graduate school for my Masters in Teaching.
I was lucky enough to work with artists ranging from local community and non-equity theaters to professional theaters.
I also discovered I had a love for working with high school age students. I started choreographing for musicals and show choirs, which led to invitations to clinic show choirs around the Midwest. Upon completion of my graduate program, I accepted a job as an AP Psychology teacher in the district for which I choreograph. I currently teach and choreograph while still finding time to keep my own love for performing in theater alive.