Mariella Morales

Mariella, a San Francisco native was introduced to dance at the age of 7 when she would accompany her mother to adult dance classes. At the age of 16, Ms. Morales began formal dance training as a student of the School of the Arts in San Francisco (SOTA). Mariella’s love for dances of the African Diaspora was due to her attendance at SOTA, where she was introduced to Dunham Technique and African Haitian. Ms. Morales' academic credentials are: an A.A in Dance from City College of San Francisco (CCSF) in 2004; a B.A. in Dance from San Francisco State University (SFSU) in 2007; and an M.S. in Kinesiology from SFSU in 2012.

Ms. Morales has studied directly with Miss Katherine Dunham, as well as several important masters of African Diaspora dance. She attended the annual Katherine Dunham Seminar in East St. Louis from 1999-2011. In 2000 & 2002, she was awarded scholarships to participate in the New York City Board Of Education Dance Institute, based on the Katherine Dunham Model. Jean Leon Destine, a great dancer, choreographer, and historian, who was also considered as a national treasure of Haitian culture and the “father” of professional Haitian dance. In 2004, Mariella received a full scholarship to attend the Cultural Traditions Program at Jacob's Pillow under the direction of Jean Leon Destine. In 2010 and 2011, Ms. Morales traveled to Salvador, Bahia, Brazil for a month long dance intensive with Rosangela Sylvestre, choreographer, dancer, instructor and creator of the Sylvestre Dance Technique and Augusto Omolu, master of Orixa dances from the African Brazilian traditions of Condomble.

She is currently dance faculty at City College of San Francisco and Chabot College and a dance educator for San Francisco Dance Education Project and Destiny Arts. Her teaching credits are: University of San Francisco, guest instructor at Sonoma State University and San Jose State University. During a visit to Brazil in 2010, the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) and Escola de Danca da Fundacao Cultural do Estado de Bahia invited Ms. Morales, as a guest instructor, where she taught Dunham Technique to both dancers-in training and professional dance students. She is currently the Co-Artistic Director of Alafia Dance Ensemble (ADE), which was founded 30 years ago by Valerie Watson. Mariella would like to acknowledge her mentor Valerie Watson as the most influential woman in her life..