Professor and Director of Dance and Theatre
Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY
In addition to teaching and serving as Director of Dance and Theatre at Manhattanville College, Ara continues to interweave dance and theatre as a choreographer, writer and performer known for her solo performance work. Her rich and varied career in contemporary dance and choreography for theatre (on & off Broadway) give her a broad perspective which along with the proximity of the college to NYC, allow her to assemble a remarkable roster of faculty and guest artists dedicated to mentoring a new generation of dance theatre artists.
Among her favorite courses to teach are Creative Process and Composition where students begin to discover their voices in the expressive languages of dance and theatre. In Performance Seminar: NYC Now! students attend some of the finest offerings in current season of Dance and Theatre in NYC.
At M’Ville she has created site specific pieces for the Lady Chapel, the magical small meditation center redesigned by Maya Lin and 'What You WillCome Back To' on the marble stairs of Reid Hall- the castle, works for the dance concert and choreography for Shakespeare productions.
Ara served as Associate Director with Director of Dance and Theatre Professor Michael Posnick (1994-2012) a colleague from The National Theatre Institute, O’Neill Theatre Center. In addition to NTI, before coming to M’Ville, she taught dancers and actors at Connecticut College, Trinity Square Conservatory, Rockland Community College and The Hartman Conservatory.