Mari Vigil-Harris
Dance
“When we dance, we reset ourselves and expand ourselves as human beings: we move our energy around, shift our emotional state, and have FUN! When we learn, through practice and repetition, to do something new that we couldn’t do before, we build our confidence by seeing that we are capable of things we never dreamed of. My classes emphasize age-appropriate neuro-muscular development, connection to rhythm and musicality, and the social history of the dance styles we are learning. As we learn fundamental dance concepts, I invite my students to bring their creative selves to whatever style we are learning.”
Mari is a multi-disciplinary performing and teaching artist with a special emphasis on Afro-Latin Jazz Dance. A classically trained singer and musical theatre performer growing up, Mari fell in love with salsa dancing while enrolled at Stanford University, and after a six-year career with Microsoft in their engineering and sales organizations, they left this role to pursue dance and musical theater professionally.
As a teaching artist, Mari has worked with movers and shakers aged 2.5 through 80 and believes firmly that it is never too late to learn to dance! Mari founded the salsa instruction program at NYC’s first queer/non-binary-led dance academy focused on the social and cultural history of dance, and loves making social dance more accessible to people of all genders. Mari offers instruction in creative dance, jazz, and Afro-Latin styles (including merengue, bachata, salsa, cha-cha-cha, cumbia, samba and more).
Mari has performed with Telemundo and the Met Opera’s Educational Program, and has participated in pre-production for New York City Center and the Santa Fe Opera. They continue their dance training under Cecilia Martia and Dorit Koppell; their vocal training with Lisa Tamagini, and their acting training with Jayd McCarty.