The 8th installment of Global Conversations – The Creative Process takes us inside a positive and insightful discussion with Mariana Oliveira, who was one of our early *early* supporters on social media! Mariana and Liza talk women, ballet, resources, and more.

Mariana Oliveria is a dancer and choreographer whose mother first introduced her to ballet at age four in her native São Paulo, Brazil. She went on to study at the Royal Academy of Dance in London and was a trainee dancer at the National Dance Company of Wales. At age nineteen, Oliveira was invited to perform with the Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami. In 2009, she founded The Union Project Dance Company, a contemporary dance company. Mariana has been the recipient of numerous fellowships, including the NYU Center for Ballet and the Arts Fellowship and the Kansas City University Choreographic Fellowship. In addition, she has taught at the Bolshoi Ballet School in Brazil, which is the only Bolshoi School outside of Russia for dancers of the Youth Company. Mariana uses choreography to communicate with the world, and so far, it seems that the dance world loves that approach – companies and organizations that have commissioned her work include Joffrey Ballet (Winning Works), New York City Ballet Choreographic Institute, Carolina Ballet, Richmond Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Dayton Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Madison Ballet, National Choreographers Initiative, Ballet Arkansas, American Midwest Ballet, Chicago Repertory Ballet, and more.