MARIA VILLARIZA

Maria's passion for dance started at the age of five. She was trained in ballet for six years, but later on found a new passion towards breaking when she went to North Surrey Secondary School.
 
Within her time at North Surrey, she explored many styles of dance such as waacking, contemp, locking, bhangra, tinikling, and many more. But from those classes and opportunities, freestyling became her happy place. She enjoyed expressing her creativity through freestyling and using it as reference to make choreography. She loves breaking and hiphop the most, but always has the biggest soft spot for break since it's where she grew and made her happiest moments in highschool.
 
Along with her joy with dancing, she won Cypher Champion in Throwdown’ 24, earned a Scholarship from Higher Grounds, and was in Top 2 for both all styles and break category in the most recent Bustdown 3v3 competition. Maria also makes an impact in her dance community by being the Grade 8 and Break Coach where she grew in her leadership skills.
 
Maria is so excited to have this opportunity to teach at Artistic Edge Dance Academy, and guide her students in breaking. She hopes she can create a fun and supportive environment filled with laughter and growth.
 

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