Mara Mandradjieff

Resident Guest Ballet Faculty and Dance Scholar

Marra Mandrradjieff

Mara Mandradjieff

Mara Mandradjieff earned her PhD in dance at Texas Woman’s University, where she received the Dance Department’s “Outstanding Writer Award.” She has taught and choreographed at the University of Pittsburgh, Point Park University, Kennesaw State University, and has called Emory University her home since 2012. Mandradjieff has presented ballet research internationally in Portugal, England, and Switzerland with publications in Text & Performance Quarterly, Dance Chronicle, Women and Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory, Journal of Dance Education, Journal of Dance Medicine & Science, and The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet. While teaching and researching, Mandradjieff also runs her 501(c)(3) nonprofit Lume Foundation, an organization that uses dance to engage and inspire individuals at healthcare facilities: www.lumefoundation.com.

As a dancer, Mandradjieff began her ballet training at Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, where she performed principal roles in George Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes, Serenade, Valse Fantaisie, and Garland Waltz. Her summers were spent training at various programs such as the Chautauqua Institute, Miami City Ballet, and four summers at The School of American Ballet. Mandradjieff went on to dance professionally with Bodiography Contemporary Ballet, Columbus Dance Theatre, Texture Contemporary Ballet, and The Georgia Ballet, where she performed principal roles in The Nutcracker and George Balanchine’s Who Cares. She has additionally worked with Opera Theater of Pittsburgh and Opera Columbus.

Mandradjieff is excited to share her knowledge of ballet with the DCC students: From a practical and artistic level in the studio and on stage, to a scholarly level with explanation of ballet history and dance academia opportunities, and as a certified Pilates instructor, to an anatomical and somatic level for a deeper understanding of body awareness.