is pleased to be entering her seventh season with acclaimed contemporary dance company Urban Bush Women. She has originated roles in "Walking with Pearl: Africa Diaries," "Walking with Pearl: Southern Diaries," and in guest choreographer Bridget Moore's "Sacred Vessel." Touring highlights include performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Joyce Theater in New York, Symphony Space in New York, and the Basel Arts Festival in Basel, Switzerland. Most recently, Maria traveled to Senegal to participate in a collaboration between Urban Bush Women and contemporary African dance company, JANT-BI.

She is also Urban Bush Women’s Associate Artistic Director for Community Engagement, co-facilitating workshops on pairing arts and activism, organizing Community Engagement activities in various cities, and writing curriculum. Through UBW, Maria has taught dance as a catalyst towards positive self-imagery at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum and at the Atlantic Terminal Housing Development in Brooklyn, as well as at various schools and community centers throughout the country. She continues her community engagement work outside of company life, with an active roster of freelance workshops and a summer program for young dancers, all listed on this website.

In addition to her work with UBW, Maria travels throughout the United States as a freelance choreographer and teacher. She has created dances for Spelman College, Virginia Commonwealth University, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, and New Jersey Governor’s School for the Arts, among others. In New York, her work has been showcased at the New 42^nd Street Studios, BRICstudios and at the Kumble Theater. In 2007, she was a featured choreographer, along with Andrea E. Woods and Noemi Segarra, in the BAAD! ASS WOMEN FESTIVAL at the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance. Maria is currently working on two duet projects—one with fellow UBW company member Samantha Speis, and another with Berkeley-based authentic movement artist Terre Parker. Maria's dance activities have been lauded by many, and she is consistently invited to participate in performances and showcases. The Washington Post reviewer Sarah Kaufman wrote, “Hers was a dance of time-stopping balances and sky-scraping extensions, infinitely articulated muscle groups...” She also received a humbling mention in Dance Magazine, wherein Lea Marshall described Maria's work as having “...depth and intensity, melding a meditative quality with an expansive strength that rippled through her spine and radiated through her chest.”  

Maria has also danced with Adele Myers and Dancers, Nia Love/Blacksmith's Daughter, and apprenticed with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. She graduated cum laude with a B.F.A. in Dance and English from the Florida State University and is also trained in the art of capoeira, a Brazilian martial art which employs dance.