Maida Nunez

She began dancing around her mother’s kitchen in the former Yugoslavia—the country where she was born, and which no longer exists—likely as soon as she could walk. Around the age of nine, she started attending ballroom dance classes at a local gymnasium with the late Edin Lelic, until the war began in 1991.

It wasn’t until much later in life that she began her first serious study of dance. After attending a performance by Ensemble Español in 2011, she was deeply moved, brought to tears, and inspired to seek out flamenco and Spanish dance classes. This search led her to Chiara Mangiameli, with whom she studied for nearly ten years. During that time, she also had the opportunity to learn from Miguel Vargas, Paloma Gómez, David Romero, and Adrián Santana, among others.

In more recent years, she has continued her studies in estilizada with Olivia Serrano and flamenco with Claudia Pizarro-Saume. She also began learning Argentine Tango, studying with the incredible Javier Marzello as well as the 2013 World Champions, Jesica Arfenoni and Maximiliano Cristiani.

Dance has been one of the great loves of her life, and her journey has taught her that it is never too late to begin again. Movement, especially in harmony with music, is as natural to the body as breathing.