Arialle Kennedy Smith, a native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, began her formal dance training at Ballet Spartanburg under the direction of Carlos Agudelo and ballet mistress, Lona Gomez.
During her formative training years, she studied as a scholarship student with premiere schools such as: North Carolina Dance Theatre and South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts & Humanities. To further her studies, she moved to New York City and trained as a fellowship (scholarship) student at The Ailey School. For three years she immersed herself into this hub while studying with master teachers: Ana Marie Forsythe, Milton Myers, Graciela Kozak, and Jacqueline Buglisi.
Since the completion of her studies, she has taken the advantage to indulge in her technical diversity by performing as a featured dancer with Columbia Classical Ballet, Footprints Dance Company, Soul Movement, and Surati Indian Dance Company. She has also been fortunate to perform both internationally--traveling through east and west Europe, Canada, and Caribbean with Emmy Award winning RWS & Associates/Holland America and locally in a feature film, Bolden.
In 2016, Arialle opened up her own dance studio where she teaches dancers ages 3-18 and has taught locally at Carver Middle School, Converse College. She has choreographed and sold out original shows including, Chocolate Cinderella, and Legacy of Snow White.
Recently, she was the choreographer for Spartanburg Little Theater’s, The Color Purple.
When Arialle is not dancing/ teaching/ or choreographing she is a mom, wife, and founder of Momma Magnolia, LLC under which she practices as a birth doula/placenta encapsulation specialist/newborn photographer. Her desire is to be an inspirational presence in the lives of women by simply being. As a Doula, a teacher, and a mother she has always found herself at the intersection of service and care-giving while nurturing people and their families. She believes that life should be experienced from a multi-dimensional perspective to create space for broader understanding of life.
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