Bio
Vania Claiborne is from Charlotte, NC by way of Boston, MA. She holds her BFA in Dance Choreography and a minor in Business Entrepreneurship from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. There she performed multiple works including Bolero by Keigwin+Company, Conversations by Nathan Trice, and Rubrics of Lace by Christal Brown. Vania has performed on various stages including the Kennedy Center and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello for the 50th Anniversary of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Vania continues her dance artistry through choreography. Her work brings collaborations of the black dance aesthetic and modern dance techniques to give a contemporary voice to experiences involving society, ethics, and faith. Vania has set work on regional dance companies, and presented work at Wake Forest Dance Festival produced by Masha Maddux, Fringe Dance, Wimmin@work produced by Andrea Woods-Valdés, Richmond Dance Festival, and the 2019 North Carolina Dance Festival season. Vania has choreographed and directed dance films and most recently the work “inherent glory” that explores the intrinsic dignity of Black Women.
Teaching Experience
My teaching environments include College and Univerisity Dance students, dance studios, nonprofit organizations, after-school & recreational programs, private and public Health & wellness/fitness centers, and the k-12 school system. Student demographics range from new & young dancers to working professionals.
Teaching Approach
The embodied information students bring into the class is room is valuable. The practice of integrating cultural movement patterns into a given technique helps to clarify and refine intended movement outcomes. I believe this approach not only helps develop creative and inventive movers but dancers who more readily bring their whole selves to the space.
