Nathalia Arja

Nathalia Arja was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she began her training at the age of five at Escola de Dança Alice Arja. At 14, she joined the Companhia de Ballet do Rio de Janeiro, where she also gained recognition in international competitions, earning scholarships to prestigious institutions including The Royal Ballet School, Joffrey Ballet School and Canada’s National Ballet School.

In 2008, at the age of 15, Arja moved to the United States on full scholarship to train at Miami City Ballet School. She joined Miami City Ballet as a school apprentice in 2009 and was appointed to company apprentice in 2010, where she already began to dance principal roles early on in her career. She was promoted to the corps de ballet in 2011, soloist in 2014 and principal soloist in 2016. In March 2020 she was promoted to Principal.

Throughout her career, Arja has originated roles in works by renowned choreographers including Alexei Ratmansky, Liam Scarlett, Jamar Roberts, Pontus Lidberg and Claudia Schreier. In addition, she’s spent 18 years dancing many works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Nacho Duato and William Forsythe among many other world renowned choreographers. In 2015 she was featured on the cover of Pointe Magazine under the title “Breath of Fresh Air.”

In addition to her performance career, Arja has developed a growing body of choreographic work. Her piece Seven Days Walking, created for Miami City Ballet’s Choreographic Workshop, was selected for the Men Who Dance Festival, where it received critical acclaim and was later presented by Madison Ballet as part of a program highlighting female choreographers.

Her choreographic work has also been commissioned and presented across South America, including for the Companhia de Ballet do Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, as well as in the United States for organizations such as Sanctuary of the Arts in Miami. She has also created work for Miami City Ballet dancers through the company’s choreographic workshop, continuing to expand her voice as a choreographer both nationally and internationally.