Ami Aguiar-Riley
Artistic Director: Ami Aguiar-Riley
Ami Aguiar-Riley, is a mother, wife, and a choreographer/instructor who was born and raised here in Miami Florida. Ami has been training in all the classic Dance forms for 16 years. She trained at several local studios for 10 years as a company dancer in Jazz, Tap, HipHop, Lyrical and Contemporary. She has also studied under some of the finest teachers and choreographers in the dance world such as: Tabitha & Napoleon Dumo, Mandy Moore, Brian Freidman, Gregory Hines, Ray Leaper & Frank Hatchet to name a few.
All of these accomplishments as a student are only the beginning of Ami’s talent as a Dancer. She has been able to cross-over from being a dedicated dancer to accomplished teacher and choreographer. Ami has been teaching for the past 10 years at several local Miami Studios and also guest teaches Master classes at different locations around South Florida. Her choreography has consistently won numerous awards and national recognition.
Some notable accomplishments include:
At age 16 Ami was chosen to participate in the Super Bowl XXXIV half time show where she danced with Gloria Estefan, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Savion Glover and Stevie Wonder.
In 2001 Ami was one of the Instructors for the North Florida Noise Dance Convention held in Gainsville Florida.
In 2001 She was chosen to choreograph a piece for the 2001 Film Festival held in Miami Beach Florida.
In recent years, she has won several high scoring choreography awards from Dance Rave, LA Dance Force, Jump, West Coast Dance Explosion and New York City Dance Alliance.
Recognition for Ami has come both at the dancer and choreographer level. At the 2006 “The Pulse” convention in Ft. Lauderdale she received a personal invitation from So You Think You Can Dance’s very own Brian Freidman, to join him at his exclusive 2007 Intensive Program in New York City.
In 2007 Ami participated in the 2007 “FRESH MASTERS” HipHop Showcase under the Choreography of esteemed HipHop Choreographer Tawanna Hall-Charleton.
Beginning in 2005 up through 2007 Ami was the Artistic Director of a very successful Performing Arts summer camp program with her former employer. During Ami’s tenure at the summer program she was responsible for turning the program around and increasing its original enrollment by over 300%.
Moving forward, Ami will be the Artistic Director of Artistic Soul Studios. Backed by a highly qualified management and teaching staff, she will bring a fresh and updated philosophy to what a Performing Arts Studio should be all about.