Adriana Blanco

Director, Choreographer, Dancer, and Founder

Adriana's purpose is to accessibly share her passion for cultivating the mind-body connection through movement practices such as: Yoga, Capoeira and Samba no Pé.  Adriana is currently the first year graduate student at UNC Greensboro for her Masters in Fine Arts in Dance.

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NC Brazilian Arts Project
Juan Pablo Blanco

Musical and Capoeira Director & Founder

Juan Pablo initiated his athletic career as a child in Venezuela playing competitive basketball. After graduating high school, Juan Pablo became involved in training martial arts such as Capoeira, (an Afro-Brazilian martial art), Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and professional mixed martial arts.

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NC Brazilian Arts Project
Cristal Chinchayán

Director

Cristal’s dancing takes her all the way back when she was growing up in Peru. Born and raised in Trujillo, Peru she was placed into dance academies like Instituto Nacional de Cultura to learn Peruvian folklore like Marinera Norteña and ballet at a very early age.

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NC Brazilian Arts Project
Courtney Feliz

Assistant Director

Courtney Feliz is a lover of exploring cultures of the African diaspora through dance, music, language, and food. Courtney began her dance journey by exploring Latin dance when she moved to NC in 2015.

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NC Brazilian Arts Project
Edgar Marcano

Co-Musical Director and Percussionist

Originally from Venezuela, Edgar began studying regional percussion through the Popular Culture Workshops of the Fundación Bigott (Caracas) at the age of 10. At 13, he began playing modern drums with professor José Antonio Mato…

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NC Brazilian Arts Project
Alma Campuzano

Choreographer and Instructor

Born in Mexico, Alma began studying dance at age five. Upon arriving in the U.S. she couldn't find a dance academy where she could explore her Latin American identity, so she began taking classes privately with her sister, Selene Stafford.

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NC Brazilian Arts Project
Ariana Martinez

Assistant Instructor

Ariana Martinez began her journey in the arts as a child, growing up surrounded by music and dancing. As an adolescent she began her training in dance, acting and vocals through musical theatre.

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NC Brazilian Arts Project
Andressa Donohoe

Rainha da Bateria

Andressa is originally from São Paulo, Brazil. She started practicing samba and tamborim in Charlotte in 2019. Samba brings Brazil to Andressa even while she's far away, she says it makes her soul alive, vibrant, and happy being in this world.

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NC Brazilian Arts Project
Kayla Cochran

Dancer and Capoeirista

Kayla currently lives in Charlotte and works as a high school teacher and cross country coach. She is a passionate capoeirista, nicknamed Dançarina, and has been part of the NCBAP community for four years.

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NC Brazilian Arts Project
Autumn Locklear

Dancer

Autumn started dancing at age 4. She trained in ballet, tap and Jazz at the Lumberton School of Ballet in Lumberton, NC, and later transitioned to the Karen Jenkins School of Dance in Red Springs, NC.

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NC Brazilian Arts Project
Briana Rinaldo

Dancer

From ballet as a little girl, to being the only high school senior to perform a krump solo at her dance company, dance has been a throughline in Briana's life. She began dancing Afro-Latin styles socially in college and was introduced to samba and Capoeira when she moved to Charlotte.

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NC Brazilian Arts Project
Aisha Cannon

Dancer

Aisha is a Lake Norman, NC native and a lifelong dancer. While she professionally performs Samba and Belly Dance, she has studied many dances from around the world including ballet, modern, Afro-Caribbean, Middle Eastern Folkloric, Classical and Folkloric Indian, and Latin.

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NC Brazilian Arts Project
Reba Bowens

Capoeirista - Instructora

Originally from Charleston, South Carolina, Reba Bowens has been working with dance and capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian art form incorporating acrobatics, martial arts, music, and dance in Charlotte communities and schools.

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NC Brazilian Arts Project
Lady V

Singer

Lady V Poetry is a recording artist, poet, and DJ (DJ Chocolate Rocket) based in Charlotte, NC. Rooted in the church, she started performing at the age of four and hasn't found a mic that didn't call her name.

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NC Brazilian Arts Project
Liza Ortiz

Singer

Liza Ortiz is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Charlotte, NC. Her most recent work includes Latin-influenced electronic music, performing in Bravo Pueblo, and her solo project, La Brava.

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NC Brazilian Arts Project
Wesley Jackson

Musician, Composer, and Capoeirista

Welsey Jackson was born and raised in Charlotte. As a natural athlete, he was always interested in the cultivation of the body. He found Capoeira  through a friend in college when they introduced him to a mestre he went on to study with for two years.

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NC Brazilian Arts Project
Dan Curlin

Percussionist and Capoeirista

Music and arts have always been a big part of Dan’s life. He’s been a part of NCBAP since 2020, but has been heavily influenced by Brazilian culture for many years.

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NC Brazilian Arts Project