Maripili Araya
Director Warehouse Dance Complex
Creator of the Contents of the Curriculum of the Conservatory of Performing Arts WDC
Creator of the Contents of the Study Plan for the University Technician of Teachers: Methodology of the Teaching of Jazz Dance (Catholic University)
Co-Director of the Ballet and Jazz Festival DANZA 506
Recognized as one of the most important talent developers in Latin America, Maripili Araya considers herself a passionate artist, a lover of movement, a mentor to many, and a mother of four. With her example of perseverance and resilience, she has overcome great obstacles in her personal and professional life, thus inspiring hundreds of young people to follow her dreams both in the field of professional dance and in their chosen careers. With the philosophy that through dancing you can learn to live, she promotes in her students important values to function successfully in any profession.
With more than 25 years of career in dance and television, Maripili is known internationally for her innovative projects as artistic director and producer, as well as for her performances in several television seasons of dance programs nationally and internationally. . Maripili is remembered for her interventions as a judge in two seasons of the program Bailando por un Sueño, she was also chosen as the first Costa Rican to travel to Televisa, Mexico and be a judge of the First International Dance Championship representing her country. In her early career, she also worked as an actress in the national television series San Buenaventura and later as a presenter of the segment Ponle Ritmo a tu Peso on Xpert TV. She has worked as an advisor and collaborator on Dancing With The Stars Costa Rica (seasons I, II, III, VI and V), as a guest judge on DWTS season VII and as a teacher on the international format program Tu Cara Me Suena 2015, 2016 and 2017 of Teletica Formats. She has been the choreographer and artistic director of a significant number of openings and "curtains" for the program Dancing With The Stars Costa Rica. In 2021 Maripili stars as "Teacher" in the 5th season of Teletica's Nace Una Estrella format, and she directs the cast of floor dancers.
As the director, trainer, and founder of the Warehouse Dance Complex Professional Dance Company, she has choreographed numerous numbers for shows with various companies for live performances and national television. She has also worked as a choreographer for television commercials and music. Over the years, her students and former students have shared the stage with great stars such as: Christina Aguilera, Pitbull, Daddy Yankee, Missy Elliott, J Balvin, Justin Bieber, Maluma and Shaggy among others. They have been on famous stages such as Dancing With The Stars, Billboard Latin Music Showcase and Latin American Music Awards. Her most renowned students have attended international teacher tours and been accepted into prestigious international programs such as Joffrey Ballet School in New York, Tisch at NYU, and Hubbard Street Dance in Chicago.
As an international jury she has been invited to UDANI (Panama) STAGE (Ecuador) WORLD CUP STAGE (Cancún) and in her country she has worked as a judge in CR Open and in the FECOBADE National Competition, a federation of which she is a licensed judge. Maripili has also taught several workshops for teachers and students at the National Congress of Jazz Dance in Puerto Vallarta Mexico, Ecuador and Guatemala.
For years, she has dedicated herself to bringing dozens of Costa Rican dancers to compete internationally at renowned events in New York, Dallas, Minneapolis, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Orlando. Both nationally and internationally, her dancers have received the highest recognition. For several years, Maripili has attended the largest gathering of teachers in the world, the Dance Teacher Summit in New York, where they train thousands of dance teachers from all over the world. Always at the forefront, in 2018 Maripili founded the WDC Performing Arts Conservatory, a program for training high-performance dancers.
