The Ailey School

Mari O’Donnell grew up in Fort Wayne, IN where she was trained in classical ballet at The Fort Wayne Ballet under the direction of Karen Gibbons-Brown. Mari also danced in the pre-professional division at the Atlanta Ballet in Atlanta, GA.  Mari moved to New York City to train at The Ailey School, graduating with a Certificate of Dance with honors. During her time at Ailey she performed in works by Earl Mosley, Milton Myers, Camille A. Brown, and Troy Powell, among others. She also travelled to Burgos, Spain under the direction of the late Kazuko Hirabayashi.  In New York, Mari performed with DanceIquail!, The VonHoward Project, and was a guest artist for Earl Mosley’s Institute for the Arts, and The Albano Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker. Mari is currently the Artistic and Executive Director at Barriskill Dance Theatre School in Durham, NC.