Tiana Ozolins was born in Antananarivo, Madagascar and grew up in Southwest Virginia. She began dancing at the Center of Dance under Carol Crawford-Smith, a former dancer with Dance Theater of Harlem. She continued with Southwest Virginia Ballet, dancing in their junior and senior pre-professional company. Under Pedro Szalay’s direction, she participated in community outreach for local elementary schoolers. Throughout her pre-professional training, she attended intensives at American Ballet Theater, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and Cincinnati Ballet. In 2017, she graduated and went on to work towards a BA in Dance with a minor in professional writing at Goucher College. Through Dancers of Color Coalition on campus, she choreographed a five minute work on five dancers. She performed in Jessica Lang’s Prayers and Durante Verzola’s Symphony Dramatique. During her undergraduate education, she studied dance abroad in Paris, France, taking movement workshops with Nathalie Pubellier and Heidi Weiss. After graduating, she danced with Milwaukee Ballet II and Rochester City Ballet as an apprentice. In 2023, she joined Chattanooga Ballet as a company artist and got to perform works by Silas Farley, My’Kal Stromile, and Dwight Rhoden, to name a few. She is now entering her second season with Chattanooga Ballet.

Source:

Tiana Ozolins, Chattanooga Ballet

See also:

Dancing With ADHD: The Challenges, Surprise Benefits and Tools to Cope, Pointe Magazine

Social media:

Instagram @tianaozolins