23 Jul Nateli Ruiz
Nateli M. Ruiz, hispanic business owner of NMR LLC and St. Croix native of the U.S. Virgin Islands graduated from Jacksonville University in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program for Dance. She has been dancing since the age of four. It all began at the Pointe Dance Academy, a Cecchetti classical ballet dance school, in St. Croix, USVI.
Throughout her time at Jacksonville University, Nateli has received several scholarships and awards for her excellence in the Arts. She has had the opportunity to work with companies such as ABT II, David Parsons, Jennifer Muller and Rosero Mccoy. She received a scholarship to work with three time Emmy Award winning legend, Debbie Allen, owner of the prestigious dance school in Los Angeles the ‘Debbie Allen Dance Academy’. She attended the DADA Summer Intensive as a Scholar Recipient in 2008 and again as a Resident Assistant for DADA in 2016. Nateli landed a job in Orlando, FL with Debbie Allen to perform for ABC’s 2010 Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade as a backup dancer for Grammy Award winning musical artist Mariah Carey.
Nateli’s love for teaching has brought her opportunities to teach multiple masterclasses as a guest speaking artist in residency at schools across the U.S. region. She has taught and showcased her choreography to students at colleges like the Florida State College in Jacksonville, Jacksonville University, Salem State University, North Carolina Central University, Georgia State University, Spelman College and Emory University.
In 2017, Dream a World Education brought Nateli to Los Angeles, CA as a dance instructor for their newest program, ‘Dance in America’ where children learned about the historical values of various dance styles and context for how it is a reflection of the place and time in which people live.
Signed with the Movement Talent Agency in Los Angeles since 2017, Nateli is submitted for any upcoming auditions, tours, commercials, music videos, musicals, TV shows, films and more. Nateli has danced with ‘iLuminate’ as one of the illuminating dancing robots known from the hit show ‘America’s Got Talent’ founded by Miral Kotb. She has also traveled to Pietrasanta, Italy as an assistant choreographer for Kevin Stea at the International DAP Festival ran by artistic director Adria Ferrali in 2018. During her time in Italy, she assisted in leading workshops for DAP and was one of the featured performers in the grand gala showing at The Versiliana.
During her time at MTA, Nateli worked under top industry choreographers. Ryan Heffington, Richy Jackson, Chuck Maldonado, Nick & RJ, Kevin Stea, Leo Moctezuma, HiHat, Antoine Troupe, Michael Rooney and Charm La’Donna to name a few. She has performed live with New Zealand singer, song-writer Lorde at the ‘Glastonbury Festival’ in London and for celebrity musical artist Lady Gaga in her 2020 debut music video ‘Stupid Love’ and. She shot commercials for major companies like Apple & Adidas as well as danced live on ABC’s ‘Little Mermaid Musical Live’ . You can also find her dancing on HBO’s TV series ‘Euphoria’ featuring pop icon Zendaya.
Due to Covid-19, Nateli became bi-coastal moving back to Atlanta, GA. In 2023, she signed to Aligned Stars Agency appearing on a Netflix film directed by Tyler Perry, ‘A Jazzman’s Blues’ & Showtime network series ‘The First Lady’ featuring Viola Davis. Residing the ATL, the international commercial artist continues to perform, travel, direct and choreograph her own productions. She consistently teaches pre-professional and professional dance artists around the globe spreading her profound love for dance.