Meet Martina Viadana | Professional Dancer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Martina Viadana and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Martina, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
“Everything takes the time that it takes”

My boss and mentor Hope Boykin started saying that to me a few years ago and now I take it everywhere with me.
Especially with dance but also life, rushing the process of anything and/ or expecting change overnight is so unrealistic. I am an over thinker and I am constantly thinking about what I have to do next which leads me to thinking I’m falling behind and failing which is false! This quote takes the anxiousness I feel as well as taking away the comparisons I make to other dancers. This quote brings me a level of calm that I constantly need in my life.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The thing that I am most proud of which is also the aspect of myself that I think sets me apart, is my hard work and uphill obstacles, that I have faced throughout my dancing journey. Growing up doing mostly ballet. I was often criticized for not having the ballet, body and proportions that could make me successful. But I was so stubborn in knowing that I wanted to be a dancer that I continued until I realize that Ballet wasn’t the type of dance that was making me the happiest. With that, my body image problems started at a very young age with confusion, and then acceptance of realizing that I didn’t have the body that can make me successful in the Ballet world. But I knew I had the passion, the heart and the dedication to be successful in dance, so when I found modern dance to be the thing that made me the happiest, I dove headfirst into it. It was not easy at all, and I am constantly trying to overcome many challenges and of course, as I get older, a lot more other challenges present themselves. For example, mental health, as well as out of the studio relationships. It has gotten to a point where I have faced so many obstacles that now when I do get chosen for dance jobs and are given huge responsibilities, that I am so honored and grateful to have, I experience some type of imposter syndrome, and I believe that I don’t deserve it. That is my biggest challenge that I face today, is believing that what I am being given is what I deserve and not a mistake. The biggest lesson I learned is that not everyone’s path is straight and not everyone’s path is just one. We are all different human beings, and to compare and expect that we all go down and experience the same roads is extremely unrealistic. I want the world to know about me that I have worked hard and I have continued to work hard today for everything that I’ have.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If the weather is nice, I am a huge fan of just walking around Manhattan. It may seem like a big island, but covering a lot of it doesn’t take a lot of time. I love walking around the Union Square area and heading down south towards Houston and also exploring Houston basically all the way down to Canal. At Union Square you hit one of my favorite bookstores which is the Strand bookstore. It is a New York City iconic store which we almost lost during COVID. Once you grab a book and do some shopping at a thrift store. like crossroads, I would head down to Washington Square Park. This park has always very interesting characters and a bunch of young people from the nearby University called New York University. From there I would start heading down to Houston. I hit another one of my favorite thrift stores. It’s extremely tiny and I always forgot the name of it but I always hit it. Once I’m on Houston, I start heading a little bit east, and try to find the cobblestones and all the fun designer shops that are in that area. Going home and resting up for a minute is needed next. I have gone to a million restaurants in New York at this point in my life, but for some reason, I can’t stop thinking about El Centro in Hells kitchen, which is my favorite Mexican restaurant in New York. It has the best frozen margaritas on this planet and it’s just the perfect environment to gossip and chat and have fun with your friends. My two top favorite places to go dancing right now are Joy face in the East Village, and Le Bain, which is in Chelsea. Le Bain has two levels, one level is a DJ with a dance floor and the upper level is a huge roof top overlooking the whole entire Manhattan skyline. It is my favorite spot in New York, I love going dancing here, and I love bringing friends here. Joy face in the East Village is all 70s themed with great music to dance to and you’re guaranteed to dance on table tops with your friends until 4 o’clock in the morning.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Credit: My parents – Michela Boschetto and Gilberto Viadana
My mentor and boss – Hope Boykin
My dance school – The Ailey School

Instagram: Martina_viadana360

Image Credits
Any dance photos – Hope Boykin