Margarita Armas is from Miami, Florida and was raised in a large Peruvian community that celebrated the many art forms of Peruvian culture, including dance. Throughout her childhood she learned dances of Northern and Southern Peru, and participated in traditional dance competitions. Margarita’s parents are trained dancers and inspired her passion for her Peruvian culture and love of dance, training her in traditional dances including Marinera Norteña. She began her ballet education at Artistic Dance Center and Miami City Ballet School. At age 15, Margarita was selected by Miami City Ballet Company to perform in the company’s 2015/2016 season, including their tour to New York City and Chicago. 

In 2018, she was the recipient of the Silver Award in the YoungArts Ballet Category and upon joining Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Professional Division program, was nominated by the company for a Princess Grace Foundation USA Dance Award for her talent and potential to impact the art form. The following year, she choreographed at The Guggenheim Museum in New York City for a collaboration with Dance Lab New York and The Joyce Theater, “Female Choreographers of Color in Ballet”. In 2021, during her final year as a Professional Division student, she choreographed a digital work for Pacific Northwest Ballet’s 2020/2021 season which explored her cultural identity in collaboration with members of the Kuyayky Foundation and Harvard Professor Dr. Américo Mendoza-Mori (Faculty Director of Latinx Studies Working Group) in the implementation of the Quechua language. 

Margarita is now pursuing her career as a freelance choreographer and has recently received two commissions from Artistic Director Lourdes Lopez for Miami City Ballet. She created a solo, Geta, for the company’s 2022 tour to Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Margarita has also created original works for the Miami City Ballet School in 2019 and 2023. She will premiere a new work titled Analogo in February 2024 as part of Miami City Ballet’s Winter Mix concert, alongside Alexei Ratmansky’s Concerto DSCH and George Balanchine’s Firebird. Ms. Armas’ most recent work was created on NYC Emerging Artist Project.