Ari Girelli

ARI GIRELLI began dancing at the age of 13 after his parents dragged him to their ballroom dancing lesson. From there, he was hooked! It didn’t take him long to realize he had quite a passion as well as a talent for ballroom and began to take dancing more seriously, competing in competitions throughout the region. He has placed first in Regional Fred Astaire competitions, collegiate competitions and NDCA events in latin, rhythm, and standard categories and has been awarded numerous scholarships for his achievements. Prior to discovering dance, Ari was a competitive gymnast for 10 years which later morphed into being a sport martial artist. He had the pleasure of being a member of 100 Percent Performance, traveling around the world to compete on the NASKA circuit. It was here where he learned to teach tumbling.

As an engineering student at UConn, Ari returned to Dance 10 to teach many of the acro classes and has remained one of the acro teachers here since. If he isn’t working in the lab or spotting a student, you can usually find him upside down doing one of those crazy flips!