AVE MARIA, Fla.- Ave Maria University is pleased to announce Clara Garcia as the head coach of the AMU competitive dance program. Garcia will guide the program into its second year of competition as one the few collegiate competitive dance teams in the state of Florida.

Ave Maria Vice President and Director of Athletics Joe Patterson stated Garcia was well-equipped to take the reigns of the dance program.

"We think Clara is the perfect person to take the team into its second year of competition," Patterson said. "She brings great knowledge and a great sense of purpose to the position."

"This is a unique opportunity to be able integrate both my passion for dance and my passion for the faith," Garcia added. "Joining Ave Maria University as the head competitive dance coach is a gift from God, and I only hope that I can bring my best foot forward towards this wonderful AMU family."

Garcia most recently taught select ballet, jazz, and lyrical classes at Edna Lee Dance Studio in Maryland for competitive middle school and high school level dancers.  

As a dancer, she is proficient in ballet, jazz, tap, musical theater, lyrical, contemporary, modern, and pointe styles, while also possessing knowledge in acro and ballroom dancing. She competed throughout her childhood, and placed regionally and nationally for both solo and group competition.

Garcia is a graduate of the Catholic University of America, where she earned a Bachelor's of Music degree, concentrating in Musical Theater Performance, with minors in Dance and Theology.  Additionally, she performed in musicals at the university including 9 to 5 and The Threepenny Opera, and she choreographed for Lumina Theatre Company in Baltimore

Garcia remarked that her goal is not only to develop championship-level dancers, but to produce quality graduates of Ave Maria University.

"I pray that throughout the course of the year, these students will feel more confident in their performance abilities while continuing to grow and thrive in their spiritual and intellectual formation," she said. "It is my hope that these students may succeed not only in their future professions, but also in their journeys as good-hearted individuals, so that they may all be lights to our world."

Prospective dancers interested in the competitive dance program can fill out a recruiting questionnaire, available on AveMariaGyrenes.com