Mariana, who was born in Colombia and grew up in Montreal, is a multicultural artist. Her ability to transition with ease from one culture to another has allowed her to work as an actor in French, English, Spanish and Italian, all while maintaining their distinct cultural nuances.
In 2011, through an exchange with the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts (NACTA), she completed a Bachelor’s degree with distinction in theater performance at Concordia University. She has been seen on stage at the Segal Centre in the production of The Refugee Hotel by Carmen Aguirre and, more recently, she has toured British Columbia and Alberta with the Vancouver-based theatre company, Théâtre de la Seizième, performing the show Crème-Glacée.
Among her other projects, Mariana has done over 400 shows across Canada and the US with the theatre company, Geordie productions. The show Jabber, by Siminovitch-prize winner Marcus Youssef, in which she had the lead role, received a META award for best new text as well as a Dora award nomination for outstanding production for young audiences. As a writer, the pilot of her web series 514, which she co-wrote with Michel Duchesne, was produced by Pixcom in 2017. She also writes comedic sketches for the collective l’Abécédaire, which are performed every month in Montreal. This year, with support from the CALQ and CAC, she is writing her first play, Guerrières Lunaires.
For Mariana, there is a specific way to travel, when you really connect with locals and learn the ins and outs of a culture, which enable you to grow as a person and become a responsible traveler. She loves working with teenagers and helping them discover new cultures, and new ways of living through the wonderful experience of traveling. It is thus with great enthusiasm that Mariana took up the challenge to become an Alyra CO. She looks forward to creating unforgettable experiences for the travelers she accompanies, whether in Europe or in South America!
