Marcela Gómez Lugo shares her story of relocating to the US from Puerto Rico to pursue her professional career in dance. Now, she's dancing with Ballet 314 in St. Louis while supporting the company as an administrative assistant and choreographer. Listen now to learn more about the ways Marcela is working to share her ancestors' stories through her art.

Marcela Gómez Lugo was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and began her pre-professional training at the age of fourteen at Andanza School of Dance, where she studied under the Cuban Ballet Methodology. She is a 2019 graduate of Mercyhurst University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and minors in Dance Pedagogy and Psychology. Marcela began her professional career as a trainee with The Big Muddy Dance Company (St. Louis Dance Theatre) before joining Ballet 314, where she is now the Executive Assistant and in her fourth season as a resident artist. As an educator, she specializes in making classical ballet accessible to the community and has designed dance curricula for studios across St. Louis. As a choreographer, Marcela’s work merges her Caribbean and Latin American heritage with her classical ballet and contemporary dance training. She is proud to have co-created Chocolat, an original children’s ballet that brought together a coalition of Puerto Rican artists. In March 2025, Chocolat will tour in Chicago as part of an invitation from the Puerto Rican Chicago Cultural Center. In addition to her work as a dancer, educator, and choreographer, Marcela has extensive experience in non-profit administration and social media.

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