Born and raised in Brazil, Ingrid Silva began dancing at Dançando Para Não Dançar, a favela based programme that offered training to children who could not afford dance classes. Ingrid was 8 years old when she began training in ballet and although she had always dreamed of becoming a doctor, by age 13 she had decided to dedicate herself to dance.

By age 18, Ingrid had been offered a full scholarship at the Dance Theatre of Harlem Summer and consequently moved to New York, despite not knowing anybody in the state or speaking a word of English. Since, Ingrid has gone on to serve as a cultural ambassador for the US whilst performing overseas and has become an inspirational representative for her homeland of Brazil. 

While Ingrid has travelled back to Brazil to hold dance workshops, similar to the ones that ignited her love of dance when she was a child, she says she has no ambition to open up any dance studio of her own; at least not for now. She says that she doesn’t want children to see her as solely a dancer but as someone they can relate to. 

Outside of ballet, Ingrid has co-created an initiative called ‘EmpowHer NY’ which she says was inspired by “always being surrounded by amazing women” and ‘wanting to create a platform where we could connect each other and spread their story to the rest of the world”. Later in life Ingrid hopes to study psychology and become a dance psychologist, it’s obvious that being a dance, especially a ballet dancer, take a lot of physical strength according to Ingrid “you need to be much stronger mentally”.

 You can follow Ingrid Silva on Instagram @ingridsilva