About Petrina
Music, movement, art and performance, in addition to being interesting and creatively stimulating, benefits people in ways which might be healing to their soul, relationships and psychological well-being.
I began my journey into the arts at age five, dancing beneath the light of a ballet studio's beautiful stained-glass windows in my idyllic hometown of Larchmont, New York. There, I studied ballet, jazz, and tap, and discovered the rush of performance, the thrill of each unique experience and the fundamentals of self-expression.
I danced my way to the University of South Carolina where I explored the scientific workings of the mind, earning a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Business Administration. Working in the field of public relations and marketing afforded me “real-world” business experience in large public relations and marketing firms in New York and San Francisco. Unable to simply sit still in the confines of a cubicle, I further developed my knowledge of movement and fitness, earning a certification from the American College of Sports Medicine as a Health Fitness Instructor with which I taught dance-inspired exercise classes and worked with private clients. However, my love of dance and performance beckoned once more, so, after a number of years in the corporate world, I enrolled in the Dance Arts program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. I studied contemporary dance and choreography and earned my second B.A. degree.
After graduation, I worked tirelessly to achieve my dream of opening my own dance studio & theater with a resident performing company. Threshold Dance Theater was the first contemporary dance studio and performing company in Las Vegas. My mission with TDT was to explore the many issues surrounding human relationships and personal journeys we must trek embark upon, through all stages of life. Essentially, TDT was the culmination of everything I had become and still wanted to be; it fused my knowledge of music, dance, art, performance, psychology, business, marketing, health and fitness.
The languages of self and soul speak in the sounds of our music, the images of our drawings, the movements of dance and the written word. When we dare to confront the depths of our personal and collective experiences, we find the freedom to tell the stories of our lives and release old experiences while creating new ones. Art that arises from and is connected to the real and compelling circumstances of our lives can be illuminating and healing. The symbols of our artwork speak for us as much as they speak to us.
The holistic perspective embraces the creative purpose and power of art to heal, educate and facilitate consciousness and personal growth. Often, what cannot be expressed easily with words can be expressed through movement, music, images and metaphor. Anyone walking the path of growth and transformation will benefit from an embodied, collective, arts-based approach to life.
My interest in the mind/body/soul connection led me to explore the healing arts of traditional Thai massage and Reiki energy work. I incorporated this knowledge into my dance and performances as well as my work with fitness clients. I studied the therapeutic Halprin Life/Art Process and incorporated it into my own life. I initially began drawing for personal reasons and as a way to heal from the pain I was experiencing at that time until a substantial body of visual work began to form. I continue now to refine and develop my drawings, leading me to yet another facet of my creative expression: Petrina by Design.
If you told me 10 years ago that I would today be the Creative Director and Head of Production for a video marketing company, I wouldn’t have believed you; I knew nothing about video production! The creative process manifests itself in all aspects of life, and a true artists finds the expressive potentials of any medium. It turns out that putting together a beautiful video is very much like choreographing a dance; I'm just using a different set of tools.