Mariya “Masha” Dashkina Maddux is a professional concert dance performer and a dance educator. A native of Kiev, Ukraine she was first introduced to dance through the classical Vaganova ballet technique. After moving to the United States she studied under the direction of Ruth Weisen at the Thomas Armour Youth Ballet of Miami, FL and ultimately graduated summa cum laude with her BFA from New World School of the Arts under the directorship of Daniel Lewis. Ms. Dashkina Maddux joined the Martha Graham Dance Company in 2007 and rose to the rank of principal dancer, performing major roles in classical Graham repertoire along with works created by some of the most influential contemporary choreographers. She has been featured in Dance Magazine’s “Dancer’s Choice”, and also appeared in projects including Martha Graham Dance Technique DVD, directed by Miki Orihara and Susan Kikuchi, and in a feature film Fall to Rise, written and directed by Jayce Bartok.
In addition to performing, Ms. Dashkina Maddux has collaborated with photographers to capture the art of dance. Most recently her image was selected for the cover of the Dior Magazine issue #26 and The Art of Movement, a highly acclaimed book conceived and created by the founders of NYC Dance Project, Ken Browar and Deborah Ory.
Ms. Dashkina Maddux is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Wake Forest Dance Festival, a free and open to the public day of dance, based in Wake Forest, NC. She is one of the founding members of Movement Migration, a dance collective of seasoned artists based in Charlotte, NC and is an ambassador for the Dancing Angels Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides scholarships to help passionate and committed young dancers fulfill their dreams.
In the summer of 2018, Ms. Dashkina Maddux received the Alto Jonio Best Dancer Award in Calabria, Italy