MEET THE ARTBURST WRITERS: DIANA DUNBAR

Diana Dunbar was a voracious reader from a very young age and while all the kids in her neighborhood were outside playing, she was content to be inside with her nose in a book.

She also became a dancer and found a way to join those two passions when she was given one of her favorite books To Dance, To Dream. It’s the story of dancers who overcame incredible odds in order to dance.

“After I started dancing, I started reading about dance and I loved that book. I found it recently on Amazon it was just as powerful as I remembered,” said Dunbar.

She also took up writing at an early age and kept journals. She wrote poems and short stories, which are her favorite. She studied creative writing at Florida International University under the well-known writer Les Standiford along with journalism. She loved it, and still does.

Writing for Artburst is her next step in melding her two loves. She liked the site so much she approached Editor Anne Tschida because she’s “written for other dance publications like thewonderfulworldofdance, based in London, where I cover the South Florida dance scene,” she said. “But since Miami is my home, I wanted to write for Artburst. I reached out to Anne and here we are.”

She loves being part of Artburst, which she feels is doing a good job covering the arts in Miami.

Being a dancer and a writer, Artburst is the perfect fit for Diana, who is passionate about every aspect of dance. She primarily studied ballet, then moved on to modern, jazz, and flamenco. She’s performed with various local and national companies including Fusion Dance Company, an early Miami professional modern dance company.

She hasn’t stopped dancing and says, “I still take ballet and flamenco classes. Once a dancer, always a dancer.”

Wanting to give back to the community, she created a non-profit organization Dance4acausefl to give young dancers an opportunity to share their passion and talent. They have helped various charities including St. Jude Children’s Hospital, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, and Make-a-Wish Foundation.

“Because I started dancing as a form of therapy I know first hand the profound effect it can have on a child. It brought joy to my life and I would like other children to experience this,” she said.

She is currently working on building a Website for her organization, but you can learn more about it on her Facebook page or via Twitter.