Diego Salterini, the founder and artistic director of Dance NOW! Miami, hails from Rome, Italy. In 1997, he moved to the United States after a highly successful career as a lead dancer and assistant choreographer for popular Italian television and theater productions. In the US, he has performed with esteemed companies such as Michael Uthoff Dance Theater, Dance Through Time, Momentum Dance Company, and Karen Peterson & Dancers. Diego’s training was under the guidance of Maestro Roberto Salaorni, whom he considers his mentor, including renowned artists and master teachers Flavio Bennati, Michelle Ellis, Mamy Raomeria, Daniel Lewis, Ranko Yokoyama, Luc Bouy, Max Stone, Susie Taylor, Roger Dillhaunty, and Michelle Kadison. As a choreographer, Diego has created more than fifty original works, including collaborations with choreographers such as Hannah Baumgarten (USA), Fernando Duarte (Portugal), and Emiliano Candiago (Italy). His team of collaborators includes Bruce F. Brown (scenic designer), Davidson Jaconello (composer), Federico Bonacossa (composer), and Haydee and Maria Morales (costume designers). Diego’s diverse body of work has been presented in nine states as well as in Europe, Central, and South America. As the artistic director of Dance NOW! Miami, Diego has produced and presented original and repertory works by esteemed artists such as Tandy Beal, Colleen Farnum, Roberto Salaorni, Chris Rudd, Anthony Velasquez, Jon Lehrer, and has also reconstructed historic works like Isadora Duncan’s Harp Solo, Ave Maria, Dubinushka, Varshavianka, José Limón’s La Malinche, Waldstein Sonata, A Choreographic Offering (excerpt), There is a Time (excerpt), and Gerald Arpino’s Light Rain Pas De Deux, Touch Me, and The Relativity of Icarus. For over 30 years, Diego has dedicated himself to teaching and has worked with prestigious organizations including New World School of the Arts, FIU, Miami City Ballet School, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Atlanta Ballet School, Mercyhurst College, Ballet Stagium, Mostra Dança, Molinari Art Center, I.A.L.S., and Conchita Espinosa Academy. He has also served as a jazz dance adjudicator for Young Arts and was a faculty member at the Interlochen Summer Camp for 15 years. Since 2012, Diego has been a faculty member at the Joffrey Ballet School NY Summer Programs. He currently serves as a master teacher, recruiter, and, since 2024, the artistic director of the Joffrey Italy program. In 2021, Diego was elected to the board of the Florida Dance Education Association.