Meet Adriana Ibarguen

Today we’d like to introduce you to Adriana Ibarguen.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Adriana. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was born and raised in Guatemala City by two hard-working parents who have always supported my artistic career. My mom, being an intellectual and admirable mother figure, had enrolled me in Ballet classes since the age of three. My dad being my financial support pushed me to expand my art and noticed I was more than just a dancer, he saw the singer and interpreter in me.

In my eyes I simply saw an energetic kid who loved dancing and singing while walking around, it has always been part of my nature. I danced all the way through ninth grade having performed various shows throughout the years at a cultural center theatre called “Centro Cultural Miguel Ángel Asturias”. My most memorable performances being Clara from “The Nutcracker”, the Lilac Fairy from “The Sleeping Beauty”, and the Pas de Qautre dance from “Swan Lake”. After having a recurring knee injury, I decided to take a break so it wouldn’t get worse. I was devastated and needed another way to express my art, another passion of mine being singing, I finally gave it a shot. Singing had always attracted many of my supporters since a very young age. They would ask me to sing anywhere I went; a party, restaurants, family reunions, school, literally anywhere. My dad had always told me that I had the gift, and training my voice with technique would only make me improve.

I started taking singing lessons at the age of fifteen with Angelica Rosa, who graduated from Juilliard School of Music. I was trained in Opera Singing which enriched the sound of my voice through learning Opera Technique. Ms. Rosa encouraged me to compete in the World Championship of Dramatic Arts (WCOPA) for the categories of singing, dancing, acting, and modeling. This was the first time I got to experience acting by performing my first ever monologue of Joan of Arc from Fuenteovejuna by Lope de Vega. This monologue made me earn a scholarship to study my Bachelor’s Degree at New York Film Academy in Los Angeles, California. I have always been a performer who loves storytelling and growth, and after falling in love with acting, I decided to leave my home country and move to the City of Angels.

Even though I was leaving my family and all of my friends behind, I knew this was the place I was meant to be at. I started collaborating with other artists creating amazing projects such as a variety of short films, modeling for photographers, creating my own dance choreography, being part of music videos for amazing international singers, and currently working on my thesis project. Having the opportunity to create art with other artists is the best gift that Los Angeles could’ve given me, and I am forever grateful to live here.

Has it been a smooth road?
I’m the type of person who is a firm believer that without obstacles and/or struggles there is no growth, and I’m thankful for every single experience that has led me to where I am today. In my case, my obstacles where related to insecurities; self-doubt, fear of what people might say or think, not being good enough, comparing myself to others, among other things that all artists and humans in general go through at some point in their life. When coming to Los Angeles and starting school at New York Film Academy, I noticed that everyone had a lifetime more experience in acting than I had. I was there to learn, to improve my craft, to expand my knowledge as an actress, but the insecurity that got into me while working with experienced classmates of mine became a huge obstacle to overcome. I started critiquing my art, judging my every mistake, doubting myself, lacking self-love, and the most painful thing was that I started fearing the stage.

The stage was the one thing that made me feel liberated, gave me happiness, gave me creative freedom, and a sense of accomplishment. How could I be at the point of fearing what I love the most? I was prioritizing my insecurities before my passion and happiness. And then I finally realized that I was better than that. I didn’t have my family there to comfort me, I barely had any real friends who I could rely on, it was time to put on my big girl pants and I started working on myself. I started practicing meditation, journaling, and gratefulness. These were my easy steps into organizing my thoughts, being thankful for my every day, placing myself in the present moment, staying optimistic, and giving myself inner peace. The happiness that I created for myself gave me the strength to believe in my talent, I knew I had the gift of storytelling, I simply had to get out of my head and stop being so hard on myself. It sounds easy when writing it, but believe me when I say it was one of the hardest obstacles to overcome in my artistic career.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
The beauty of my art and my work is that I am my own business and my body is my instrument. Other than everything mentioned above, I am proud to say that part of my job to create art is to respect my body, my body is my temple and my instrument, I have to take care of it to be able to work. That is why I’ve cut out so many bad habits out of my routine and I’ve taken mental peace very seriously. This is what allows me to keep growing and expanding my art in different types of performing arts. Ever since I moved to Los Angeles in August 2017, I’ve exploited my talent in the different art forms of singing, acting, dancing, and voice acting. Voice acting is one of the talents not many people know about because I discovered it recently. I was exposed to voice over during the completion of my bachelor’s degree at the New York Film Academy. It came very natural to me since I’ve always found humorous to imitate other people’s voices or to randomly make weird noises at public places. I’ve loved doing this since a very young age, but it gave my parents tremendous embarrassment since my loudness attracted people’s attention making them turn their heads, which I found even funnier.

I personally believe I’m an outgoing, joyful, authentic human who loves providing amusement to others, and what better than bringing joy to others by making fun of myself. I also found the same sensation in different clubs the university offered such as Glee Club and Dance Troop. Glee club expanded my knowledge in harmonizing with a group of people and incremented my range. While dance troop pushed me to expand on different styles of dance. I started learning choregraphies from different dancers who created routines in styles such as: Hip-Hop, Bollywood, Jazz, Contemporary, and Lyrical. I myself created a variety of contemporary pieces that made me acknowledge the choreographer in me. “In This Shirt” was my first ever group choreography, which was dedicated to my best friend back home who had recently been diagnosed with Cancer. I was able to find healing through this piece, and it made him feel incredibly supported even though I wasn’t physically there. That was when I realized the power my art contained. Sharing my art with my family and friends has always been something that gives me tremendous joy. They’re able to realize that the effort of having me study far away from Guatemala has given me notable growth in my art and has made me the dedicated artist that I am, which makes them immensely proud.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t believe my accomplishments or where I stand today have come from luck, they’ve come from hard-work and commitment. Luck doesn’t exist in my vocabulary, I live by the motto “work hard, play hard”. If you work for what you want, the universe will reward you, period. Not gonna lie, the gift and talent that you were born with, have a lot to do with how successful you become. And you may ask “but what is success?”, Well, everyone has their own definition… Success in my opinion is based on your level of growth and accomplishment, success can only be measured when comparing your present self to your past self. I personally feel successful when acknowledging the small steps that I took, because they’ve taken me this far, and I’m thankful for the growth and the experience. It all depends on the goals you set for yourself and how far you’ve come. If you want to feel “lucky” then recognize the journey that has taken you to where you are standing right now, it’s all an accomplishment, your own hard-work.

Society always uses the word “luck” when describing a person who’s become famous, that they were “lucky”, but again it all comes back to what I mentioned, being successful. Success in societie’s eyes will always involve fame, which is something that I really don’t care for. If fame ever comes into my life, I want it to be through people looking up to me as an artist because I have made an impact in their lives that has inspired them to make a positive change. I look up to artists who have created a huge impact encouraging change and growth, that is the type of artist I am. Success is knowing your full potential, and after reaching what seemed impossible then, keep challenging yourself because that will encourage constant growth.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]

Image Credit:
Hugo Arvizu Juan Raymundo Ramos Marina Moawad

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