We recently connected with Dario and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Dario, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I was very young when I discovered my passion for the performing arts… Perhaps around 7 or 8 when I moved to NYC from CO. I am so grateful to my family, friends, and mentors for their incredible support through my artistic journey. Although I may not have known exactly what I wanted to do professionally since I was so young, I knew I wanted to dance, be on stage, and be an artist in some capacity. When I was a baby, my parents would play Riverdance on the VHS and I would bang my hands on the high-chair to the beat, so I guess you could say that was one of my first experiences with music and dance! Since then, I have been fortunate enough to perform on Broadway, international tours, dance festivals, TV/Film, and more.

Dario, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Dario, and I’m a performer, choreographer, creative, and dance educator specializing in tap dance, based in New York City. I’ve been involved in the arts for as long as I can remember—whether performing on Broadway or building my hand-dyed yarn and knitting business, Knitarelli. Creativity is a daily practice for me, and I surround myself with people who inspire and challenge me.

I started dancing around age four and picked up knitting around age seven, so my artistic journey began early. Over the years, I’ve found ways to merge my background in dance with my love for fiber arts, shaping a unique brand that reflects the rhythms and textures that fuel me as an artist.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

One of the most rewarding parts of founding Knitarelli, my hand-dyed yarn and knitting business, is seeing customers share their finished projects made with my yarns or patterns. It brings me so much joy to see people invest their time and resources into creating sustainable fashion using my products, and I’m deeply grateful for the support of this community.

Another thing that is incredibly inspiring to me is when I see my fellow performers and creatives becoming interested in the fiber arts world because of my creations. I have always loved the idea of blending both artistic communities together, so when I am able to see this happen, it fuels my creativity even more.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Shopping and sharing are tangible ways to support small businesses and artists, of course. But even more importantly, continuing to cultivate artistic communities, whether online or in person, is how we build a world that sparks creativity and prioritizes the arts, especially when it can feel like the world doesn’t always support them.

Contact Info:

• Website: darionatarelli.com knitarelli.com
• Instagram: @dario_natarelli @knitarelli

Image Credits

Taylor James Photography