About the Author: Ariyañāṇa
About the Author: Ariyañāṇa
2003-2015: Flamenco dancer (Spain, Brazil, USA, PRC, South Korea, Netherlands, Canada, and others). Highlights:
- 1st Prize in “Festival Flamenco de Almeria”.
- 1st Prize in “Premio Extraordinario de la Danza de la Comunidad de Madrid”.
- Choreographer and soloist in “Hearbeat of Home” from the producers of Riverdance.
2015-2022: meditation (Myanmar) (here).
2016-present: Theravāda Buddhist monk for (Calculate yours)
2022-present: student and English teacher at Intl. Inst. of Theravāda (Sri Lanka) and public speaker on Dhamma and meditation.
Bhante Ariyañāṇa, born Stefano Domit Cervo in Brazil, is a former flamenco dancer who captivated global audiences with his performances until 2015, when he embarked on a transformative quest as a Theravāda Buddhist monk.
Artist Years
Inspired by his mother, a flamenco dancer herself, he, at the age of 11, followed in her footsteps, initially playing percussion and then dancing, teaching, and choreographing. Later, at the age of 17, he moved to Spain, the homeland of Flamenco, where he achieved significant acclaim including first place at the Festival Flamenco de Almería (2013) and the "Premio Extraordinario de Danza de la Comunidad de Madrid" (2015). As a choreographer and soloist, he participated in Heartbeat of Home, a production of the creators of the global phenomenon Riverdance.
In collaboration with top-notch flamenco artists, he performed in venues ranging from traditional tablaos such as "Las Carboneras" in Madrid to iconic concert halls such as Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw alongside Maria Juncal and Alfonso Losa. His short but dynamic career took him across the Americas, Europe, and Asia, with critics praising him as a dancer with "stately carriage" and "rapid-fire heelwork," combining "incredible rapidity and precision" in "passion filled, fiery flamenco numbers" that were "truly captivating" and "incredibly moving and powerful." In the words of the iconic dancer Antonio Canales: "He (Stefano) uses everything he has learned, thought, worked on, and felt to shatter it into a thousand pieces of emotion, making the viewer's heart skip a beat…"
Monkhood
In spite of the ever-growing artistic success, in 2015, seeking deeper meaning and inner peace, he embarked on a transformative inner journey. A retreat with Thomas Dhammadīpa in India introduced him to Theravāda teachings, leading him to the Pa Auk tradition in Myanmar. There, he spent approximately seven years, first as a layperson, and then as a monastic as Ariyañāṇa, under the guidance of Pa Auk Sayadaw, his preceptor, and other teachers such as V. Kumārābhivaṁsa.
Continuing his spiritual path, in 2022, Bhante Ariyañāṇa joined the Nissayamuttaka course at the International Institute of Theravāda in Sri Lanka where he now deepens his traditional Theravāda Buddhist studies and leads the English Language studies for monastics.
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About the Site
I began this website as an experiment. I’m not sure how useful it will be, but I think that, among other things, it might help me:
- keep track of and further my Dhamma projects and that of others
- spread the Buddha Dhamma
- have a bigger positive impact and help more people
Let’s see!