Carla DeFord has been a free-lance writer, primarily on the arts and education, since 1996.  Based in a suburb of Boston, she is a native New Yorker and a graduate of the City College of New York and Columbia University.  Her work has appeared in such publications as the Boston Globe, Arlington Advocate, Ballet Review, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, School Band and Orchestra, JazzEd, ballet.co, YourArlington.com, and criticaldance.org, among others.  In covering the performing arts programs of the Arlington public schools, her goal has been to spread the word of their excellence, which benefits not only the students involved, but also the community at large through an array of annual musical events.  As a writer on ballet and dance, she combines a literary-critical perspective with the unabashed enthusiasm of a fan.