Essence McGill Arzu

Essence McGill Arzu (she/her/hers) is the Historian and Legal Counsel for the HBC Graduate Board and is a co-founder of and prior co-director/choreographer for the Harvard Ballet Company.  She graduated in 1994 from Harvard & Radcliffe Colleges with a concentration in Slavic Languages and Literatures with an emphasis on Russian and Soviet Studies and Economics.  She also has a master’s degree in Russian Studies from the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and a juris doctorate from Columbia Law School.  She is a corporate attorney with a general corporate practice, but has experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and nonprofit organizational matters.  She and her husband Aaron (also class of 1994) run their own law firm The Arzu Law Group where they provide a wide range of legal services to entrepreneurs, small/medium size businesses and nonprofits.  Prior to opening the firm, she was a Partner in the Business Department at Boston law firm Foley Hoag LLP.  Dance has always been part of her life and at Harvard her fondest memories are of the joint productions between HBC (HRBC back then), Mainly Jazz and the Ballroom group.  Although now she mostly enjoys dance through her Zumba classes!  Ask her about law, international travel, sports, arts and mentoring.  She currently lives in Somerville, MA with her husband and their golf clubs