Mirella performed as a classical dancer in the 1970s and has taught classical ballet for professional dancers and students over many years at different institutions. Her teaching at Trinity Laban has included classical ballet, education studies and supervision of dissertations at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She is an external examiner for other dance programmes in higher education and has worked closely with others in the sector to further the development of contemporary dance as a subject of study at degree level.

Mirella trained as a dancer at Arts Educational School and undertook her teacher training at London College of Dance and Drama. She has a Masters degree in Dance Studies, for which her specialist study was "American Modern Dance: the Significance of Merce Cunningham".