Aracena obtained first studied communication at undergraduate level. She graduated from the MA in Studies of the
Greater Antilles from the
Centre for Advanced Studies of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean in 1997. In 1990 she worked as part of the team curating Dominican and Haitian artefacts for the creation of the collection of the
Museum of the Americas. She was also worked on the role of culinary traditions in diasporic communities. She is also an expert on the history of
merengue. Research collaborators have included
Jose Francisco Alegria, with whom she undertook field work which led to publication on
Dominican Vudú. In 2022, she was a member of the judging panel for the National Carnival Parade. In the same year, she advocated for the establishment of a specialist college to teach carnival practices, including textile art. == Selected works ==