Giada Matteini
Performer, Educator, Choreographer, Cultural Producer
Giada Matteini (she/her) is an Italian performer, educator, choreographer, and cultural producer based in New York City. She is the Founder and Director of WADE (Wandering Avian Dance Experience), a women-led multifaceted performing arts organization working at the intersection with social justice. Giada holds a full time position as Assistant Arts Professor at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, she is part of their leadership team and directs both their summer program and their musicians for dance.
About the presentation:
The presentation will cover Giada’s 30-year process and research as a ballet educator that is anchored in debunking the idea of ballet as an elitist art form, nurturing the appreciation of the many shapes and sizes of the moving body in the ballet vocabulary, and of gender fluidity in the ballet studio. Somatic work, which takes inspiration from many healing and conditioning modalities such as Bartenieff, Yoga, Pilates, Reiki, embodied physiology and anatomy, imagery, Butoh, meditation and mindful practices invites the participants to discover the complexities, mysteries, and intelligence of their own body as a point of entry into the ballet vocabulary. By unpacking ballet's cultural construction, the radical call of action of this work is to be fully present, trusting and joyous of one’s capability and fullness allowing for unhindered collaborations with other creatives and art forms.
