Dedicated to Dance Education
roberta “is a great communicator, especially with young adults, and her contemporary style and flair, along with a ‘hip’ approach to her subject matter, make her a very well-liked teacher.” Christine Spizzo, former director of ABT Summer Intensive
roberta received a BA in dance from Adelphi University and has celebrated a distinguished career as a dance educator for over 35 years. For 13 years, she co-directed, dance plus…a whole lot more in Englewood, NJ. Currently, she shares her gift of education as Dance Director at The Performing Arts School @ bergenPAC. roberta remains on the faculty at Steps on Broadway and has left her mark at many American Ballet Theatre’s NYC Summer Intensives having touched the lives of current world renowned, and mainstream, dance artists: Misty Copeland, James Whiteside, Craig Salstein, Blaine Hoven, Skylar Brant, Isabel Boyston and more!
As a guest teacher, she inspires scores of students in countries throughout the world including Israel, Italy, Canada, Norway, Venezuela, and Brazil. Her magic as a master educator results in high-spirited, appreciative dancers of all ages.
“My goal is to make each dancer more physically aware to eliminate bad habits and expand his or her technical abilities!“
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THE MATHES TECHNIQUE – The Body in Dialogue
Modern jazz “technique” with roberta mathes flows organically for 45 minutes to 1 hour and is a strong training system. It is great for all levels, advanced beginner through professional.
Warm-up targets:
- Correcting body, hip alignment, and centering
- Eliminating bad habits and preventing injury
- Improving balance and control while expanding range of motion in muscles and joints
- Core and lower abdominal strengthening through multiply series of round-ups and contraction and release exercises
- Coordination and use of dynamics and musicality
- Increasing longevity in dance
While the “mathes technique” enables the less flexible student to gain greater flexibility, it simultaneously allows the hyper-mobile dancer to gain more strength. The warm-up includes a series of stretching and lengthening exercises which gives all dancers the freedom to release their muscles.
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Dedicated to the Movement
roberta’s diversified choreography is earthy, passionate, and soulful in style including Modern, Lyrical, Latin, and Broadway Jazz. roberta’s keen eye for detail and her ‘ hands-on’ instructional approach even on the Zoom Platform can be helpful to any/every dancer. Teaching dancers how to work ‘on-camera’ effectively and learning about quality change, dynamics, and phrasing is vital nowadays.