teaching
— Teaching
My approach to teaching integrates specific techniques and movement philosophies I have studied and worked with throughout my career as a professional dancer, as well as in my work as a certified Feldenkrais Practitioner.
Physicality — At the core of dance is the body’s expansive capacity for movement. My students are asked to discover and use their full range. The body is challenged. We respect gravity and move right into its field. Our breath can run fast. Our hearts even faster. Strong and clear technique is the foundation of my teaching. And we push it to new levels of mindful physicality.
Curiosity — Kinesthetic self-awareness and intellectual inquiry define my approach to teaching. Questioning is essential. How are you moving your arm? What muscles and bones are you using? What is the head doing as your arm lifts? How does this affect your legs, your torso, your breath? Learning to ask questions as we dance empowers students to explore and create.
Play — In dance, where freedom is so essential, it is important to preserve a place for play. In this way we safeguard curiosity. To open ourselves to a fluid process that allows for surprising outcomes. Making space for self-discovery and adaptability is crucial to each student’s process of learning. Working to identify and leverage those individual qualities is essential to my success as a teacher.
For over a decade, Nathalie served on the faculty of the Department of Dance at Barnard College in New York City. She has also taught at Vassar College, Connecticut College, Manhattanville College, The Kent School, The Masters School, the Lyndon Institute, and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut. She has also taught dance and Feldenkrais at her own performance space, The Living Room, in Cold Spring, New York, as well as at creative arts studios throughout New York City and the Hudson Valley. In 2014, she returned to her alma mater, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas, to teach a series of master classes.
