Beginner Contemporary Dance classes at Peridance feature multiple instructor options. Review the instructor methods and styles below and select the instructor who best fits your goals and interests:
1) Mathew James earned his MFA at Tisch School of the Arts in Performance and Choreography, along with his yoga teaching certification at The Perri Institute of Mind and Body. He received his BA at Loyola Marymount University, where he performed repertoire by Barak Marshall and Lillian Barbeito, Co-Artistic Director of BODYTRAFFIC. Mathew has performed works by Bill T. Jones, Shannon Gillen, Felipe Barrueto of Joe Good Performance Group, former NYC Ballet Soloist Nolan T'sani, Kevin Williamson, and Lauren Adams. He has danced professionally with Red Bucket Dance Theatre, Nickerson-Rossi Dance, Los Angeles Movement Arts, and worked extensively in the commercial industry as a dancer and movement director for brands like Diesel Jeans and Disney Channel. Mathew produced his first evening-length work, Hostage in Sovereignty, in 2013. He has choreographed for the Jewish Community Center: Manhattan, collaborated with the creative team of Sonya Tayeh, The Bengsons, and Joe Lampert on the production The Lucky Ones, and performed work by Mat Elder Dance in NYC, Baltimore, and Boston. He currently serves as Artistic Director and Choreographer for U R B A N / T R I B E, which has presented work at Stub Theater in Los Angeles, The Jack Crystal Theater and Access Theater in NYC, The Dance Theater Lab in Purchase, Green Space, and the KnJ Theater.
Class Description: Mathew James ignites the body by weaving ideas from his training as a yoga instructor, competitive wrestler, and dance artist. These blended techniques are delivered through a social and communal environment that cultivates group support and motivation. This class conditions the mind and body through movement focused on the musculoskeletal system, mind-body connection, and testing the body's limits. By adopting yoga philosophies, the class develops keen body awareness, flexibility, strength, power, and balance. The class structure gives dancers a highly physical experience that challenges them both physically and mentally. Come test your boundaries.
Schedules: Thursdays 5:30 PM-7:00 PM; Saturdays 3:00 PM-4:30 PM
2) Mike Esperanza was born in Manila, Philippines and raised in Southern California. He has established himself as a sought-after teacher and choreographer throughout the nation. With a BFA in graphic design from California State University, Fullerton, Mike's approach to visual construction has influenced a unique movement orchestration on stage. His works have been commissioned by prestigious college and university dance programs, including Chapman University, Loyola Marymount University, UNLV, Cal State Long Beach, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and Utah Valley University, among others. Six choreographic works have made regional gala appearances at the American College Dance Festival, with 3 going on to perform at the National Gala at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In 2005, Mike was awarded the "Dance: Creation for Performance" grant from Dance/USA and the Irvine Foundation, and BARE Dance Company was born. BARE has produced numerous shows around Southern California, including the Lester Horton Award-nominated "Manhattan." Mike has been a finalist at the Palm Desert Dance Under the Stars Choreography Festival in 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2010, taking second place in 2009 and winning the paid engagement award in 2010.
Class Description: The class focuses on the understanding of movement construction and its connection to musical phrasing. An environment where students are taught to become present in space and capture the essence of human mobility.
Schedules: Wednesdays 2:30 PM-4:00 PM; Thursdays 2:30 PM-4:00 PM
3) Elisabetta Minutoli is from Rome, Italy and is a ballet and contemporary dance teacher in NJ and NY, a freelance choreographer, and a GYROTONIC pre-trainer and GYROKINESIS trainer. As a choreographer, she has been commissioned for work across Europe and the USA for videoclips, film, orchestra, and theatre productions, and by numerous artists. She has screened her work in over 20 festivals both nationally and internationally.
Elisabetta's work has been presented at Sheen Center, Baruch Performing Arts Center, Steps on Broadway, Martha Graham Theatre, KnJ Theater (Peridance), Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center, Aaron Davis Hall, City College - New York, Green Space in Queens, Maxxi Museum, and Teatro Palladium in Rome, among many other venues. Recent works include "Mother Warrior," a short film created for the Virginia Experimental Film Festival 2021, and the Well Pennies music video "Stressed Out," filmed during the pandemic in 2020.
Class Description: In addition to traditional technique, floorwork and improvisation are introduced. After thoroughly preparing the body, the movement sequence gives each person the opportunity to turn inward and explore movement by drawing inspiration from everyday life experiences, without neglecting technique and choreographic structure.
Schedules: Mondays 1:00 PM-2:30 PM; Fridays 1:00 PM-2:30 PM
4) Alexsander Swader is from Birmingham, Alabama, where he grew up training at the Royal Academy of Dance-accredited Alabama Ballet School. While attending intensives like Hubbard Street Winter Intensive and Nederlands Dans Theater Summer Intensive, they also performed various professional roles with the Alabama Ballet Company. He received a BFA in Dance in 2021 on scholarship from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and performed guest works by artists like Shamel Pitts and Rena Butler. He joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in 2022 as a guest artist for their Season 45: Sapphire Season and YYDC in 2023 for multiple projects, like the world premiere of Nowhere at Chelsea Factory. He continues to work with Yue Yin, rehearsing for performances of Ripple and Through the Fracture of Light at APAP and Nowhere at the Schrittmacher Festival in Germany in 2024.
Between rehearsing and performing with YYDC, Alexsander also maintains a successful freelance career in NYC, including performing in the Wiederhoeft NYFW SS 2024 Fashion Show at LaMama Theater, working as a filmmaker/choreographer at Films That Move film festival in Virginia, and teaching at institutions like Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Alabama Ballet School, Peridance Center, and NYU Tisch School of the Arts Dance Department.
Class Description: Class begins by awakening the entire surface area of the body to bring the nervous system into a heightened state of awareness. We then work through a set of improvisational ideas and tasks designed to build heat, increase blood flow, and gain greater precision regarding movement qualities and pathways. The goals of the warm-up are to find increased physicality, heightened embodiment, challenging athleticism, and, most importantly, the joy of movement. This is accomplished through a light-hearted, low-stakes exploration that fosters a feeling of safety and welcome.
A phrase will be taught during the second half of class. The phrase serves as a tool to discover and better understand qualitative dynamics within the body and how to accomplish them with clarity and ingenuity. It will also be used to explore new movement pathways that challenge the brain-to-body connection. Speed, full embodiment, qualities, textures, morphing, clarity, and articulation are some of the ideas explored in this class.
Schedule: Mondays 7:00 PM-8:30 PM
5) Alexander Anderson is a South Florida native who attended the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Class of 2010. He continued his training at The Juilliard School where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance in 2014. While at Juilliard, his choreography received Choreographic Honors and was featured on the Peter Jay Sharp Theater from 2010-2014. He is a 2012 recipient of the Dizzy Feet Foundation Scholarship Award, a 2013 recipient of the Princess Grace Foundation Scholarship Award, and also received the Alexander Bay Moore Dance Award. Upon graduation, he began his professional career dancing for Nederlands Dans Theater 2 and later joined as a company artist with Nederlands Dans Theater 1. In October 2019, he was mentioned in Dance Europe Magazine by Critic's Choice for "Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer" for his performance in Crystal Pite's "Solo Echo." He is now a freelance artist based in NYC.
Class Description: Alexander's class begins with a mindful, improv-based warm up followed by a movement phrase.
Schedule: Tuesdays 7:15 PM-8:45 PM
6) Brice Mousset is Founder, Artistic Director, and Choreographer of OUI DANSE, a NYC project-based dance company. Born and raised in Paris, France, Mousset studied Biology and Human Sciences at Nanterre University before falling into the world of dance. After an eclectic performing career in Europe spanning musicals, operas, TV, and dance companies, Mousset moved to New York City to begin teaching and choreographing. In both Europe and the USA, Mousset choreographs for OUI DANSE and for film, fashion, circus, operas, and musicals. He has choreographed for Broadway Bares and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, and has taught and created dances for prestigious American dance institutions, including SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance, Point Park University, Alvin Ailey BFA Fordham program, Broadway Dance Center, Peridance Center, Joffrey Ballet School, and STEPS on Broadway. Mousset has choreographed for and performed with Christine Dakin and was selected by Robert Battle for the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation New Directions Choreography Lab. His first work for OUI DANSE, "Travailler," was the Reverbdance APAP award winner for Best Choreography and Audience Favorite.
Class Description: Brice's contemporary class encourages dancers to approach movement with risk, athleticism, abandonment, breath, weight, and focus. While pushing the physical boundaries of the body and playing with lines and techniques, students are invited to explore new ways to move with organic and emotional intentions. The class is divided into three segments:
- Warm up to center the body and articulate muscles and skeleton
- Improvisation to develop artistry and imagination while also discovering the infinite possibilities of the body
- Learning choreography to develop specificity of movement execution, coordination, and memory
Schedules: Tuesdays 11:30 AM-12:55 PM; Thursdays 11:30 AM-12:55 PM
