Shirin Stave-Matias
Training:
Shirin Stave-Matias received her early training in New Jersey, attending the Princeton Ballet from 1972-75 studying with Alexei Yudenich, and later performing in the company in roles such as: Snow Queen and Lilac Fairy in the Nutcracker, and a friend in Coppelia.
From 1975-78 Shirin attended first the School of American Ballet and then the Joffrey Ballet School, on scholarship. Her teachers included: Alexandra Danilova, Muriel Stuart, Basil Thompsen and Meredith Baylis. Shirin also studied contemporary and ethnic dance forms from: Andre Kulyik, Lynn Simonson, Fred Benjamin, Charles Moore, Loremil Machado, and Elena Lentini, among others.
In addition, from 1990-2011 Shirin was a disciple of Sri Swami Bua Ji, M.H.Y. and served on the Board of Directors of the Indo-American Yoga Vedanta Society, Inc. in NYC, of which he was the Founder.
Professional Experience:
Shirin danced professionally in New York City for: Ballet Hispánico, the Fred Benjamin Dance Company, Samba Rio, José Coronado & Dancers and with her husband, Fausto Matias, among others. In 1979 she was a member of the San Antonio Ballet, in Texas, and in the Amsterdam, the Netherlands she was a member of Jazz Exention Dance Theatre, under the Direction of Henny Kammerman. Later Shirin worked with other independent choreographers and projects performing in the United States, Canada, Holland, Greece, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Portugal, in: theaters, festivals, site-specific venues, fairs, flash mobs, celebrations and openings; some of which included: The Festival of Fools, in Athens, Greece, The Festa dos Tabuleiros, in Tomar, Portugal, SKITE festival of International Artists, in Lisbon, Portugal, Toronto's fringe Festival, the 'Festas' of Lisbon, and Harlem's Dancemobile series, to name a few. Shirin appeared in national films, commercials & videos becoming a member of Screen Actors Guild. In 1985 she served as a juror to a Southeastern dance competition, in the USA.
Choreographies & Choreographic Distinctions:
>1975 - 'Young Choreographers Award' for "Country Dances" - National Association for Regional Ballet
>1980-82 - Presented various choreographies - Noordwyske Ballet School, Holland
>2003-2015 - Numerous choreographic projects in Portugal via Soradi Dance, Portugal
>2012- 2015 - Co-creator/Soradi Dance - Massive intergenerational socially engaged flash mobs- for Dance Anywhere®, World Dance Day, The Trays Festival, among others
> 2015 - Arte Laguna Prize- Venice, Italy - 'First Selection' in Performance for 'The Table' ("Footnotes Troika & the Kali Yuga")
> 2015 - World Dance Congress - Athens, Greece - Video presentation: "Footnotes from Troika & the Kali Yuga"
> 2014 -"Footnotes from Troika & the Kali Yuga"- Premiere w/ installation - Clube Thomarense- Tomar, Portugal
>2015 - "Footnotes from Troika & the Kali Yuga" - Performance work w/ installation - Clube Thomarense- Tomar, Portugal
>2015 - "Nada" (section from 'Footnotes from Troika & the Kali Yuga') Presentation of performance work w/ multi-media for opening of performance space Lagares del Rei, Tomar, Portugal
> 2016 -Arte Laguna Prize- Venice, Italy- 'First Selection' in Performance for "Azizam, Azizam" (from "Footnotes Troika & the Kali Yuga")
Teaching:
Shirin has taught at various institutions in the United States, such as:
The Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Indo-American Yoga Vedanta Society Inc., Beth Israel Hospital, Steps Dance Studio, Princeton Ballet, Upper Manhattan Task Force Against Aids, SKITE-International Festival of Dance Artists, the New York City Public Library, and Monte Mariposa Center for Human Development, among others.
Internationally, she has taught in Canada, Holland and guest taught in the early 80's in Porto and later Lisbon, Portugal by invitation of Rui Horta.
Most Recently (as of 2016) Shirin relocated to the USA and is teaching at the following New Jersey locations:
-The Breast Cancer Resource Center, Princeton
-Princeton Adult School
-Plainsboro Township (Recreation Department)
-The Dance Corner, West Windsor
-Yoga Soul, Princeton Junction
-Gratitude Yoga, Princeton
-The Elms of Cranbury (assisted living facility)
-Princeton & Plainsboro Fitness & Wellness
-Family YMCA of Princeton
Recent Teaching experiences include:
>2014-2015 Shirin designed a program and taught for oncology patients at the Our Lady of Grace hospital in Tomar, Portugal using Creative Therapy as an alternative practice to their existing treatment.
Recent Special Workshops include:
> 2017 Plainsboro Fitness & Wellness: Guided Meditation Workshop
>2016 Princeton Center for Yoga & Health-Workshop: Chair Yoga
>2016 Princeton Center for Yoga & Health-Workshop: Creative Therapy
>2016 Montessori School-Workshop: Creative Movement for children
>2016 Merwick Care & Rehabilitation-Workshop: Creative Therapy Workshop
Certifications/Awards/Acknowledgements:
>1990 Paraprofessional Pre-Service Training- NYC Board of Education - Office of Professional Development & Leadership Training
>2001 - Certificate of Completion -Disciple of Hatha Yoga under the auspices of Swami Bua Ji
>2003 - Certificate of Achievement- Devotee- Hatha Yoga - Swami Bua Ji
>2011 - Dance for PD® Introductory Training Workshop - the Mark Morris Dance School -Brooklyn Parkinson Group - dance for people afflicted with Parkinson's disease.
>2015 - Member - International Dance Council CID - UNESCO
>2015 - Dynamic Mindfulness for Stress Resilience Training - Level 1 - The Niroga Insitute
>2015 - Statement of Accomplishment with Distinction- Art of the MOOC- Merging Public Art and Experimental Education- Duke University/Creative Time
>2015 - Certificate of Participation- 40th World Congress on Dance Research -Athens, Greece
>2016 - Certificate - Community Action Training - Gibney Dance
>2016 - Certified- Autism Movement Therapy® Level II certification
>2016 CPR Certification
>2017 - Member - International Dance Council CID - UNESCO
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Fausto Matias
Fausto Matias is a Portuguese born dancer/choreographer/producer, performance artist and dance teacher who worked professionally in the United States for thirteen years.
Training:
Matias received his early training in Portugal with teachers such as: Carlos Caldas and Rui Horta. Later he received a scholarship in New York City at Broadway Dance Studios, where he studied different dance styles as well as Tai Chi, and Hatha Yoga with Sri Swami Bua Ji.
Performance Experience & Choreographic Distinctions:
Mr. Matias has performed internationally with various dance companies, choreographers and projects such as: Ann Carlson, Jody Oberfelder, Jelon Vieira's DanceBrazil and Nancy Duncan's CoDanceCo, and has vast professional experience as a performer, choreographer and director, having worked on stage, in television, video and film.
Matias has presented his own performance work in the USA, Canada, Mexico, and Europe.
In New York City his work has been presented numerous performance spaces such as:
The Kitchen, DTW/Fresh Tracks Series, Wave Hill/Dancing in the Streets, Dixon Place, DIA Center for the Arts, Pace University and Judson Church, SKITE Festival for international Dance Artists, Newfoundland Dance Festival, The Toronto Fringe Festival and FringeArts among others.
>2013- 2015 - Co-creator/Soradi Dance - Massive intergenerational socially engaged flash mobs- for: Dance Anywhere®, World Dance Day, The Trays Festival and charitable events, among others.
Awards/Recognitions:
Matias is the recipient of a Fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts in Performance Art/Emergent Forms, which he received in New York City in 1993.
He was also a Movement Research Artist-in-Residence in NYC from 1998-99 and has received grants over the years from: The Bossak/Heilbron Charitable Foundation, The Actor's Fund of America, The Portuguese Ministry of Culture, Banco Totta & Açores, The Spanish Embassy Israeli Embassy and The British Council for the Arts, in Portugal.
fringe Festival Internaçional de Dança Contemporânea:
In 1999 Fausto Matias created and produced the first 'fringe Festival Internaçional de Dança Contemporânea'; an international contemporary dance festival, which continued till 2004, and whose aim was to present contemporary dance within site-specific venues, in numerous cities within Portugal's central region. Among the roster of presented artists were:
Yasmeen Godder, Wayne McGregor, Ronald K. Brown, Ellis Wood & Dancers, Wally Cardona, Maria Hassabi, Philip Hamilton, Beto Betuk, Bill Young & Dancers, Aldara Bizzaro, Vera Montero, Ludger Lamers, Clara Andermatt and Francisco Camacho.
Countries represented by the numerous artists were: Russia, Angola, Mozambique, Holland, Germany, England, The United States, Canada, Israel, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Germany, Brazil, and Japan.
Matias is grateful to have collaborated with various different artists in his performance work, among them: musicians/composers Carlos Guedes, Carlos Barretto and Tom Beyer, and Philip Hamilton; also photographer Eduardo Patino and fine artists Joe Peller and Jorge Vilaça. Grateful appreciation is also acknowledged to the late LeRoy Neiman; who was a supporter of Matias' work and donated a piece he created specifically to promote the fringe festival's visibility in Portugal.
Currently Matias is finalizing his Master's degree in Performance Art at the Universidade Nova, in Lisbon, Portugal, and as of March2016 has created a series of site-specific performances revitalizing 25 locations throughout Portugal from Lisbon to Porto, with his project 'Poetry in Motion', highlighting the work of the accomplished Portuguese poet José Régio and inspired by his work ""Black Song" to celebrate World Poetry Day.
Fausto continues to teach, choreograph, perform and create diverse types of dance experiences and events in Portugal
Photo: Fausto Matias
Photo Credit: Eduardo Patino
© 2012 Shirin Stave-Matias/Fausto Matias
Fausto Matias©2000
Fausto Matias ©2000
Photo: Shirin Stave-Matias Photo Credit: Eduardo Patino © 1995
This website and its content is copyright of Shirin Stave-Matias/Fausto Matias as of 2012. All rights reserved.