Artist Teachers
NATASHA ROYKA
A PASSIONATE, MULTIFACETED & TRANS-DISCIPLINARY TEACHING ARTIST
Natasha’s Dance Background
A traditionalist in the belief of the importance of dance technique, Natasha’s classical ballet training includes studies with Margot Parsons, Madame Nora Irinova, the Boston Conservatory of Music, Ballet Theatre of Boston (José Mateo Ballet Theatre) and the Goh Ballet Academy. She has teacher training in the Legat Ballet Syllabus (Russian) and Cuban Ballet Syllabus. Her contemporary training is grounded in the Limon technique, with experience in Graham, Duncan, contact improvisation, jazz and tap. With over three decades of professional teaching experience with all ages, Natasha weaves her knowledge into classes that encourage and nurture artistry, musicality and technical growth. She has taught for The Newton Arts Center (MA), the Burnaby Arts Center (BC), Dance Educators (Ottawa, ON), the Carleton University Centre for Recreation (Ottawa, ON) and the Sacred Dance Guild, as well as private studios, community centers and individual students in the US and Canada. She is an alumni of the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (Lee, MA) and the Massachusetts’s Museum of Contemporary Art’s (MASSMoCA) Directing Dance for Camera Workshop.
Natasha and Performance
Natasha’s theatrical dance work includes performances for Ottawa’s Museum of Nature Grand Re-opening (2010, Collaboration with dancer/creator Annie Hickman), Ottawa Lumiere Festival (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009), Christmas Lights Across Canada/Parliament Hill (2007), Ottawa, Herb Fest (2007- 2015), Sculptor John Ceprano’s Rock Sculptures (Remic Rapids, Ottawa), Dance Kapital, The Mercury Lounge, Informal Presentations (Quebec City), as well as First Night (Kelowna BC) and choreographic work for theatre and musicals (Grease, Urinetown). From 2000-2007 she curated and produced Sanctuary Series, showcasing dance artists including Lainie Towell, Frey Faust, Marianne Thorborg, Kenneth Emig, Elizabeth MacKinnon, Catherine Lipscombe and Caroline Barrière.
Creative in her envisioning of movement‘s potential, Natasha choreographed and provided performance coaching for elite figure skaters training in Ottawa and Quebec.
As a trans-disciplinary dancer who loves working within the frame, Natasha’s video dances have been viewed at American Dance Festival and in Ottawa. In 2020, she returned to creating video dances through the studio’s Project O initiative. Her passion for this form currently supports the development of the studio’s weekly movement prayer, as well as investigations in catching the essence of ballet class moments.
Trans-Disciplinary Art Education
Natasha has an MA in Art Education (Boston University, 2018) and a BFA in Art/Art History (Simmons College, 1989). Her undergraduate work provided her a deep knowledge of the western art historical canon that led to in depth research into the Ballet Russe and its influence on both dance and visual art. It also provided comprehensive visual art training that supported her drawing, painting and creative practice. Over the years, her professional creative practice came to include the interplay of both forms, as well as music and video. During her master’s program Natasha discovered she was a trans-disciplinary artist. Hence, her creative practice is not siloed. Natasha’s dance has always framed her visual art and her visual art has always framed her dance with concepts and methods moving fluidly between the forms. Her master’s research project investigated the art education approach of Bauhaus master teacher Johannes Itten and its relevancy for 21st century arts education, as supported by contemporary trans-disciplinary artists. She is excited to be nurturing and developing this work through the studio’s classes, primarily in the children’s program. She studied painting/sculpture/printmaking with private teachers in the Boston area. She also studied at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston). Natasha’s watercolor paintings were chosen to be showcased in the Café du Gardien, Île Miscou, NB in 2020. Her paintings are in private collections.
Natasha’s Creative Practice
Natasha’s creative practice is rooted in an unwavering work ethic, discipline and love of the moving world around her. Over the past 3 decades, she has incorporated movement, nature and the magic of everyday into pieces that transition fluidly from dance to visual art to video. Line, as viewed in the body’s movements, a graphite pencil’s marks and the stroke of a watercolor brush, is her current in depth creative investigation. Her fundamental – and routine – artistic practice of ballet/dance class, choreography, drawing, painting and video is informed through art historical research, as well as personal reflection and a deep love of the earth and its mysteries. She works with equal passion in and out of the studio. Creating in nature is one of her joys.
Art Historical Research
2023
- The links between Ottawa, ON, and upstate New York’s Arts and Crafts movement (Early 1900’s) as framed by a 1912 Benedict Proctor vase (Syracuse, NY).
- Lauren Harris (1885-1970): Post Group of Seven career and involvement in New Mexico’s Transcendental Painting Group.
- Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610)
2024
- Albert Gallatin Hoit, Portrait Painter (1809-1856) – The life of New England artist Hoit and his influence on East coast portraiture (New England, Nova Scotia & New Brunswick).
And The Work That Keeps Her Moving – Natasha and Pilates
Natasha’s introduction to Pilates began when her body was out of equilibrium from years of dance training, teaching and performance. Unable to dance and having difficulty walking, her chiropractor suggested Pilates. This recommendation led to three years private study on all the equipment, 2001 certification with Helene Roy (Pilates Center of Ottawa), teaching at the Pilates Centre of Ottawa, as well as assisting Roy with her teacher training program. Guided by her personal research and input from Pilates elder Mary Bowen, Natasha started the Pilates program at the Natasha Royka Studio with the intention of exploring the therapeutic link between Pilates and dance. This unique approach offers a strong foundation in the traditional work of Joseph Pilates. Natasha has over 30,000 hours of practical experience teaching the Pilates work and is walking and dancing with joy. She is a passionate advocate for the work’s potential to provide the individual with health and well being.
Contact Natasha at [email protected]
