IslandWood’s Artist in Residence program provides students in our School Overnight Program with diverse opportunities to connect with and interpret the natural world through artistic expression. Recently, we were fortunate to host modern dancer and educator Nicole Lobuzzetta. We sat down with her to discuss her artistic background, her work with our students, and how the environment influences her creative process.
How would you describe your art?
I am a modern or contemporary dancer, performing professionally and teaching. I also am a yoga teacher and specialize in brain-compatible dance education, which is like creative dance.
What do you love about dance and movement?
Well, when I was younger, it was about expressing myself, and now that I focus primarily on teaching, it’s about bringing out self-expression from kids. It’s a powerful experience to watch them bring things out of themselves that they didn’t know were there, and I saw a lot of that this week.
Students exploring movement with hula hoops.
There were just so many kids who I could tell were very uncomfortable in their bodies in a way that, once we got going and they understood what we were going to be doing the entire class, I watched the transformation happen within this short 90-minute class. By the end, when they were all working together in their groups, there was almost 100% participation across groups, except for a couple of injuries, and that really surprised me. They were all pretty engaged and came up with some really creative pieces to share.
How does nature inspire your work?
Nature inspires my life. I am happiest in nature, and I think that there are so many ways that we can turn inspiration from nature into movement. Just this week, we explored the water cycle, the formation of crystals, the oceans, animals, and the life cycle of salmon. The kids added even more through their own contributions, and we were able to do it all through dance in our bodies, and it feels very compatible.
What do you hope students from the School Overnight Program take away from their experience with art and with you?
We talked a lot about how, even if you don’t consider yourself a dancer or aren’t really comfortable dancing, we know from brain research that we learn best when we engage many of our senses. By being open-minded and creative, bringing their own creativity to the table, I think that I was able to drive home that there are many different ways of learning and many different ways of expression and many different ways to do art. I just want them to be able to think a little bit more outside the box of how we learn, make art, and express ourselves.
Learn More
- Want to know more about the Artist in Residence program? Check it out here.
- Want to help support the program? Thank you and please reach out to [email protected]!
- Want to be a visiting artist? Learn more and apply here.
