Since trading her cushy, suburban life on the North Shore of Long Island for a pull-out couch in a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan’s Upper West Side over a decade ago, Nathalie Matychak has immersed herself in the contemporary dance world as a choreographer, performer, artistic director, producer, arts administrator, and advocate.
Originally moving to the city to pursue a ballet career in 2004, she studied at the Manhattan Youth Ballet (formerly Studio Maestro) under Francois Perron (Paris Opera Ballet) and Deborah Wingert (New York City Ballet); however, after being exposed to the Martha Graham technique at the prestigious LaGuardia Arts High School, her focus shifted towards a career in modern dance choreography. As a student at LaGuardia, she performed in original works created by Milton Myers, Sidra Bell, Adam Barruch, and Nathan Trice. Upon graduating from LaGuardia in 2007, she found herself at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where she had the opportunity to study dance performance and choreography. There she performed in original works by Gus Solomons, Jr., Kyle Abraham, Gerald Casel, and Stacy Spence as a member of NYU’s Second Avenue Dance Company.
She founded MATYCHAK [as BANGdance], a contemporary dance company highlighting the female perspective, in 2011. MATYCHAK has performed for the proscenium stage at famed venues across New York, including Joe’s Pub (DanceNOW Festival), Dixon Place, The 92nd Street Y, Symphony Space, Peridance Capezio Dance Center, Martha Graham Theater (WestFest Top Floor), and Webster Hall.
Choreographic commissions include site-specific work for The Jane Hotel (Me In My Place’s Valentine’s Day Party) and Green Space (Local Produce, with visual artist Alisha Nadolishny) and LaGuardia Arts High School’s 2016 Graduation Dance Concert (in collaboration with composer Stephen Weinstock).
On-screen choreographic credits include a music video for R&B soul band Aabaraki, #dig2014 (a 365-day moment journal and social media experiment), and NextRound Productions’ “Living the Dream” docu-series.
In 2013, Nathalie partnered with fellow LaGuardia Arts High School alum Ellenore Scott to found the pilot program for Breaking Glass: The Emerging Female Choreographer Project. It sold out on its opening night.
MATYCHAK was named one of CUNY Dance Initiative’s 2015 residency recipients and given 100 hours of rehearsal space at Brooklyn College’s Center for the Performing Arts.
As a post-graduate, she has participated in choreographic workshops and mentorships with Stephen Petronio and Doug Varone. She also studies Shaolin kung fu under 34th Generation Shaolin warrior monk Shifu Shi Yan Ming.
She spends her days working as a program administrator at Pentacle, a not-for-profit arts management support agency where she works within the booking department, cultivation and development sector and as the Artists Relations Coordinator for Stefanie Batten Bland/Company SBB through Pentacle’s multi-year Administrative Resource Team initiative.
A resident of Flatbush, she shares an apartment with her coupled-up roommates, a dancer and a comedian, and their two pets, Bernie, a German Shepherd-terrier mix, and Nanushka, a stray cat hellbent on destroying the world. The delivery man from her favorite Indian takeaway spot sometimes calls her “baby.”
Originally moving to the city to pursue a ballet career in 2004, she studied at the Manhattan Youth Ballet (formerly Studio Maestro) under Francois Perron (Paris Opera Ballet) and Deborah Wingert (New York City Ballet); however, after being exposed to the Martha Graham technique at the prestigious LaGuardia Arts High School, her focus shifted towards a career in modern dance choreography. As a student at LaGuardia, she performed in original works created by Milton Myers, Sidra Bell, Adam Barruch, and Nathan Trice. Upon graduating from LaGuardia in 2007, she found herself at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where she had the opportunity to study dance performance and choreography. There she performed in original works by Gus Solomons, Jr., Kyle Abraham, Gerald Casel, and Stacy Spence as a member of NYU’s Second Avenue Dance Company.
She founded MATYCHAK [as BANGdance], a contemporary dance company highlighting the female perspective, in 2011. MATYCHAK has performed for the proscenium stage at famed venues across New York, including Joe’s Pub (DanceNOW Festival), Dixon Place, The 92nd Street Y, Symphony Space, Peridance Capezio Dance Center, Martha Graham Theater (WestFest Top Floor), and Webster Hall.
Choreographic commissions include site-specific work for The Jane Hotel (Me In My Place’s Valentine’s Day Party) and Green Space (Local Produce, with visual artist Alisha Nadolishny) and LaGuardia Arts High School’s 2016 Graduation Dance Concert (in collaboration with composer Stephen Weinstock).
On-screen choreographic credits include a music video for R&B soul band Aabaraki, #dig2014 (a 365-day moment journal and social media experiment), and NextRound Productions’ “Living the Dream” docu-series.
In 2013, Nathalie partnered with fellow LaGuardia Arts High School alum Ellenore Scott to found the pilot program for Breaking Glass: The Emerging Female Choreographer Project. It sold out on its opening night.
MATYCHAK was named one of CUNY Dance Initiative’s 2015 residency recipients and given 100 hours of rehearsal space at Brooklyn College’s Center for the Performing Arts.
As a post-graduate, she has participated in choreographic workshops and mentorships with Stephen Petronio and Doug Varone. She also studies Shaolin kung fu under 34th Generation Shaolin warrior monk Shifu Shi Yan Ming.
She spends her days working as a program administrator at Pentacle, a not-for-profit arts management support agency where she works within the booking department, cultivation and development sector and as the Artists Relations Coordinator for Stefanie Batten Bland/Company SBB through Pentacle’s multi-year Administrative Resource Team initiative.
A resident of Flatbush, she shares an apartment with her coupled-up roommates, a dancer and a comedian, and their two pets, Bernie, a German Shepherd-terrier mix, and Nanushka, a stray cat hellbent on destroying the world. The delivery man from her favorite Indian takeaway spot sometimes calls her “baby.”