NADINE STERSTE MATHEWS

Dance Instructor/Choreographer

Nadine knew that she was a dancer before she knew what a dancer was. As a child she would go to the public library and find the shelf with the ballet and dance picture books and sit for hours looking at the pictures. At three years old, her mother enrolled her at Pioneer Valley Ballet in their kinderdance program. From there she went on to take gymnastics at Hackworth School of Performing Arts in Easthampton. She left dance for a few years but returned at age 8 to a local noncompetitive studio. She danced there for several years before joining a different studio. At that studio, Nadine became an assistant teacher at the age of 13. She taught her first jazz class as a senior in high school and from there went on to teach 10-12 classes a week, including: acrobatics, jazz, tap, ballet, preschool dance and lyrical. When that studio closed, Nadine taught at two other studios for two years before being offered the opportunity, at age 21, to buy one of the studios. While in the process of taking over her studio, Nadine was enrolled at UMass Amherst and took dance and dance related classes at UMass, Smith and Mt Holyoke. Nadine is certified to teach dance through Dance Educators of America. She ran her studio, Dare to Dream, in Feeding Hills from 1996-2009. In 2009 she closed Feeding Hills to move the studio to Northampton, where she ran it from 2009-2010. In 2010, after having just given birth to her first son, Sam in March, she lost her lease at the Northampton location forcing her to close indefinitely. When Sam was 2, she enrolled him in a local dance studio and offered to assist with classes there. She was soon teaching the acrobatics classes at that studio as well as the adult jazz/ballet class. Nadine has vast experience teach preschool creative dance, preschool dance combo classes, jazz, tap, ballet, acrobatics & lyrical/contemporary classes. Nadine has taken classes at Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway. Nadine is a mom to two boys, Sam and Ben. In 2020, Nadine certified through Acrobatic Arts. She is an avid crafter and when not at a dance studio she can most often be found crafting at home. Nadine is a Purple belt in taekwondo and has practiced that since 2018.
Nadine’s personal philosophy is Every Body is Unique and Every Body Can Dance!