Matthew Westerby (he/him)

Matthew Westerby graduated from the Laban Centre (UK) and moved to New York in 2005, since performing for Nai-Ni Chen, Jessica Gaynor, Peter Kyle, Bronwen MacArthur, Marla Hirokawa, Tze Chun, Dusan Tynek and Risa Jaroslow. He founded Matthew Westerby Company in 2009, since becoming a non-profit organization dedicated to building community through the arts. The Company has been presented around the northeast and creates work with theatre and music collaborators — most recently composers Bryan Senti & Rick Smith and with the Hudson Guild Theatre Company. Westerby created The Harlem Project in 2016 to create performing opportunities for young people, working alongside professional artists. The project has grown to include young people from Brooklyn, the Bronx and Upper Manhattan, high school and college apprentice dancers and a team of collaborators. The Company has received support from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, the CUNY Dance Initiative, the O’Donnell Green Foundation, The Jamaica Dance Festival and Dance NYC. Westerby has taught guest masterclasses for Silesian Dance Festival (Poland), Scottish School of Contemporary Dance (Scotland), Laban (UK), the Open University (UK), Artifact Dance Company (AZ) & Pima Community College (AZ). He works throughout NYC as a dance educator in public schools and community settings, and is adjunct dance faculty at Sacred Heart University (Connecticut).