Nancy Romita, Co-creator of Functional Awareness®, Anatomy in Action (right)
Allegra Romita, Co-creator, Functional Awareness®, Anatomy in Action (left)
Nancy Wanich-Romita
Nancy Wanich-Romita (MFA, M.AmSAT, RSME, and RYT) is the co-founder of the somatic approach Functional Awareness®. She is an author, anatomist, dance artist/educator, AMSAT certified Alexander Technique teacher/trainer, registered somatic movement therapist, and Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher.
Her collaborative work with Allegra Romita includes authoring their first publication with Oxford University Press entitled Functional Awareness®: Anatomy in Action for Dancers. The second publication, Functional Awareness and Yoga: An Anatomical Guide to the Body in Reflective Practice, is scheduled for release in October 2018. Ms. Romita has presented workshops and keynote speeches on the Functional Awareness® approach worldwide from New York City to San Diego, from Florence Italy to Hong Kong China. She has presented workshop sessions at the Association for Theater in Higher Education (ATHE), the American College Dance Association (ACDA), the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) and the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS). She was a keynote speaker for the Somatics and Dance Conference and the Maryland Dance Educators Association.
Nancy Romita is a Senior Certified Teacher of the Alexander Technique, certified by the American Center for the Alexander Technique. Ms. Romita has served on the faculty at The Tai Sophia Institute, The Baltimore School of Massage, and the Baltimore Holistic Health Center. Nancy has facilitated workshops and maintained a private practice in the Alexander Technique for over 35 years. She initiated the first courses offered in the Alexander Technique at the 92nd Street Y in NYC in 1984. She is currently director of the AmSAT Alexander Technique MidAtlantic Teacher Training Course in Baltimore MD.
She has taught at the American Dance Festival at Duke University in Durham, NC, Connecticut College, State University of New York at Purchase, University of Maryland at Baltimore County, Peabody Conservatory of Music, Stevenson University, and is currently on the faculty of Towson University. Ms. Romita has facilitated workshops for The Private Industry Council, JP Morgan Bank, IBM, and Center for Poverty Solution, and The Annie E Casey Foundation.
For over 20 years Ms. Romita has been teaching a yearlong course in experiential anatomy and kinesiology entitled, Scientific Bases of Movement at Towson University in Baltimore, MD. Through her work at Towson University, she is involved in collaborative research with Johns Hopkins Medicine, entitled Integrating rotator discs in ballet classwork: A collaboration with a physical therapist, somatic specialist, and ballet professor. This collaborative research was presented at the International CORPS de Ballet Conference in Maryland, the Performing Arts Medicine Conference in Florida, and at the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science in Geneva Switzerland.
Finally, Nancy’s over 30 years of choreography and artistic work often combines humor as well as somatic and reflective processes as seen in her collaboration with Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center to design and build a labyrinth at the medical center to support a reflective movement process to support wellness and healing.
Allegra Romita
Allegra Romita (MA, CMA, and RYT) is co-creator of Functional Awareness®: Anatomy in Action. She is a collaborator in curriculum design for Functional Awareness for Dancers and primary curriculum designer of Functional Awareness for Yogis. Allegra Romita is a graduate from the University of Michigan with honors with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Movement Science. She received her MA in Dance Education from New York University (NYU) Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development and currently holds a graduate degree in motor learning and control from Columbia University Teachers College, NYC.
Allegra’s collaborative work with Nancy Romita includes authoring their first publication with Oxford University Press entitled Functional Awareness®: Anatomy in Action for Dancers. The second publication, Functional Awareness and Yoga: An Anatomical Guide to the Body in Reflective Practice, is scheduled for release in October 2018. She has presented workshops and keynote speeches on the Functional Awareness® approach worldwide from New York City to San Diego, from Florence Italy to Hong Kong China. She has presented sessions at the American College Dance Association (ACDA), the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) and the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS) and a keynote speaker for the Somatics and Dance Conference Association.
Allegra is currently on the dance faculty at NYU Steinhardt. She has been a guest artist at Towson University and the University of Michigan. She has performed regionally and nationally with INSPIRIT and Amy Cova Dance. She recently participated in and presented work through Alexandra Beller’s Choreolab at Spoke the Hub Brooklyn. Since 2011, she has been performing with Sydnie L Mosley Dances in NYC and currently is the artistic visioning partner with the company.
Allegra’s passion for somatic investigation led her to certification in Laban Movement Analysis through the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies. She completed the Certificate in Dance Injury Rehabilitation from West Side Dance Physical Therapy in New York City. In addition she is certified in traditional Thai Massage Sacred Bodywork with Ananda Apfelbaum in NYC.
Allegra is a certified teacher in Vinyassa Flow Yoga. Allegra Romita received her 200-hour teacher training with Sid McNairy of SidYoga in Baltimore, MD and additional training Level I with Baron Baptiste. She has been teaching yoga for over 10 years and incorporates the somatic practices within this movement expression. Allegra guides her students, through anatomical awareness and freedom of thought, to a place of alignment in body and mind. Allegra teaches at Brooklyn Yoga Project and Heatwise Yoga in NYC.