Our Origin
Gracie Baruzzi and Natalie Schiera are the founding directors of Nozama Dance Collective. Gracie and Natalie both graduated from Boston University in 2012, where they both danced with Dance Theatre Group (DTG), under the direction of Micki Taylor Pinney, and choreographed for the company from 2009-2014. Together, they created Nozama Dance Collective in 2013.
Our Founding Directors
Gracie Baruzzi began dancing at the age of 5 in Larchmont, New York, and trained in modern, contemporary, jazz, tap, and improvisation. Natalie Schiera began her dance training at the age of 4 in Chicago, Illinois, and studied ballet, jazz, modern, tap, hip-hop, and breaking. Gracie and Natalie graduated from Boston University in 2012, where they both danced with Dance Theatre Group (DTG), under the direction of Micki Taylor Pinney, and choreographed for the company from 2009-2014. Together, they created Nozama Dance Collective in 2013. Both Gracie and Natalie were selected as Choreographers in Residence at Green Street Studios in Cambridge, MA in January 2015, and as Raw Artists Boston recipients in 2015. Nozama represented Emerging Artists in the Outside the Box Boston Festival in 2015, and has performed in festivals including the Southern Vermont Dance Festival, Jose Mateo Dance for World Community Festival, and NACHMO Boston. Nozama also produced a collaborative performance festival, “Empower One Another”, with OnStage Dance Company for several years. Under their direction, the company produced four full-length performances, all surrounding the complex theme of empowerment. Nozama also partners with the Big Sisters Association to teach empowering movement workshops to girls ages 9-13.
Nozama Dance Collective 