Matt Steffanina and Dana Alexa
Borriello taught a benefit class in L.A. to raise money for victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.Congratulations to Matt Steffanina and Dana Alexa Borriello, the Editors’ Choice winners for Dance Teacher’s Video of the Month!
In their video, Steffanina and Borriello break down a basic hip-hop routine for viewers to learn at home. The couple, who co-teach beginning and advanced hip hop at International Dance Academy Hollywood, post a new video on YouTube every few days, from step-by-step routines and workout demonstrations to stage-makeup tips and dance music videos that showcase their skills as performers. “We invest a lot of time in social-media networking,” says Borriello, a former Knicks City Dancer who has toured with Kat DeLuna. “We film the videos, Matt does the editing, and we’re constantly updating Facebook and Twitter.”
Steffanina, who has danced with Busta Rhymes and Chris Brown, spends as much as eight hours finalizing each video, often working late into the night or from his laptop during cross-country flights. The duo’s active web presence has paid off, helping them land gigs at studios across the U.S. and as far as Germany. Most of these connections are made thanks to students who see the work online and ask their studios to invite Steffanina and Borriello as guest teachers. “It’s important to post videos, but it’s also important to reach out,” says Steffanina of navigating today’s online network. “We get a lot of messages saying, ‘I liked your video, and I just posted my own to that song. Will you check it out?’ and we always do. Sometimes we’ll even give it a shout-out on Twitter or Facebook if we see something that’s really unique.”
Want to build buzz about your studio, workshop or class? Posting videos to the Dance Teacher Video of the Month Contest is quick, easy and free—and it’s a great way to get noticed. If your video is selected as Editors’ Choice, you’ll be featured in DT, and you’ll win a free one-year subscription! Don’t miss out on a great opportunity—visit dancemedia.com, share your videos and vote for your favorites. Any and all kinds of dance are welcome.
