Matteo Vittucci (1919 – 2011) was an American dancer, choreographer, teacher, and scholar. He graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

with a B.S. and later received an M.A. in Dance Education from

Springfield College Springfield College is a private college in Springfield, Massachusetts. It confers undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is known as the birthplace of basketball because the sport was invented there in 1891 by Canadian-American instructor J ...

. Having trained at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School, Matteo (who went by only his first name professionally) began his career as a ballet dancer with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet. In 1953, he made his first appearance as an ethnic dance soloist - ethnic-dance, rather than ballet, became his area of expertise. Matteo studied with ethnic-dance experts such as

La Meri La Meri (Russell Meriwether Hughes; May 13, in 1898 – January 7, in 1988) was an American ethnic dancer, choreographer, teacher, poet, anthropologist and scholar. Early life and training She was born Russell Meriwether Hughes in Louisville, Ken ...

and went on to study, present, and teach numerous traditional dance forms from nations such as Japan, India, and Spain. He is the author of "The Language of Spanish Dance: A Dictionary and Reference Manual" as well as "Woods that Dance," a study of the use of castanets. In 1954, Matteo formed a professional partnership with American dancer

Carola Goya Carola Goya (1906–1994) was an American dancer, choreographer, and teacher who specialized in the study and performance of Spanish dance. Her father, Samuel Weller, was an agent for New York-based actors. Upon entering the professional dance wo ...

, whom he married twenty years later. Together, Matteo and Goya founded the Indo-American Dance Company (the company also performed under the names Foundation for Ethnic Dance and the Matteo Ethno-American Dance Theater). By keeping flamenco alive in the United States in the mid-late 20th century, Matteo and Goya successfully cultivated a cultural link between Spain and America.Ninotchka Bennahum, "Flamenco Dance," The International Encyclopedia of Dance,

Selma Jeanne Cohen Selma Jeanne Cohen (September 18, 1920December 23, 2005) was a historian, teacher, author, and editor who devoted her career to advocating dance as an art worthy of the same scholarly respect traditionally awarded to painting, music, and literatur ...

References

External links

Archival footage of Carola Goya and Matteo performing at Jacob's Pillow in 1963
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vittucci, Matteo 1919 births 2011 deaths Cornell University alumni Springfield College (Massachusetts) alumni American male ballet dancers American choreographers People from Utica, New York 20th-century American ballet dancers