Around campus, Ms. Nicole Nastari is most known for being one of SHC’s Deans of Students, along with Mario Sazo. Last year, she took on a second role as the Fundamentals of Dance Technique teacher. She introduces many students to the art of dance and expression through movement. As a dancer, I was lucky to be one of the first students to meet Ms. Nastari in her new role. I was interested to see what it is like for Ms. Nastari to take on these two vastly different positions of enforcer of school rules and free spirited dance teacher.
Dance is one of Ms. Nastari’s great passions. She started dancing at age 12 and studied dance in college. She spent many years teaching dance professionally and choreographed Mercy High School’s annual dance concert for 20 years before becoming a dean. She still dances and performs as part of a company on her own time.
Here are a few highlights from our conversation:
Emerald: Do you think that becoming a dance teacher at school has changed how you interact with students?
Ms. Nastari: It felt like coming home in some ways because dance is a part of me. It’s something I really,deeply love and has always been such a part of my life.
I feel like it’s actually an adjustment for the students in some ways more than for me, because students tend to be a little, I don’t know if “fearful” is the right term, but like, walk on eggshells. I’m not seen as this person that’s really fun, and then here I am in class and I want you to relax and meditate and be in your bodies and then we get to dance around and I want the students to feel comfortable doing that. So, I really have to change the way that I talk. But for me, it feels very natural. Sometimes it’s the running across campus and having to change my clothes that’s the biggest issue.
I actually feel like my students get to see a part of me and a side of me that’s very authentic, and I get to have a different kind of relationship with students that I miss having when I’m just a dean.
Emerald: Do you think that’s the biggest contrast between the two roles – the relationship with the students?
Ms. Nastari: Yes. I think it’s allowed me to get to know this group. I feel like, even with your class, that I have this relationship with [all 16 of my students] and that I’ll know you for four years a little differently than I know anyone else in the class, and I’m grateful for that.
Emerald: Is there anything that you find particularly difficult about having two roles in school?
Ms. Nastari: Yes, changing my clothes, hahaha…But sometimes it’s what I want when I create that space. When I’m a dance teacher and I’m in that room, it takes time for students to drop that hesitation because of who I am and the role I play. I really want my students to feel comfortable and safe to be who they are,to be in their bodies, and be authentically themselves. I do my best to help create that container and let them know that this is dance teacher Ms. Nastari, not Dean Ms. Nastari: that it’s a different side of me. And there are different parts of who we are, right? We’re not one dimensional.
Also in my job as a dean, it’s a role I play; not that it’s not authentic, but, it is a job I have to do. So sometimes it’s the job, it’s not personal, and teaching dance sometimes can feel more personal because it’s us in our physical selves…and then choreographing, which involves tapping into more personal sides of me.
Emerald: Do you have a favorite part of being a dance teacher?
Ms. Nastari: I love that it’s at 8 o’clock in the morning, and I’m a morning person.
I love being able to move around and jump around and stretch. And even though my students do not feel the same way, I 100% love starting my day like that. It’s so fun for me and I like to try to inspire my students to feel that way and see how, even though they don’t think they like it, and it’s the morning, and it’s hard, but then by the end you feel better, right? You feel better having moved, having breathed, having been in your body, and I think most of the time it’s true.
That’s my favorite part of starting the day and just being able to be with students in a really positive way. That part I just absolutely love, to me, there’s no better way to be able to have a relationship with students than through the arts. I mean, it really is the best.
Emerald: Do you have a favorite part of being the dean?
Ms. Nastari: Yes, I love being the dean. I think there’s this idea that it’s all negative, and that’s just not true. Yes, it’s a hard job and both Mr. Sazo and I have this role of being the disciplinarians. We have this responsibility of good order in the school, and that’s true. But again, I do believe at the essence of our job is the relationship with our students, and I think both of us have really positive relationships with students. I’m in the dining hall every day, and I get to see students at their most relaxed time. I get to check in and, you know, sometimes there’s just jokes. It’s actually a nice time to be with our school community, so I get to be part of that and I appreciate that.
Emerald: Do you see any blending or interconnection of your two roles?
Ms. Nastari: I don’t know… the interconnected[ness] is interesting. I think we get fixated on ideas and we want to put people in boxes and roles of like, “okay, you’re Dean, then you must be 100% all this way,” and that’s just not true. All of us are multifaceted: we have different parts of who we are and we get to play or lean into those parts in different ways…you can love the arts and sports, you can love all different things at once.
I don’t see that the two roles are interconnected, just in that I’m here because of the students. I really love being with the students and I feel like it’s such a gift that I get to teach dance here. It really is a gift, and yes, it has challenges in that I’m teaching a class and doing this role, but I absolutely am appreciative of the opportunity to be able to tap into that side of myself, and the years and years I spent dancing, and being able to share that with other students. I’m just grateful, in the end, for the opportunity.
Ms. Nastari gives a great perspective on what it is like to hold two vastly different and important roles in one community and how that affects her day-to-day life, relationships around campus, and overall experience in the SHC school community. You can most often find Ms. Nastari in the Cafeteria, walking the halls, or in her office on the third floor. So next time you see her, stop by for a quick hello, but make sure to be in dress code!
