ROSALINA MACISCO is a Choreographer, Dance Educator, Stage Director, and Founder of Santa Barbara Dance Institute (SBDI). A bilingual, first generation Latinx from New York, she was born to a Puerto Rican mother and Italian American father. She has a professional background of over 15 years of performance experience in Off-Broadway plays, regional theatre productions, and national television commercials. She has also toured with numerous musical productions across europe.

In 2005, driven by the belief that dance is essential for every child’s education and a means of healing and expression, Rosalina founded SBDI. She has since developed numerous educational dance programs for public schools, individuals with disabilities, intergenerational / senior programs, and professional development courses for teachers to integrate dance into their teaching.  Since its inception, SBDI has expanded from serving 80+ individuals to over 20,000+ annually through direct and professional development programming.

During her transition from performer to educator Rosalina has remained a committed learner. Her leadership development includes being an alumna of the National Guild for Community Arts and Leadership Institute (CAELI) and Leading from Within.   She has also obtained certifications from Luna Dance Institute, the National Dance Institute, and Jacob’s Pillow Curriculum in Motion Institute. Rosalina is a scholarship recipient of Luna Dance Institute’s Summer Institute and Your Turn Teacher Educator course in order to train other dance educators. Additionally, she has completed the Language of Dance Foundations and various courses with the Dance Education Lab (DEL).

Rosalina serves on the board of Luna Dance Institute and holds a BA in drama and Spanish from Fordham University. 

Michael Landecker grew up in Santa Barbara and was lucky enough to dance outside of school with Steven Lovelace's dance programs. Michael worked with SBDI in 2015 before leaving Santa Barbara to travel internationally. He brought dance with him, leading dance classes as a fundraiser for hurricane relief in Nicaragua, at an orphanage in Haiti, with traveling high schoolers in Costa Rica, and on the set of the TV show Survivor in Fiji. He has a master’s in teaching from Metropolitan State University of Denver and currently taught 6th grade in Englewood, Colorado.

FELICIA MUÑOZ is a product of Santa Barbara’s rich Arts community. As the daughter of a local Mexican painter and musician, Felicia grew up exposed to the cultures and traditions of his diverse friend group. She has been privileged to be raised attending countless musical celebrations, including son jarocho fandangos, Brazilian capoeira batizados, and rumbas in her aunt's backyard. Some of her first memories of dance are in her childhood living room dancing to the basic Cuban rhythms made by the musicians' drums. Felicia feels it is her responsibility to pass on the knowledge that was bestowed upon her to the newest generations in the Santa Barbara community.

 Ms. Muñoz earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from UCSB and a Master’s in Education from the Gervitz Graduate School of Education. She quickly began teaching in Public Elementary Schools in Santa Barbara and Goleta. She is passionate about serving the children of the community she was brought up in. To honor her heritage as a Mexican American, she is dedicated to supporting and advocating for Latino families in our community.  

Felicia personally knows the impact that programs provided through public education can have on a child. She began training in the Japanese martial art Aikido at the age of 11 through a program provided by a collaboration between Santa Barbara Junior High and Aikido of Santa Barbara. One of the principals for advancement is sharing knowledge and guiding the lower ranking students of one’s dojo. Felicia began teaching children’s classes at the age of 15 and adult classes at the age of 18. Felicia currently holds a second degree black belt with the United States Aikido Federation and has been fortunate to train across the US and Europe. This experience kindled her love of teaching and ultimately shaped her trajectory towards public education.

Aaron Panchal had the joy of moving to Santa Barbara in 2008 and in each year since that time, he has found ways to support and be a part of the fabric of our SB community.  Although he didn’t grow up with dance, he found a love for dance through Zumba and also found love while dancing—marrying his fellow dancer Jen in 2021. Most recently, Aaron has served on the Vestry (Board) for Trinity Episcopal Church and has been a youth mentor. He’s an avid photographer, theatre-goer, and lover of all things British.  During the work day, you’ll find him building software as an engineer or teaching as an occasional adjunct professor at Westmont College. But during the weekend you’ll see him present at the many wonderful festivals and community events in town.

PETER MATTHIES is a former Venture Capitalist and founder of the Conscious Business Institute (CBI). Before founding the CBI, Peter was a Principal for a globally leading Private Equity and Venture Capital firm, Apax Partners & Co, and for b-business partners, a $ 1 billion pan-European VC fund.

Peter co-founded an IT company and started his career at Accenture in Germany. He published 2 books and several dozen articles on business, finance, leadership, martial arts, and technology.

The Conscious Business Institute provides an step-by-step system for building more inspiring, conscious organizations, including the Conscious Business Culture Assessment™ and the Conscious Business Culture & Leadership Programs™, which can scale to serve any number of users across the world. CBI’s programs have been applied in organizations from 1 to 100,000 employees, including Starbucks, BMW Group, Siemens, Alllianz, Intel, and others.

Peter is a faculty member of the Goethe Business School in Frankfurt, serves as a global advisor of the Climate Prosperity Alliance, and is on the board of several for-profit and non-profit organizations.

He lives in Santa Barbara, California, and gets a kick out of Aikido, Capoeira, sailing, and a good dance with his wife.