Courses Something To Cheer About
By George H. Newman
The Tampa Tribune
A former cheerleader for the New England Patriots is passing her skills on to a new generation at her dance studio.
Lori J. Matta, 47, a longtime dance instructor, came to Plant City about three years ago from the Boston area, where she sold a ranch before moving to a 10-acre spread off Knights-Griffin Road.
She taught dance at the 1914 Plant City High School Community Center for a while before deciding to buy the historic 4,700-square-foot Garden Club building at 1112 N. Wheeler St. Within a short time Matta established herself as a fixture in the dance-instructor community, offering classes for children and adults.
Part of her repertoire at her studio, the Dance Carousel, includes cheerleading and tumbling. Those skills came in handy for her students who belong to the Plant City High School cheer competition team that won the Western Conference High School Championship in February. Plant City defeated 23 other Hillsborough County teams to take the title for the first time. Ten of the 20 cheerleaders on the team are students at the Dance Carousel.
“It’s exciting to see any of my students perform well and get recognition for their skills,” Matta said. “The Plant City cheer competition team made history when they won the division. The girls are all very excited.”
The team proved its conference title wasn’t a fluke by placing fourth in the recent state competitions in Tallahassee.
Cheerleader Casey Creamer, 16-year-old sophomore, said Matta’s instruction helped “keep us sharp.” She said working with Matta is a lot of fun.
Plant City High cheerleader coach Ginger Parks also had high praise for Matta, who helped with one of the practices last year.
“She discussed proper technique, the muscles that are used in the body to initiate a proper jump, as well as exercises to improve everything from toe touches to abdominal work to tumbling,” Parks said.
“I had several girls who had worked on their tumbling to no avail. Within one month Lori had them tumbling,” Parks said.
She was “tough with the cheerleaders and cuts no slack. However, she gets positive results,” she said.
Another Plant City High cheer competition member who studies with Matta is 17-year-old Christina Martin. Her mother, Agnes, takes the 11th-grade honor student to Dance Carousel for dance and cheer classes.
“Christina learned floor gymnastics and tumbling at Dance Carousel,” Martin said.
“With Miss Lori’s help she made the junior varsity and varsity cheerleading squads and is a member of the cheer competition team.”
Martin also brings her younger daughter, Elizabeth, a kindergarten student, to the Dance Carousel twice each week.
“Liz takes cheer on Monday, and tap, ballet and jazz on Wednesdays,” her mother said.
The little 5-year-old isn’t shy about her new-found skills.
“Miss Lori teaches how to do back flips, how to dance, how to cheer and how to jump,” Liz said recently as she went through a few gymnastic moves at the studio.
“Fun, fun, fun is what we are all about,” Matta said. “The students work hard, but I want them to enjoy all of their routines at the same time.”
Her classes include tap, jazz, ballet, tumbling, pageantry and more. She’s starting an exercise group for adults and has a children’s theater on Saturdays.
Matta’s various skills and demanding work ethic were developed through her own schooling and professional experience. An accomplished dance and gymnastics instructor for the past 25 years, Matta earned a bachelor’s degree in dance movement therapy for the special needs from Keene State College in New Hampshire and a master’s degree in sports medicine and exercise physiology from California State University in Fullerton.
Matta’s resume includes past winner of many talent competitions including Junior Miss Talent in the Miss New Hampshire pageant and Miss New England Talent. She toured the country studying and judging many competitions in California, Las Vegas and New York City. During her professional career she held the lead coaching position for the renowned Cathy Rigby’s Gymnastic Academy in California for three years.
Matta was a New England Patriots cheerleader from 1981 through 1983.
Dancing is only part of Matta’s life. She’s also an accomplished rancher who takes in unwanted animals.
Her uncle, John Matta, who lives in Valrico, was instrumental in her move to the Plant City area when she decided to find a warmer climate.
John Matta helped his niece fix up the small ranch, now called Apache Way Farm. Together they built corrals, mended fences and turned the property into what Lori Matta calls “a pretty nice ranch.”
Matta’s ranch has a 15-stall horse barn. Each stall is taken by a rescued horse that she has saved from being euthanized or deserted. She also cares for two pot bellied pigs, two goats, a Labrador-shepherd mix dog named Riley, a motherless calf and a llama left at the ranch by its former owner.
“My ranch and my dance studio are my life,” Matta said. “I love to teach kids to dance, cheer and all the gymnastic skills. And I love my animals. I just can’t help myself.”
AT A GLANCE
WHAT: The Dance Carousel
ADDRESS: 1112 N. Wheeler St., Plant City
CLASSES: Ballet, jazz, pageantry, tap, tumbling and more. She also offers summer camps for children.
AGES TAUGHT: 2 through adult
OPEN: Monday through Thursday; hours vary but generally from 4 p.m. through the evening. The studio is available for rent on the weekends.
INFORMATION: (813) 659-9100
