Director PATRIZIA SAGLIO, director of Collina Italiana (CI), was born in Lugano, Switzerland and grew up speaking Italian, French, and German. She graduated in political science from the prestigious Universita' Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, where she worked for several years as an assistant professor and private teacher of Italian and French to college students and in international corporations. Patrizia moved to New York in 1998 and after a stint as co-owner and manager of an international trade company she decided to open an Italian language and cultural center on the upper east side of Manhattan in 2006. In founding Collina Italiana, the director's mission is to offer Italian language classes in an authentic cultural setting and context: all Italian language classes include an introduction to Italian culinary arts, wine, and film.

Creative Consultant ROBERTA FINEBERG, creative consultant, collaborates on a wide range of projects with clients in education, publishing, the arts, business, and advertising. Based in Paris and New York over the last 20 years, Ms. Fineberg has contributed writing and photography internationally to both print media and online (including the CI Web site).

Instructors/Staff

LAURA CAPARROTTI, TEATRO ITALIANO teacher, has a doctorate in Performing Arts from the University "La Sapienza" in Rome, Italy. She studied with Dario Fo (Nobel Prize for Literature 1997), Annie Girardot, among others. In New York Laura performed in several Off - Off - Broadway productions. She is the artistic director of KIT - Kairos Italy Theater Inc www.kitheater.com. She has directed and performed several K.I.T. productions such as The Papaleo Case — Il Caso Papaleo by Ennio Flaiano, A, B, C (a one-woman show), and Philosophically Speaking by Eduardo De Filippo. Laura has been teaching Italian Theatre to adults and children for many years.

RICCARDO COSTA, instructor of Italian language and culture classes (cooking and film), was born in Bologna, one of Italy's food capitals. From the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, Riccardo earned a BFA. In Italy and New York he worked as an assistant to director Spike Lee, among others. He has written and co-written 10 feature screenplays, including Queen of Harlem, and plays for Off-Broadway. As a director he has received awards and recognition in more than 60 festivals worldwide and on CBS. Presently, Riccardo is the President of Blitz Entertainment, a production company in Italy and NYC, and the American representative of Cinecitta Studios. In his free time Riccardo is an accomplished chef. Learning to cook from his grandmother, a famous Bolognese socialite from the '50s, he assimilated all the century-old family culinary secrets. He has recently penned a cookbook of some of these traditional Italian recipes, which he shares with friends, acquaintances, celebrities, intellectuals, politicians, and artists who come to his apartment to eat exceptional food, discuss ideas, and network. Riccardo has worked as an Italian teacher and translator for Fortune 500 Companies, taught at the Italian Culture Institute, and now at Collina Italiana.

ALESSANDRA GRECO, Children’s Program Director, was born and raised in Rome. She earned a degree in Foreign Languages and Literature from the Unversita' degli Studi Roma Tre. Her studies included: linguistics, philology of Germanic languages, Italian literature, and English literature. In addition to mastering English, Alessandra has learned Spanish and French. An Instructor of Italian for more than ten years both in Italy and abroad (England-Ireland-USA), Alessandra is an experienced instructor, especially adept with children. She teaches adult classes at CI too, including specialty classes such as Parla come Mangi.

LUCRETIA MORONI, artist, designer www.fatto-a-mano.com, chef (trained at "Ristorante Manuelina"), and mother of 2 (ages 7 and 9) instructs the PICCOLI CUOCHI, ARTE INSIEME, GIROTONDO, and DECORATIVE PAINTING classes. Master of teaching art and cooking for kids, Lucretia encourages and develops creativity in children of all ages. Teaching kids early on how to cook "la dieta Mediterranea" and to eat well and is one Lucretia's greatest passions. She prepares typical northern Italian dishes from Lombardia, Veneto and Liguria.

NAIKE NAY NEGRETTI LET'S DANCE! instructor, moved two years ago to New York City from Italy where she began performing at the age of seven. Teaching dance and choreographing for TV and theatre throughout Europe, Nay is now collaborating with DANCE 2XS and many local artists in New York. In addition, she teaches workshops all over the United States and Europe and dances with DECADANCETHEATRE, one of the most popular female hip-hop dance companies in the world.