We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Andreea Mateescu a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Andreea, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

While we draw inspiration from the world around us, we should never forget where we have come from. As a Choreographer I was fortunate enough to travel all over the world and discover how important is to let yourself be inspired by the culture that you’re in. I believe that a multicultural environment unites.
The most challenging part as a choreographer it’s not to create the actual piece of the dance, but to make the artist discover the meaning of what it needs to be expressed. If you cannot tell the story right, than you cannot reach your public. That’s why going back to the roots of each story you want to tell it’s crucial and it leads to self discovery.
This is how the idea of ROOTS CLOTHING came to life!
I was born in Eastern Europe in Romania where “Dracula” was born!
Very often during my classes, my students are curious about my history and I am asked about vampires stories a lot :)))
I decided that there’s much more to tell, my heritage is more interesting than that. I want to tell teenagers about their superheroes, fairies and legends, and I’m sure that every nation have its own story. I decided to bring back the history in the minds of my people by creating a meaningful project. Cool unisex T-Shirt designs that speaks about my culture and heritage. I’m trying to bring and reconnect my people to their ROOTS, while teaching others about my culture through ROOTS CLOTHING T-Shirts.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Throughout my career, I have always tried to emphasize the role of culture and heritage in Dance Arts. I realized that the parents are struggling to keep their heritage alive in their kids education through history and language. Teaching different cultures, from Indian to Chinese to Eastern European, I’ve always tried to come up with solutions in the way I teach. During my classes, being asked by the parents, I encouraged the kids to count their dance routines in their native language. I also challenged myself into learning the language to make them feel more “at home”.
It is very hard to understand or identify yourself with your parent’s or grandparents’ roots from a young age. But learning about different cultures is important, it shapes the way you see the world, it should be fun and cool, and it will keep you curious and engaged!
In the end, the main mission of Roots Clothing is to create a modern clothing line where everybody, parent or child, can get to know their heritage and history, getting closer to the culture they belong to.
We will start with the Romanian culture and soon, we will transition to other cultures as well!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My mission is to bring people together and to make them realize the power of sharing their culture! Being culturally unique draws attention to our variations and differences. The people’s desire to get more information about the other cultures argument in favor of culture as a unifying factor. Culture is a Unifying Force, not Divisive!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I feel that the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is that you can change perspectives, create new paths and ways of expression.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://roots.clothing, http://www.andrinya.com
• Instagram: rootsclothing_usa, andrinya
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RootsClothingUSA

Image Credits
Lucian Blaga – www.arcaproductions.com