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Dance

Students participate in dance classes ranging from beginner to advanced in Jazz and Ballet. Tap, Flamenco and other styles of dance are often incorporated into performances. The majority of classes are offered in the afternoon hours during the sports period from 3 PM to 6 PM. Students may take dance to fulfill the sports requirement or it may supplement participation in another sport. Dance performances are a regular feature of the dance program.

Interested students may also earn academic credit in Choreography I which is offered during the academic day. This class is an introduction to various dance styles and studies the works of well-known choreographers. It includes short dance studies leading up to final projects three times a year. The projects involve group work that is done during the class, and homework involves the planning and production of an independent choreography project. All dance projects are presented before an audience at the end of the semester. The following classes are offered each sport season at Grier:

  • Beginner Jazz
  • Intermediate Jazz
  • Advanced Jazz
  • Beginner Ballet
  • Intermediate Ballet
  • Advanced Ballet
  • Beginner/Intermediate Modern
  • Advanced Modern
  • Contemporary/Jazz
  • Pointe
  • Stretch/Floor Barre
  • Beginner Tap
  • Intermediate Tap
  • Advanced Tap

GRIER SCHOOL GALA

WORKSHOP/PERFORMANCE

April 9th, 2010 – Opening number

Mia Price and Cheryl Cutlip

April 10 – 11th, 2010 - Faculty Workshop

TEACHING CHOREOGRAPHERS:

Kiki Lucas

Resident Choreographer for Houston Met

Jon Lehrer

Founder/Director Lehrer Dance, Giordano Company, Erik Hawkins Company

Cheryl Mann

Principal Dance for Hubbard Street Dance Company, River North Dance Company

Joshua Pelatzky

Broadway Dance Center Faculty, World Dance Movement, Founder/Director J. Compagnia

Mia Price

Radio City Rockette; Broadway – Oklahoma!, Frogs; Movie – The Producers: National Tours – Spamalot, Chicago

Cheryl Cutlip

Founder/Creator – Project Dance; Radio City Rockette

Mishay Petronelli

Broadway Dace Center Faculty, World Dance Movement Faculty, Broadway Underground, J. Compagnia Company Member

Jason McDole

Point Park University Faculty, Twyla Tharp Company, Parsons Company, Battleworks, Lar Lubovitch Company

Keisha LaLama-White

Point Park University Faculty, 25 Most To Watch in 2009 Dance Magazine, Giordano Company Guest Choreographer, Houston Met Guest Choreographer, Sorority Row

Tracie Stamfield

Broadway Dance Center Faculty, Pulse Tour, Founder/Director – Syntheses Dance Project

Christine Kerber

Giordano Company, Director – Royal Caribbean


AUDITIONS – April 11th


Muhlenberg University, Slippery Rock University, Anderson University, Royal Caribbean, Lehrer Dance Company and Houston Met

Choreographers websites:

LEHRER DANCE - http://www.lehrerdance.org/

GIORDANO COMPANY - http://www.giordanodance.org/company/gjdc.html

SYNTHESIS DANCE PROJECT - http://www.synthesisdanceproject.com/

HOUSTON MET - http://www.houstonmetdance.com/

FLUIDITY DANCE COMPANY - http://www.fluiditydance.com/

 

2009 Gala Dance Workshop

See pictures in the Gallery

Holiday Performance 2009

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Grier's Performing Arts Center, which opened in July of 2006, has a large foyer area which itself is spacious enough for small gatherings. A high ceiling in the entry makes it bright and inviting. From there, you are able to walk along a corridor that follows the southern exposure of the building beside floor to ceiling windows nearly twenty feet high. From this corridor you enter into the main room from a central door. During normal school days, this central area is divided with a partition that effectively creates two very large dance studios of identical size with adjoining changing rooms and bathrooms. Both have theatre style seating. The value of this new space is most evident on performance days when the partition separating the studios can be retracted, opening up the space into one large area with seating for 280 audience members. The total area of the performance floor space is 9,600 square feet. The lighting and sound systems for the center are of exceptionally high quality.


My daughter Megan's experience at the Grier School has been invaluable in preparing her for life as an adult and has served her well thus far during her first two years at Penn State. I feel that the diverse population of Grier provided her with the kind of experience that cannot be acquired from books or in Meagan's case, even from her natural surroundings (being raised in rural Pennsylvania). Her time in the dance program at Grier under the direction of Jocelyn Hrzic has given her a leg up (no pun intended) in considering taking on the challenge of launching a professional dance career. Grier's intense dance program helped instill a level of discipline and a work ethic that Meagan didn't have as a young girl - traits that frankly weren't required during her previous dance studio and high school experiences.
- Rick Brandt (Letter from a parent of a 2008 graduate)

 

 

 

 

Joci and Andrea

 

Jocelyn Hrzic is a graduate from Point Park University with a B.A. in dance. She danced/directed for Norwegian Cruise Lines and Royal Carribean. She also danced with Maxine Sherman's Company and Theatre West Virginia. She danced on full Scholarship at Steps on Broadway in New York City.

Joci teaches master classes for Penn State University and Point Park University, as well as set choreography. She started The Gala Weekend performance at Grier School with guest teachers A.C Ciulla, Mia Price,Tracie Stanfield, Paul Abramhamson, and Chio Yamada. She just started her own professional dance company called "Fluidity".

Joci has been artistic director for the Grier Summer Program the last two years as well as teaching at Point Park's international summer dance workshop and Allegheny Ballet's Summer workshop. She has studied with Mia Micheals, Joe Lanteri, Dwight Rhoden, Wade Robson, Val Suarez, Max Stone, Tyce Diorio, Jason Parsons, as well as many others.

Jocelyn is married to Matt and has a three-year-old daughter named Jillian.

Andrea Young is a recent graduate of Pennsylvania State University. She has graduated with a B.S. in Supply Chain and Information Systems from the Smeal College of Business. In addition, she has a B.A. in Integrative Arts with a concentration in dance. Andrea has been involved with dance since the age of 5 and has studied a vast variety of styles and techniques. Andrea is the computer skills teacher and also assistant dance instructor here at Grier School.