December 16, 2022

(Photo - clockwise from top left: Brigid O'Neill, India Scott, Grace Fisher, Aria Iuso)

Dance Students on Co-Op

A few of our Dance students have been on co-op during Fall quarter and we asked them about their experiences!

Brigid O'Neill

For my co-op, I am working at PHILADANCO!, the Philadelphia Dance Company, right here in Philadelphia, PA! I have had the pleasure and the honor of learning from PhilaDanco's alumni and teachers such as Kim Bears-Bailey, Zane Booker, Debbie Manning, and many dancers from the first company. They have pushed me physically and mentally to be a stronger dancer while deepening my knowledge of the history and origins of various techniques such as Horton, Graham, Dunham, and Ballet. It is incredible getting to walk into the building to see hundreds of achievements and awards hanging on the walls for all of the wonderful work Joan Myers Brown has done for the Philadelphia community and the dance community.

India Scott

I am currently completing my co-op with Andanza, the leading contemporary dance company based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I am working with the administrative side of the company, working on social media and outreach to schools within the community. I am also taking daily classes with the company members as-well as the school and working behind the scenes for performances for both the school and company.

In this work I am further developing my skill set as a dancer and performer and getting fully invested in the rigor and dedication needed to be a professional performer. I also get the opportunity to interact with dancers outside of my own culture, both my age and those with many years of professional experience. This allows me to understand dance through a far broader lens, and I continue to see every aspect that is needed to be an artist, going beyond just performing on a stage.

Grace Fisher

I’m doing my co-op at Her Sport, a media company in Dublin, Ireland that covers women’s sport in Ireland. Obviously my co-op isn’t directly related to dance, as I’m mostly writing articles or managing social media, though just being around athletes generally is really inspiring and has made me get serious about cross-training!

But what’s really cool is just discovering the dance community in a completely different place, seeing how styles differ, etc. In Dublin particularly the dance community is very traditional and very international—there are often three languages being spoken in class! I’ve been taking classes at a local studio and was invited to by a local choreographer to perform in the spring—it’s not a professional production, but I’m really excited to get the experience of performing here. I also just did a workshop with West End performer Rachel Ensor; she was the dance captain for West Side Story a few years ago and taught us some of that iconic choreography. It was absolutely a blast!

Aria Iuso

I am currently working with Andanza, the leading contemporary dance company located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Being able to work in Puerto Rico with Andanza has opened up a variety of new experiences for me. Whether I am assisting in children’s hip hop classes, working at the company’s shows, or taking morning class with the company I am always learning something that will provide me with so much information for my career to come.