Exciting developments are happening for the dance and art departments at Grier School, starting with new dance teacher, Jocelyn Labriola, who brings a repertoire of experience with her.
Originally from Altoona, Labriola graduated from Point Park College in Pittsburgh with a Bachelors in Dance. She then moved to New York City to perform with well-known dance companies including the Maxine Sherman and Virginia Steer Companies.
With her NYC experience, Labriola traveled the seas for five years as a cruise ship dance performer and worked for Norwegian Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean.
“When I came here, it reminded me of the ship, all of the different cultures,” said Labriola of applying for the dance position at Grier. “On the cruise ship it was just like here because it’s a little world onto its self.”
The 300 acre campus houses 180 students from 20 U.S. states and 19 foreign countries.
Labriola also teaches at the Hollidaysburg School of Dance in the evenings. At Grier, she teaches choreography to students ranging from the beginner to advanced.
“A lot of kids come in and make up steps around what they can do instead of making up what other people can do,” she added. Labriola’s job is to instruct the students on how to create choreography that everybody can follow.
The dance competition that her students will be competing in is held by The New York City Dance Alliance. It is comprised of a group of teachers that Labriola once worked with on Broadway. These skilled instructors are from NYC but take this competition on the road so that even if students cannot make it to New York, they might be able to go to a city where the competition is being held.
This year’s competition is Feb. 7-10 in Pittsburgh. Labriola will take a group of talented dance students. Some include: Reina Shiwaku, performing a rhythmic gymnastics solo; Raven Barnes, performing a dance solo; and Jihyun Lee, who choreographed a dance duet.
“We’ve become stronger as a team. We know how to work with each other,” explained dance students Raven Barnes and Brittany Morgan on preparing for the competition.
Students will take classes during the day and sample a variety of dance styles including: modern, tap, ballet, and jazz. Then the teachers will become the judges for the evening competitions.
“They come from all over, from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York,” said Labriola of the other competitors. Grier School is unique because it is one of the only private schools going. Most of the other dancers will come from after-school dance programs and academies.
However, the choreography is just one aspect of the competition. Labriola works in conjunction with Laurie Cave, art director at Grier, to create visually stunning costumes for the dance students.
Cave has three costume classes throughout the academic day, with approximately 4-8 students in each class.
Labriola brings her ideas to Cave for the dance costumes. Then, the work really begins. Cave’s students hand-make them from scratch starting with the sketches, measurements, patterns, and then the piecing together of materials.
Cave added, “All art classes here are taught with the idea that we’ll have all ages and all levels at our tables.”
That means the costumes are created by the beginner to the advanced student.
The students are always busy at work, creating different costumes for different dance shows throughout the year.
“It’s the process that we’re after here,” said Cave, so that the students are constantly changing and perfecting the costumes to see what works best.
For the dance competition in February, the student-made costumes are up for awards such as originality or effectiveness in costume. They will be judged during the dance competition.
Cave’s hard work in the classroom has paid off since four of her students are now studying at FIT, and two are at a Chicago Fashion Institute, among other students after graduation.
“They need an art class. Then they get hooked and see that they have good, solid skills that are marketable,” said Cave about the practicality of her costume classes.
After the competition in February, both the dance and costume students will begin work for the dance show scheduled for May at Grier School.
