Alumni Spotlight: Dan Grzelak

Dan Grzelak (photographed above in 2010 at The National High School Dance Festival in Miami, Florida) graduated from MacDuffie in 2010 as a seven year senior.

He then attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet where he trained and performed in a two year intensive program.  He was a member of the pick up company  Opus 1 Contemporary Dance for one year where he performed in the greater Philadelphia area performing modern and jazz choreography.

While at PAB, he participated in Nutcracker and numerous other short ballets such as variations from Corsair and Sleeping Beauty.

From January through March of this year Dan auditioned for a variety of ballet companies across the country.  Many of these auditions were in NYC but for some he had to travel to different cities.  After the audition process he received offers for traineeships with Richmond and Grand Rapids Ballets as well as a second company position with Nashville Ballet.  Ultimately he accepted a position with the Colorado Ballet.  Dan will be moving to Denver on July 1 to embark on his new career.  We wish him all the best with his upcoming adventures!

If you would like to see Dan perform before he leaves the area you can catch him on June 9 at Holyoke High School where he will be performing with the Massachusetts Ballet Academy.   

Dan returned to MacDuffie on Friday, May 25 to teach a ballet class to our students.

Thank you Dan! 

Afro Brazilian Dance with Jonathan Delgado

On Monday, May 21 The MacDuffie Dancers were treated to a guest class by 2009 Alumni Jonathan Delgado.  Jonathan has just finished his junior year at The University of The Arts where he is a ballet major on a full scholarship.

Jonathan returned to teach a class which focused on the Afro Brazilian culture and the Afro Brazilian religion of Candomble.  He taught the dancers about the differences of the Orishas (deities of nature). He also talked to them about the Oya (Goddess of Cemetery) who is depicted as a whirlwind when angry yet gentle as a summer's breeze when calm and happy.  

Jonathan reminded the girls of the importance of being grounded, using all the space surrounding them and learning how to channel their energy as they dance and most importantly having fun!

Alumna Ottania Rosario Returns to Work with Dancers!

Alumni Spotlight: Ottania Rosario

Written By: Jessie & Lisa, B Block Dance

Ottania Rosario graduated from MacDuffie in 2010.  She has just finished her sophomore year at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania where she is a dance minor with a major in Psychology.  Last week she came back to MacDuffie to work with the dance students on some jazz and hip hop choreography.

On Tuesday, May 15th and Friday, May 18th, Ottania Rosario came to teach our B block class a jazz combination. At first the combination seemed intimidating because of the tempo, but after learning the movement it wasn’t as difficult as it seemed. 

The movement seems to resemble a girl who is independent and confident. Ottania’s upbeat attitude made it easier to learn the movement and master it in a short amount of time. She made  learning a jazz combination more exciting than we were expecting. Her version of jazz has a hint of hip-hop which makes it more modern than previous jazz combinations we have learned. The movement featured a lot of hand gestures that told their own story. 

Ottania also worked with the G Block class on a hip hop routine.

We all had a great time and would love to have her come teach us another combination next year!