Hillsdale students are channeling their passion for dance by teaching community lessons.
From ballet to swing dancing, students are sharing the beauty of dance with peers, professors’ children, Hillsdale community members and more. With the help of these college students, little girls are learning to pirouette, twirl, and leap, and students are swinging, hopping, and bopping.
Senior Naomi Wells took over a program started a few years ago that teaches ballet to the children of Hillsdale College faculty. Instructor of Philosophy Lee Cole hosts the class in his basement for his two daughters and other children of Hillsdale faculty. At the end of the eight week class, the five to nine year-old students perform a recital.
“My students get so excited to show what they’ve been working so hard on,” Wells said. “Seeing them take pride in what they’ve learned is rewarding.”
Wells began dance when she was eight. Since then, she has taught dance at her home studio as an assistant in high school, performs with Hillsdale’s Tower Dancers, and started teaching last year.
“It’s therapeutic for me, a way to escape the busyness of life,” Wells said. “It’s good for kids to do it because it teaches them grace and discipline.”
Senior swing club president Wes Wright teaches a beginner Lindy Hop swing class during the first hour of Friday swing dance nights. Lindy Hop is a popular partner dance that fuses a number of dance styles to create an opportunity for individual flourishes and flair.
“My freshman year, I was still learning, and I was terrible,” Wright said. “I threw a girl through an inside turn pass by, and she hit the guy who would be president of swing club the next two years right in the throat.”
That summer, Wright explained he went home and took another beginner lesson. Putting his emphasis back on the basic step over more complicated moves and spins helped him to become a better dancer.
Now, Wright enjoys Lindy exchanges that include lessons with advanced dancers, and he has been teaching swing since his sophomore year.
“It’s something I find joy in, and I like to share joy,” Wright said. “Seeing [beginners] get it and then use it on the dance floor is a lot of fun.”
Off campus, students teach Hillsdale community members at Studio 55 downtown. Juniors Valerie Oresko, Sophia Coyne-Kosnak, and Anna Kucharski instruct classes in the studio.
Oresko started dance her freshman year of high school, thinking it would be an easy substitute for physical education. The class did not meet Oresko’s expectations, as it included conditioning and other “CrossFit-like” exercises. However, Oresko fell in love with dance and continued with the help of her teacher.
Since then, Oresko has taught dance classes at camps and started working for Studio 55 last year. She instructs ages three to 18 in tumbling, modern, pom, and jazz.
Over fall break, Oresko is planning on enduring several long days of training, lectures, and learning dance theory in order to get certified to teach Zumba and Pilates as well.
Oresko’s faith is woven with dance since Studio 55 is a Christian business, and she can even open classes with a prayer.
“I can just pour into these young, beautiful children’s minds,” Oresko said. “Sometimes [we] forget about the wisdom and joyfulness of children. They will tell me these little lessons, like ‘if I’m nice to so-and-so, she’ll stop pulling my hair.’ I’m just kind of like, ‘Maybe if I’m nice to so-and-so, she’ll stop giving me dirty looks in Bon Appétit.’ Like, wow! Thank you!”
Oresko said teaching has become an “ultimate passion” for her.
“Whenever I am feeling down or frustrated or stressed out, I walk into the studio, and immediately, there’s this chorus of ‘Ms. Valerie!’ I cannot possibly walk out of that studio without a smile on my face,” Oresko said. “I cannot imagine life without it.”
Oresko added that the owner of the studio recently made a suggestion she be the next owner of Studio 55 in a couple years.
“I’m totally leaving it up to God because that’s a big deal. I’m very excited about my future,” Oresko said. “I think I could do it, and it would be a really awesome opportunity to own a studio straight out of college.”
Coyne-Kosnak followed her mother’s footsteps and became a professional teacher at the age of 15, 12 years after starting dance. She has taught a variety of styles in the past, but currently instructs tap, hip hop and lyrical.
Kucharski started dance when she was five years old and began as an assistant instructor at the age of 13, eventually taking more responsibility as she grew older. Her older sister originally taught at Studio 55, and Kucharski taught as an assistant with her sister before taking over her own ballet classes, teaching girls as young as two and a half to as old as nine.
“I love working with children. It’s fun teaching them a step and then finally having it click,” Kucharski said. “I’m kind of a role model. It’s cool to be able to be in their lives through dance.”
Currently, Studio 55 is expanding and will be adding classes, including adult lessons, in the near future.
“I would encourage anyone with dance experience to stop by the studio if they’re interested because we’re always looking to take on more people,” Coyne-Kosnak said. “Anyone at Hillsdale College who is missing the studio life would love it.”
