Jessica Lourenco
Jessica Lourenco has been dancing since she was 5 years old and realize it was her passion around when she was 13 to 14 years old. This is when Jessica joined the competition team of the dance studio she attended.
Dance has impacted Jessica's life and taught her that nothing comes easy and that practice makes perfect. When you’re learning any style of dance, you’re not going to be perfect right away. It takes time and dedication to develop skills. She's applied that mentality throughout her life in school and work and it’s really helped her to be a hard worker and never give up.
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Jessica went to Joann’s School of Dance in Elizabeth, N.J. from when she was 5 years old up until she was 18 years old. She first started dancing because her mother wanted Jessica to be less “shy.” That didn’t really work as she kept being shy for a while but at the same time loved to dance. Dancing at the studio was an escape for Jessica.
Throughout her dance journey Jessica has trained in ballet, tap, jazz and lyrical dance. When she got older, she got the chance to join the competition team and that is where her love for dance really grew. Then Jessica ended up being an assistant teacher and she started to become interested in teaching.
At the same time, in high school, Jessica took dance as an elective all 4 years and got the chance to explore choreographing and learning more styles of dance. After graduating high school and ending her time at her lifelong studio.
All of those experiences really allowed Jessica to grow as a person. It pushed her to always be a better version of herself. She used to be shy but through those experiences taught her about expressing herself as well as having and working with a team. It also has made her appreciate how amazing it is to share the love for dance with others and has pushed her to really love teaching dance.
Jessica went on to college at Montclair State University to major in computer science and minored in dance to continue training while learning to teach and soon after becoming a dance teacher.
The two experiences that are the most memorable to Jessica with dance are being able to dance competitively and becoming a dance teacher today. As a dancer, teacher and choreographer, Jessica gets most inspired with music that has powerful messages or that she can use to tell a story, something that can make the audience feel an emotion.
Her favorite part about teaching dance is seeing her students grow individually as people but also in skill level. Nothing puts a bigger smile on her face then seeing a student accomplish a step or skill they’ve been working on or nailing a dance routine.
Throughout her years as a dancer, Jessica's favorite performance that has a special place in her heart is a teen lyrical piece she choreographed 3 years ago to the song “Try” by Colbie Caillat.
It was a small group piece about being and loving yourself. She choreographed this piece to show each dancer helping each other and being strong together. It came out exactly how she envisioned it and the dancer’s portrayed the message beautifully.
COVID-19 has definitely impacted Jessica and her dance life. The dance studio she teaches at has switched to virtual dance classes and she has been teaching virtually for just over a month now.
Jessica never thought teaching dance virtually would be possible, but they've made it work. While sometimes it can be challenging, she is happy she still gets to see and teach her students to help them through this time.
Jessica is using dance to remain active by taking dance classes at home as well as teaching virtually. Also, any time that she is feeling stressed or overwhelmed, Jessica takes a break to dance and it really helps her feel so much better.
In Jessica's life, she's had, 2 great dance mentors. One of them is Mrs. Joann who is the owner of the dance studio Jessica grew up at and she was her teacher for many years. She learned so much from her and is forever grateful. Additionally, by being her assistant teacher for a few years, Jessica was inspired to follow in her footsteps and teach. Her other mentor was her dance teacher in high school, Mrs. G. Although she was only Jessica's teacher for a few years, the passion she had for teaching and her motivation really pushed Jessica to step out of her comfort zone and really grow.
Jessica teaches in a way that she hopes will inspire dancers to grow inside and outside the dance community. Whether they choose to purse dance more seriously or not, she always wants them to carry a positive mentality and be hard-working in anything they do.
Dance is an expressive outlet for Jessica and teaching is how she uses her passion to inspire others. She thinks that the dance community as a whole has such a big impact on society. Whether someone be a performer or an audience member, she thinks dance brings people together. Jessica also believes that dancing has great benefits mentally and physically. Besides the obvious health benefits of being active, dance can also be just as important as a regular school subject.
Student’s learn a different way to express themselves, they learn to socialize, to embrace different genres and traditions, work with others and much more, all of that can translate back positively into society.
Jessica plans to continue to teach at her current dance studio which she absolutely loves. For the upcoming year her main goal is to be a positive light in her student’s lives especially as the world goes through more changes. Through dance they are able to maintain active, positive and Jessica wants to be there for them to help in any way she can.