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Dancer Finds a Rewarding Transition to Teacher
When Jessie Young-Novak was a child, she outlined her career choices for her parents. "I told them I wanted to be either a ballerina or a dolphin-feeder." As fate would have it, Jessie took the dancing career path thanks to an inspirational teacher. "My first dance teacher was Trish Toms who was a former Rockette," says Jessie, "She helped me get started." Jessie attended the University of Iowa and began to perform with dance troupes after graduation including the Chicago Moving Company, a modern dance group and the Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, a Latin Jazz Company. "When I was with the Cerqua Rivera Dance Theater, we often performed with a live band or orchestra which was very exciting to have to multiple forms of live expressive art happening at the same time," recalls Jessie.
A few years ago, Jessie retired from performing and began teaching. One interesting teaching position she took was at an elderly living facility. She was hired through a special grant designed to help the seniors to enjoy movement to music. "It was so interesting to be communicating with the older people and getting them to move their bodies in whatever way they could. Even though they had limited abilities, I could still give them the gift of movement. It was really an interesting outreach experience."
In 2003, Jessie started teaching at the School of Performing Arts in Naperville and quickly became a favorite teacher with the students. "I teach mostly ballet but also jazz, tap and beginning dance," she explains. "As I get older, I really enjoy being able to empower students to dance. It's all about inspiring kids to see themselves in new ways. Once they master a step, it is great but what it is all about is to look inside themselves for inspiration to use those steps. Dance is not just learning steps, it is using those steps. Some of my students were 11 years old when they started taking lessons with me and now they are 17. To see them grow into themselves is great. It is so exciting to see and it never gets old."
Jessie has taken teaching positions with Salt Creek Ballet and other dance school in Chicago. She also leads a Pilates class. She has found that teaching students to enjoy dance, whether they are senior citizens or second graders, is a "very rewarding experience." -Judy Buchenot

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