Alejandra Gonzalez

Ms. Gonzalez is the Upper School dance instructor. She teaches a variety of dance techniques including salsa, waltz, and ballet to name a few. As a mother, Ms. Gonzalez doesn't have much free time. She has an eleven-month-old and a four-year old who also love to dance. Ms. Gonzalez enjoys doing yoga a lot. When she started practicing yoga, she realized that it helped her with her dancing and teaching. She thinks anything to do with the body is important to dancers. As a committed teacher and dancer, she needs to relax every once in a while. When she can relax, she’ll usually be watching television shows.

“You hear a lot of “no” for an answer, which can make you feel bad and want to quit. But you have to keep going because there will be a lot of negative things and you have to find things that inspire you to keep going.”

Ms. Gonzalez always had a love for dance, though she started later than most young dancers. As a young girl growing up in Monterrey, Mexico, Ms. Gonzalez participated in all the plays and performances at her school. As the youngest of six children, she was never driven to places. Because of that, she did not have the chance to engage in an out-of-school dance program, and never got formal training. That was until she was eight, when Ms. Gonzalez tried out for the Conservatory of Dance in Mexico. Sadly, she was not accepted, for an unknown reason. After this audition, she didn’t try much dancing until she took a semester of jazz dance in high school, when she was seventeen. After Ms. Gonzalez graduated from high school, she decided she would audition for the dance conservatory again, but this time for a dance teaching program.

After she was accepted to the dance teaching program, she stayed there for college. When asked about her high school dance class, Ms. Gonzalez responded, “Jazz. I started with jazz. But let me tell you a funny story. In college, when I was accepted to the conservatory, halfway through my Bachelor’s, a lot of the kids were getting injured, so I was stepping in to sub for the kids, in the professional area … not the teaching, right? And my teachers were so surprised that I was older, and I was able to, you know, have such good technique. And they asked me, ‘Well, why didn’t you come when you were younger to audition?’ And I said, ‘I did.’ And so they were like, ‘Well, what happened?’ ‘Well, I wasn’t accepted,’ [she said.] And they asked, ‘But why?’ And I replied, ‘I don’t know.’ And they were like, ‘Oh My God!’. So, it wasn't until years later that they realized that they turned down someone that had potential.”

“In your flaws, there is beauty.”

Though Ms. Gonzalez teaches a variety of styles of dance, including modern, ballet, contemporary, salsa, waltz, and more, she mostly focuses on contemporary dance with her students. Contemporary dance is a mix of modern technique and ballet, and it also has a few hints of hip hop. Often, people confuse it with lyrical dance, which it is not. Ms. Gonzalez uses various exercises with her students such as “across the floor,” where her students do different moves like leaps across the studio floor. She also does barre exercises with her students, where they practice different ballet techniques like tendus and degages. They might do some jumps, and if they have time, they might learn a combo or a dance. The exercises can be as short or as long as she needs, depending on how long it takes for the technique to get across.

Other than teaching here at Parker, Ms. Gonzalez also has to train to stay in shape as a dancer. Most dancers train everyday, even if it is just stretching or practicing a dance. Often, in the summer, dancers have to go through “intensives,” because most dancers are off at that time. Dancers need to keep fit so that they do not “die off” when they are in season.

“I always say, dance is a very jealous art form. You don’t do it for a day, and your body feels it.”

Ms. Gonzalez is very happy with her class. It is a good size, and the gender distribution is even. In a lot of studios, there are very few male dancers. She believes that the stereotype of boys not dancing has changed slightly from when she was a kid, but is still a factor in a dancer’s career. She thinks that gender stereotypes within dance at Parker are less prevalent than they are in Mexico.

Ms. Gonzalez loves preparing and creating performances to present in Morning Ex assemblies. Her favorite performance that her students here at Parker have been involved in was the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) MX. Given her cultural heritage, Ms. Gonzalez enjoyed being able to see the iconic festival come alive in her students. She loved the costumes and the set pieces. Ms. Gonzalez was glad she got to put on the performance, not only because she is from Mexico and Dia de los Muertos is celebrated there, but also because everyone else got to learn more about the holiday.

Sometimes, Ms. Gonzalez will work with the theatre department and choreograph some of the dances in their productions. Also, the directors might ask her to do some blocking for scenes if they are missing some movement. Blocking is when the director of a performance determines where a performer should go as they are doing an action or speaking a line. This could include where someone would go if they were walking out of a door, or what they would be doing with their arms when they are saying a line.

Ms. Gonzalez has many interests outside of dance; however, she can’t imagine having a career that does not involve dance. “Everything I do falls back to dance,” she said. For example, Ms. Gonzalez would like to learn to sew, which would remind her of making costumes for choreography. She would like to paint, reminding her of making backdrops for performances. Right now, Ms. Gonzalez really likes writing. She is also very interested in child development, both as a mother and as a teacher. At one point, she was thinking of becoming an architect. For Ms. Gonzalez, her interests are either artistic or athletic. She believes that dance is a mix of both.

“It wasn't until years later that they realized that they turned down someone that had potential.”

Hopefully this article has made clear that Mrs. Gonzalez is an amazing dance teacher and person. She not only teaches her students how to dance, but how to express themselves. She helps her students build a foundation of dance technique that will help them to later personalize and perform their movements with better quality. Apart from her beautiful movements, Ms. Gonzalez is a kind, sweet, and caring person. Her story of persistence is fascinating, and hopefully if you ever see Ms. Gonzalez dancing around Parker’s hallways or down the streets of Chicago, you will recognize her as a hard working and beautiful woman. The sixth grade is truly grateful for the time Ms. Gonzalez spent explaining her unique story.

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Please note that at the end of this school year Ms. Gonzalez will move on to a new job. We are glad we had the chance to talk with her, and we wish her all the best in her new position.