From SAB Student to Visiting Faculty Chair: An Interview with Alicia Holloway | Membership Newsletter – October 2020

This fall, SAB will welcome two Visiting Faculty Co-Chairs for the 2020-21 Winter Term—SAB alumni Alicia Holloway and Leyland Simmons. The School established the Visiting Faculty Chair position in 2017 to expand the presence of teachers of color in our studios. Alumnae Andrea Long-Naidu and Aesha Ash have held the position in recent years.

We caught up with Alicia to discuss her new role at SAB:

Alicia is originally from Morgantown, West Virginia, and began dancing when she was three years old at Kat and Company Dance Studio. She attended the School of American Ballet for four years, from 2011-2015, which made joining the guest faculty an especially gratifying achievement. “It means the world to me that I am a part of SAB’s guest faculty. It’s amazing to be on the other side of the classroom, because it wasn’t very long ago that I was a student in the School. I do think that I can connect to the students because I’m not much older than them, and I think it will be helpful being able to relate to them on that level.”

In class, Holloway is hoping to focus intently on what she described as the “in-between steps,” which she recalls being a major focal point in her time at SAB. “I always struggled with transition steps, and I think being a professional dancer has taught me that those little steps are just as important as the big steps.” She pointed out that it is beneficial for dancers to have guest teachers with a wide variety of professional experiences. “When I was in the School, we didn’t have a ton of guest teachers that were outside of New York City Ballet, so it’s really nice to see the School taking action to bring other dancers in to work with the students.”

Alicia also touched upon SAB’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, which in recent years has transformed the school’s student body and increased the number of diverse dancers transitioning from SAB to professional careers in dance. “I think now more than ever, SAB and all ballet schools in America need to have more diversity in their dancers, and I have no doubt that SAB will continue to accept more dancers with diverse backgrounds,” she said.

As for the dancers, Alicia wanted to give one piece of advice for the year ahead. “Sometimes you might have off days where you don’t feel your best,” she said. “But it’s important to know that each and every teacher is rooting for you and wants you to become the best possible dancer that you can be. Continue to work hard, even on the days where you don’t feel like enough, because in the end it will be so worth it.”