Lorain High dance students practice college-level techniques

LORAIN — With less than a year of lessons under their feet, dance students at Lorain High School already are training with artists from Oberlin College. Lorain High dance teacher Emilio Noriega met Michal Schorsch and Jacqueline de Melo Silva, both with Oberlin College, during a dance jam in the nearby college town. Noriega knew his students in Dance II at Lorain High would love contact improvisation — silent weight sharing between two dancers to keep both upright and moving. "It's the idea of trusting someone and how you weight-share and listen without using your voice. … Listening to your body rather than words," he said. "It's a really cool form." From there, it was just a matter of asking Schorsch and de Melo Silva to come to the International City to work as guests with the students. Lorain Schools started its dance program in the fall, hiring new educators to have classes offered kindergarten through 12th grades. Noriega, originally from Arizona, had never even thought of living in Ohio when he first graduated from Southern Utah University with his bachelor's in dance education. But after interviewing with the district, he packed a bag and moved across the country to teach contemporary dance to high schoolers. Originally, the district hadn't planned to offer Dance II until the 2023-24 school year, but enough students from Noriega's first-semester course were advanced enough to force Lorain Schools to accelerate its plans, Assistant Superintendent Ross May said. Those students spent Friday afternoon learning to roll over the backs of one another into a headstand. Earlier in the week, they'd learned how to safely lift one another, moving freely with the music behind them. After watching Schorsch and de Melo Silva for a minute, students quickly broke off into pairs and practiced with what they'd just absorbed. "It's extremely unique and different from most classrooms," May said, watching students dance in a circle to 1980s hip-hop. "But the way that he just creates community is extraordinary. Now (the students) are trusting each other enough to literally lift each other up. … The kids are just soaking this up so fast and it's absolutely great." Noriega hopes to be able to take some of his students to one of the jam sessions he's attended at Oberlin to get the students on a college campus, and to further their improvisation skills. Lorain Schools' arts expansion was paid for using its Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds. Those funds run through 2025, and after that Lorain Schools will have to find a new funding source. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.