Gianna Guzzo graduated from Hofstra University in 2024, ready to take on the professional dance world.
Since graduating with a double major in dance and economics, Guzzo has danced with many professional dance companies. She recalls some of her connections with professors at Hofstra who set her up for success.
“One thing that I really appreciate about Hofstra is how connected I felt with professors and how my relationships with professors continued post-graduation,” Guzzo said. “Professor Dyane Harvey-Salaam introduced me to [Forces of Nature Dance Theatre] and I started performing with them as a sophomore. I continued that from then until now.”
Guzzo is a current company member of Forces, Robin Becker Dance, Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre and i KADA Dance Company, and she has also danced for several other professional companies.
Guzzo said it was challenging to adjust to the time commitment and commute into New York City as a student.
“I had to get on top of managing my time and train schedules. The other challenge was being there in the room with dancers who are in their 30s and have already had a career for a decade and are super comfortable,” Guzzo said. “Working with them was a big inspiration because I wasn’t at that maturity yet. Forming relationships with them was extremely valuable.”
In addition to Forces, Guzzo was introduced to Robin Becker Dance by Hofstra professor Robin Becker. She most recently performed in the evening-length piece “Into Sunlight” in Hofstra’s very own John Cranford Adams Playhouse.
Former dance professor Amy Marshall was a mentor to Guzzo and a became her connection to Paul Taylor Dance Company.
“My first year out of graduation I was on scholarship at The Taylor School, and [Marshall] is now director of education,” Guzzo said. “She was a mentor to me at Hofstra in terms of planning out how to make life work as a dancer in New York post-grad.”
As a professional dancer in New York, Guzzo said she loves the companies and projects she’s currently involved in because each of them gives her something different as an artist.
“I’m always looking for something new that challenges me and surprises me,” Guzzo said. “I love the things I’m doing now. [These things] and the schedule I have now with the dance companies is really enriching because I’m involved in many different projects.”
Guzzo said the most challenging experience she’s had as a professional dancer is being with company Dzul Dance.
“That company uses contemporary, ancient Mayan traditional dance, acrobatics, contortion and aerial work,” Guzzo said. “I was stepping in for another dancer, and it was extremely challenging. The partnering work was extremely hard and risky, and [it involved] so much trust and balance. It was so rewarding because I had to put so much work in.”
She said working with Dzul was very eye opening because she never thought she would be in something involving aerial, acrobatics and partnering work, but she loved the challenge.
An additional eye-opening experience for Guzzo as a dancer and artist was found in her time studying abroad in Amsterdam as an undergraduate student. She said that the exposure of dancing abroad made her open to different ways of moving.
“The opportunity to study abroad in the Netherlands was huge,” Guzzo said. “That was a great opportunity to be there during my time at Hofstra and meet other dancers and be exposed to other dance styles.”
Guzzo said the biggest lesson she’s learned from dancing professionally is to respect yourself and listen to your needs.
“When you walk into these rooms with all these other dancers, all different life experiences, dance experiences, different stages of life, different backgrounds and different countries they come from, you learn a lot about people, and it’s exciting,” Guzzo said. “I’ve learned it’s important to take care of yourself and make sure that you honor your needs and you honor your integrity.”
With the tension and high emotions present in the professional dance world, Guzzo said she had to learn what is meant for her and how to react.
“I really had to learn to take care of myself, make sure I’m good at what I’m doing, make sure I’m in the right spot at the right time and that I’m being safe because it’s impossible to control what other people are doing,” Guzzo said.
She plans to continue pursuing new opportunities that challenge her in the future.
“Going forward I just want to be involved in new projects that are avant-garde, something that challenges me and something that is strange at first,” Guzzo said. “I like the excitement of that.”
In her time at Hofstra, she said that what she is most thankful for is the professors she connected with who supported her then and now.
“I would like to extend a thank you to Rachel List, [Becker,] former professor [Marshall,] Mama Dyane and a few of my economics professors. Professor [Constantine] Alexandrakis, Professor [Massoud] Fazeli and Suzanne Pike of the study abroad program,” Guzzo said. “I’d like to thank them for supporting me. Those relationships are some of the most valuable things that I got to take away from Hofstra.”
“I’m grateful that the support of these people extends,” Guzzo said. “There wasn’t an end. They’re still there for me and I’m grateful for that.”
