Janice Aguilera graduated from Long Island High School for the Arts in 1979, back when it was called Nassau BOCES Cultural Arts Center. Ten years later, she returned as a dance teacher, a position she's held now for 18 years. "I couldn't think of a better job," she says.
When she first found out about the school, in time for her senior year, "it was like a dream come true," she says. "It was one of the best years of my life. I made so many wonderful friends." She forged close ties with students, faculty and staff, many of whom turned out to be key players in her budding career.
After two years of college in California, she returned to Manhattan to work as an assistant to one of her high school teachers, Jose Meier, at the Ailey School. Her job took her to Venezuela for a week, where, she says, she got so many employment offers that she stayed for three years. "I was a professional dancer working in television and music videos, and choreographing for pop stars... . I had a very interesting life."
Then she returned to the United States, first to California, and after having her first child, came home to Long Island. She sought out Ava Favara, the high school principal then and now, and Favara gave her a job.
She teaches five days a week. "I'm lucky. I get to teach in the theater and dance departments... .The minute I see my students, I'm happy. They're an inspiration to me." She teaches dance for theater students, jazz, dance history and an audition class -- an important component of the curriculum, which aims to get students into top colleges with maximum scholarships.
On Jan. 3, when the school had a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark its new name and its 35th anniversary, Aguilera had both a former classmate and a former student of hers teaching master classes to her current students.
Kevin Irving, who had been her prom date and has since danced with and directed important companies around the world, taught ballet steps. John Carroll, her "star student" when he graduated in 1996, taught the audition class how to do Fosse moves, which he'd picked up from "Fosse," one of several Broadway shows he's toured with, in addition to being part of the David Parsons Dance Company and landing a role in next month's City Center Encores! production of "Applause."
Aguilera says she has seen many of her students "realize their dreams" after attending the school. "It changes people's lives," she says. "It's something they'll never forget."
