Point Park University senior dance major Gianna Annesi has taken part in the Giordano Dance Chicago summer intensive twice. She was also asked to be a part of the company’s first mentorship program.

Now that she is set to graduate from Point Park’s dance program this December, she is hoping to continue her career after college as a company member of Giordano, a Chicago based jazz dance company.

Annesi began her career as a young girl growing up in Syracuse, New York. She started off in Kindermusik then went to a “Dolly Dinkle” dance studio. She went on to train as a competition dancer in styles such as jazz, tap, lyrical and contemporary throughout elementary, middle and high school.

She trained heavily in ballet on the side, attending intensives during the summer and throughout the year.

“I really focused on jazz,” Annesi said. “I always had a strong jazz foundation. I wasn’t trained specifically in a certain jazz style, however, they just did a really good job focusing on the foundation.”

Gianna discovered in middle school that dance was a career path one could pursue.

“I always wanted to be a doctor growing up, but one day, in middle school, I found out you could actually major in dance,” Annesi said.

She found that as she got older, many dancers went through a similar phase of trying to find themselves through a style called contemporary.

“I always stayed true to what I was doing and where my heart was,” Annesi said. “I even tried to go off in that route, but I was like no, jazz is where I belong.”

Once she reached high school, she decided she wanted to pursue dance as a career. Amnesi made that final decision after experiencing her first dance company performance.

“I saw Lar Lubovitch Dance Company back home in Syracuse,” Annesi said. “It was the first real company I had ever seen and I was blown away that people actually did this because all I did was competition dance.”

After seeing this performance, she began researching dance companies and learning more about concert dance. Through her research, she became fascinated by this style of dance and realized it was something she could see herself doing in the future.

Annesi began looking into colleges for dance, but was faced with a challenge during the most crucial point in her high school dance career. She had foot surgery right before her senior year of high school to get bones removed.

“It was tough because that was the big year before going away to college,” Annesi said. “So that was really stressful, obviously. I was auditioning for everything, trying to figure out where I belonged, and trying to recover from foot surgery while auditioning.”

She did not let this get in the way of her following her dreams. Annesi auditioned, got accepted and began her college dance career at Point Park University in the fall of 2014.

Throughout her life and her dance career, many individuals have played roles in helping Gianna get to where she is today.

“One-hundred percent, the person who has absolutely been there through every part of my life has been my mom,” Annesi said.

Mrs. Annesi believes that the best advice she has provided her daughter has been to not take no for an answer.

“I know she now embodies that advice through her own unique adversities she has been faced with in this very challenging industry,” Mrs. Annesi said.

Annesi’s mother believes that her natural ability is what makes her stand out among other dancers.

“She has that ‘it’ factor,” Mrs. Annesi said. “Meaning, when she is on stage, she has a magnetism and power to draw you into her through her movement, style and grace.  That is a rare quality to possess.”

Annesi believes the professor that has had the largest impact on her dance career would be Kiesha Lalama, head of the jazz department at Point Park.

“She was honestly the first person to light a fire under my ass when I got here,” Annesi said. “I was really lost when I came here, and really lost on where I wanted to go, what I wanted to do and she kinda just guided me.”

Lalama has been present in Annesi’s Point Park career as a professor, choreographer and rehearsal director and has experienced first-hand what Annesi is like as a dancer.  

“Gianna has this built-in fire about her,” Lalama said. “She has this magnetic energy and it’s infectious. She really inspires everyone around her with this positive, magical energy.”

Along with Lalama, Annesi feels as if her friend, Damond Garner, has also made a huge impact on her while being here at Point Park.

“Damond has kinda been my go-to,” Annesi said. “He’s the kind of the person where he can read me like a book and whenever something is wrong, he knows exactly how to handle me, which is very difficult.”

For Garner, Annesi has played a similar role in his life.

“She is constantly reminding me that it is going to be okay,” Annesi said. “But she is also constantly reminding me that there is a push and that becoming complacent isn’t a good thing and she shows me the value of hard work. She doesn’t allow me to go easy on myself.”

Annesi will be graduating at the end of this semester and has a plan on how she will approach life after college.

“As of right now, I plan on moving to Chicago as soon as possible and dancing there,” Annesi said.

She has attended Giordano Dance Chicago’s summer intensive twice, but all it took was one week there for her to realize that it was the place for her.  

“Giordano Dance Chicago is my all-time favorite dance company,” Annesi said. “Kiesha gave us a list of dance companies to research our freshman year and Giordano was on it.”

Annesi also got the opportunity to be a part of the company’s first ever mentorship program. Last October, the company reached out to college students who they believed could have a future in the company and offered them a spot in the program. The mentorship program paired a company dancer with a college student to keep in touch with throughout the year.

“It’s basically to give you a jump start and it’s really nice because your mentors become your friends,” Annesi said. “You get to know the ins and outs of the company and they become really involved in your life and you become involved in theirs and it’s just a really great experience.”

There are currently two Point Park alumni who are a part of Giordano Dance Chicago, Ashley Downs and Jacob Frazier.

“I have no doubt in my mind that she’s probably going to end up with Giordano, dancing. It’s a great fit for her in regard to concert dance because she can cross over,” Lalama said.