Dance Teacher

Gretchen LaBorwit is thrilled to be back with all the wonderful dancers at MCDA! Gretchen started her love of dance with ballet at the age of 7 and then soon found jazz, tap, and modern and she was hooked. She completed her undergraduate at Point Park University with a concentration in Jazz Dance in 2008. She performed with numerous companies in Pittsburgh including kNot Dance and the Pillow Project. In 2012 she moved to CO and performed locally with Evolving Doors Dance and Cindy Brandle Dance Company. In 2020 she completed her Masters in Fine Arts from CU Boulder with a concentration in Film and Photography. Most recently she has performed with Viskosity Dance and Mountain Summer Dance Project. When she isn’t dancing, she works as a server and manger at the Boulder Cork and during the day hikes dogs with Boulder Doggie Adventures.

Jillian Olson grew up dancing in Broomfield, Colorado.  She studied ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical and modern at Danstek, Becky Shaw School of Dance, and at Hannah Kahn Dance Company. During high school, she attended the Jazz Dance World Congress with the Giordano Dance Chicago, the Boulder Jazz Dance Workshop at CU Boulder, and was on her high school poms dance team.  She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and Art History in 2003 from the University of Colorado where she was also a member of the Buff Gold Dance Team.  After receiving her degree in dance, Jillian began her teaching career while working at Boulder Body Wear and starting a family. She has taught Creative Movement, Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Contemporary, and Pre-pointe and has been a part of the Mountain Contemporary Dance Arts family since 2017.  When not at MCDA, Jillian spends her time with her husband Travis and three kids Alexa, Maia & Luke and is a partner in at Colorado Alternative Wellness in Broomfield.

Alison grew up in Colonial Heights, Virginia, and first started dance school at 8 years old. As an ambitious teenager, she participated in several dance competitions throughout high school and would later get her degree in Dance Education from James Madison University.

After graduating, Alison moved to north Africa where she lived and danced professionally. In 2017, she moved to colorful Colorado. She now dances with the Industrial Dance Alliance and 3rd Law Dance Theatre, and adores teaching at Mountain Kids Contemporary Dance Arts!

Alison specializes in and teaches a variety of classes at MCDA including Jazz, Ballet, Contemporary, and Tap. She’s been teaching here since 2018, and her versatility and passion make her a very important member of our team.

Alison’s favorite parts of working with the dancers at MCDA are her coworkers and students. Her coworkers are extremely kind and supportive, and she’s excited to see her students grow their skills and confidence.