Follow me @liamlaguerre
Name: Danielle Fabiilli
School: Hofstra University
Grade: Junior
Sport: Dance team
Middle Village resident Danielle Fabiilli helped the Hofstra University dance team to a second place overall finish in the Universal Dance Association national championship last month. In addition to the overall finish, the team also took second place in the Division I Hip Hop and Doubles Jazz competitions. Fabiilli was also a member of the team that was the national champion in 2012 and 2013.
She started performing at age 3 when she enrolled in That’s Dancin’, a dancing school in Middle Village. She was also part of the Archbishop Molly High School dance team. As part of the Hofstra University team, Fabiilli performs at athletic events and school proceedings. The team also performs at children’s hospitals, nursing homes and for charity events, such as cancer walks.
Despite being a lifetime dancer, Fabiilli aspires to be a math teacher. She maintains a 3.6 GPA, while double-majoring in education and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). For her senior year, she is looking forward to being a leader on the dance team and completing her degree. And while being a school teacher, Fabiilli would also like to coach the school’s dance team.
Why do you want to be a teacher and not a dancer?
“Because I come from a family of educators. My mom is a teacher, my grandparents were teachers and two of my aunts are teachers.”
How does dancing help with teaching?
“The leadership roles that I gain from the team and also I am so used to performing in front of thousands of people so I’m not afraid of teaching.”
Why is it important to perform at charity events?
“I think it’s great because we don’t only compete, but we reach out to the community. They love when we come to perform, because they are not used to dance teams coming to perform for them.”
What do you want people to know about the dance team?
“A lot of people don’t consider dance a sport. But I think a lot of what we do is a sport. We want people to know that we are very hardworking. We do as much as any other sports team at Hofstra.”
What would you like to give your future students?
“I want to put the fun back into math and learning. I want to make it a fun learning environment.”
How great has it been to win national championships?
“It would be amazing, winning those past two years have helped me with my confidence. It is a great feeling to say that I am a national champion, and that you can balance school and sports at the same time.”
RECOMMENDED STORIES
