Teen Face: El Molino senior is a graceful dancer who ‘thrives on challenge’

You could say Brianna Frazer found her passion at an early age - at 3 years old, when she began taking ballet lessons.

Brianna, a senior at El Molino High School in Forestville, loves to dance.

“My parents wanted to get me started as soon as possible, to find what I’d really like to do,” she said.

Karate, gymnastics, horseback riding, tennis and 11 years of ballet would follow, but it was the dancing that really stuck.

“It’s what I wanted to do,” she said.

“She has a grace when she dances. She comes from a ballet background. She has a flow about her movements,” said El Molino dance director and teacher Jolene Johnson. “You can tell that she really loves to dance.”

A resident of Cazadero and an only child, she lives with her mother, a medical assistant, and her father, a mechanic.

Brianna takes two dance classes during the day and also is in the school’s dance company, which puts on several shows during the year along with participating in community events, festivals and competitions.

Jazz, modern, hip-hop, ballet and musical theater all are part of her dance repertoire.

To become part of the dance company, students have to choreograph their own piece and audition for a panel of teachers, the director, assistant director and previous senior class members. Everything from technique to facial expressions is judged.

Brianna eventually would like to teach dance professionally, or on the side, perhaps open a small studio. But a nursing career or veterinary medicine also beckon.

Brianna was accepted to Penn State University, but she is still waiting to hear from other colleges, including San Diego State.

“They have a really good dance team. I’d love to go down to Southern California. It’s so much different than it is up here,” she said.

Brianna played varsity volleyball her freshman year, attained Most Valuable Player on her varsity basketball team, and maintains a 4.23 grade point average. She takes Advanced Placement classes in English, government and biology.

Bright, friendly, self-possessed and unique are some of the descriptions English and social studies teacher Bill Olzman applies to the high school senior who was voted “Best Student” in her U.S. history class.

“One thing that makes her stand out is she’s incredibly mature for high school,” he said. “You see that from fashion, to her sense of self, to how polite she is. She doesn’t seem like a kid.”

Not only is she a beautiful dancer, he said, but “she thrives on challenge.”

“She fits right in, in terms of Socratic discussion - participating in a group to derive meaning,” he said. “She’s a very hard-working student as well.”

You can reach Staff Writer Clark Mason at 521-5214 or clark.mason@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter ?@clarkmas.