LakeErieBallet.org Photo

Mercyhurst alumna Lana Crotty, M.A., returns to Mercyhurst University, this time as an addition to the dance department staff. Born in Rochester, N.Y., Crotty attended Mercyhurst College, graduating with a B.A. in Dance Performance and Business Marketing, and earned a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership.

She has served as a dance instructor at the Lynn Scott School of Dance, Perrinton Dance Co., and as a principal dance instructor at the Lake Erie Academy of Dance.

She teaches ballet for children and adults, contemporary dance, jazz and dance conditioning. Crotty also trained with the dance faculty at Point Park University during their summer programs.

Some career highlights include dancing the lead role of Effie in one of Mercyhurst’s productions of “La Sylphide.” Her stage experience also includes roles in “The Nutcracker”, “Carmen”, “Le Corsaire”, “Swan Lake”, and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, as well as participation in other contemporary dance performances and musicals.

Crotty now joins the ranks of dance instructors at Mercyhurst. As an adjunct faculty member, one of her many duties on campus is to teach Dance Appreciation, a core course. She has a passion for dance that can be seen even through a group of students who aren’t traditionally dancers.

Crotty incorporates many different elements that usually don’t go along with Dance Appreciation, such as a mock Broadway audition day where the students “auditioned” for extra bonus points on their next quiz. Crotty is trying and succeeding in immersing the students in the lifestyle of a dancer.

She has a gift for dance and has no problem reaching out to students and assisting them to become all they can be.