Learn about Katie McGrail!
Katie McGrail grew up at JMBT studios as a student and member of YouthWorks. She continued dancing post-graduation, has taught and performed professionally. Today, Katie is a clinical mental health counselor specializing in dance movement therapy.
JMBT was really a second home to me. It was one of the places I spent the most time and felt the most comfortable growing up and I am grateful to have had that.
How – and when – did you first come to JMBT?
JMBT was really a second home to me. It was one of the places I spent the most time and felt the most comfortable growing up and I am grateful to have had that.
Do you think that your ballet/dance training at JMBT helped prepare you for your professional career? How so?
I think so. My ballet training was so ingrained in my life growing up, it’s hard to parse out, but I think it trained me to have high expectations of myself and to be self-motivated in my work. I think it taught me to approach things with a growth oriented mindset of always striving to improve.
Katie performing at Boston Center for the Arts in 2024 (Olivia Moon Photography)
After graduating from/leaving JMBT where did life take you?
I went to Connecticut College for my undergraduate studies where my understanding of dance and my own relationship to it really expanded. While I didn’t pursue a degree in dance, I danced actively there and learned a lot about modern dance and improvisation, among other aspects of the field. After college I spent a few years teaching dance (at JMBT among other places!) and yoga and collaborating and performing modern dance professionally around Boston and New England. I then went back to school and got my masters at Lesley in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Dance Movement Therapy where I gained the skills to do the work I’ve been doing for the last 10 years. I also continue to collaborate and dance professionally with a few local choreographers and spend most of my time outside of work with my now three year old daughter – who loves to have dance parties around the house and occasionally tags along to rehearsals with me.
Do you have any advice you would like to give to current ballet students who want to pursue the same career as yours?
I would encourage young dancers to consider that dancing and performing professionally, while wonderful goals for some, are not the only path to “success” or to a career in dance. I would encourage young dancers interested in a career in dance to think about what it is about this art form that they love and to let that inform what career path within dance may be the best fit for them. There are many ways to keep dance an active part of one’s life!
