Daily Inspiration: Meet Drew Gliwa

Today we’d like to introduce you to Drew Gliwa.

Hi Drew, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started dancing at the age of three. I was at my older sister’s dance competition all weekend long and I would not stop dancing in the aisles of the auditorium. My sister’s dance teacher quickly took notice and recommended that I start taking lessons. The rest is history. I quickly fell in love with dancing in a studio setting. I trained for about seven years recreationally before I switched studios for a more intense training program. I danced at Art in Motion dance studio in Champaign, Illinois for six years. The studio was an hour away from where I lived, so I spent many long drives doing homework, eating meals, and spending time with my parents and carpool friends. I then went on to study dance at Chapman University in Orange, California. This is where the training and commitment really kicked. I figured I had a love for blending commercial and concert dance together into a fusion of styles. I started to really figure who I was as an individual. Chapman gave me many of the necessary tools and connections I needed to transition smoothly into the Los Angeles dance scene. I have now been in LA for about four years as a professional dancer.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road the entire time. At the age of seven I started to help my mom clean offices to help pay for my dance lessons, and it only increased as my lessons got more expensive. I would only go to dance on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday for rehearsals because I was cleaning offices on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. At the time, I really hated having to do this. I missed out on social opportunities, school events, and most importantly, two extra nights of dance. Looking at it now it really helped me to shape my hustler mentality, where I’m always on the go and always working to get to where I want to be.

Another obstacle I kind of faced was being really young at college. I graduated high school in three years, and I was a young high schooler. I went into college freshly at 17. I had to grow up a little bit quicker to kind of fit in with students that were three, four, and maybe even five years older than I was. I had to push extra hard to make sure that my age didn’t let me get overlooked.

I think professionally the biggest challenge I faced is having to deal with Covid. I moved to LA in August 2019 and had about six months to kind of get my connections working and starting to know people and starting to be known and all of that disappeared once the pandemic set in. I was back at square one for the most part with the majority of my connections. They didn’t know me or have a long enough history to hire me when a little project started to open up. I had to submit myself on projects on actor’s access or casting networks to have some sort of income that wasn’t just based off of teaching dance or walking dogs at the time.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Right now, I’m a professional dancer in the Los Angeles area, and I teach dance studios around the nation. I am a Professional Assistant for a dance convention called Hollywood Vibe, where we share a dance with dancers all over the United States.

I think my specialty lies in jazz and contemporary dance. I have a strong jazz background, and I expanded upon it in college, and I really got introduced into contemporary dance when I was at Chapman. My favorite thing to do is to blend all of these styles together to kind of create a contemporary fusion pulling from jazz Technique, modern principles and hip-hop foundation. That’s where I feel most comfortable dancing.

I would say within the Los Angeles community, I am known as a jazz boy, but I don’t wanna box myself in because I definitely know I am more than that.

I think what I’m most proud of is my ability to maintain a strong community of friends and family, a strong relationship with my partner, and a strong commitment to myself. I think most of the jobs or opportunities that I’ve fallen into have been with really really great people that have turned into my community.

I think if there’s a job that I am most proud of, it would be getting to work with Nathan Kim on a solo project that was presented at a standard vision event. It was a really unique opportunity to combine dance with technology and we created something magical and special.

I think what sets me apart from most others is my hustler attitude. It all started because my mom made me help her clean the offices, and I think because I had to actually work in order to pay for what I wanted to do it instilled this drive and determination that would not be there. I also love professionalism. Being on time, being able to communicate effectively, and being able to get the job done are really important principles that I thrive on.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Growing up, I was a really fun, lighthearted kid. I loved to spend time with my friends riding bikes, playing video games, and running around the park. Once I was in the density of those very focused and determined. I always wanted to get better and better and once I decided that I wanted to pursue dance professionally, it really changed how I approached my training. I thought so much more streamlined and what I wanted to do and how I wanted to get there.

Had I not continued dancing in junior high or high school, I would’ve played volleyball. Volleyball is my second love. That’s where my dad and I really found our relationship. We would play with a group of people on Sunday nights at the gym. It’s a big part of my family, it’s a big part of my identity. It’s a nice physical release that has literally nothing to do with dance.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drewgliwa/

Image Credits
Brien Rich, Vickie Roan