Choreographer Jessica Lang (second from left) rehearsing her work Undercurrents for the Pennsylvania Ballet in October 2000, with ballet mistress Tamara Hadley (far left) and dancers Johnathan Stiles and Tara Keating (a Juilliard alumna). Photo by Brett Thomas

I have always taken advantage of the open-door policy that the Juilliard faculty and administration perpetuates. As new artists in the field, we recent graduates can come back to our roots for guidance, inspiration, and advice. One of the ways in which Juilliard has enabled me (and other alumni) to continue developing our skills and careers is by commissioning us to create new work for the students.

Nine years have passed since I was an eager and yet naïve first-year student. My first performing experience in the Juilliard Theater was José Limón's Missa Brevis, a Juilliard classic. I now realize that the work involved in perfecting that piece united my class in our first bond, one that would carry us through the next four years and beyond.

My returning to Juilliard now as a choreographer for the December workshops comes with a mission. As a first-year student, I remember all of the insecurities, fears, and pressures one carries within oneself. I have happily taken on the responsibility of carefully opening the first-year dance students' minds, to get past those inhibitions and help them take on the challenge of what lies ahead.

The piece I am creating is especially geared to these students. I have chosen to use music by London-based composer Pete M. Wyer, with whom I am developing the work in a trans-Atlantic collaboration. Pete has included a spoken text called "Rain at Night," which is recorded by Hollywood voiceover artist Wally Burr. The theme of this text is reaching into your "inner self" (and the feeling there is always something more that we can access). But it is also about our connectedness—about the cycles that water follows, and about out transience within that perspective. These are themes that can reflect some of the thoughts these dancers might be having.

Exposure to variety enables one to grow in all directions. At Juilliard, one day you are given the opportunity to work with world-famous choreographers; on the next, you work with peers who are practicing their composition skills. You are also exposed to every aspect of the performing art and, by the time you graduate, there are many additional outlets you may have discovered an interest in beside being the dancer on stage.

Dance Workshop Juilliard Theater Friday-Saturday, Monday-Tuesday, Dec. 13-14, 16-17, 8 p.m. This event is free; no tickets are required.

After I graduated, I was a member of Twyla Tharp's company, Tharp!, later dancing for Igal Perry's Peridance Ensemble and, most recently, with Phrenic New Ballet. I am developing myself as a teacher of ballet, modern, composition, and improvisation. But the most important evolution in my career has been as a choreographer. In a short time, I have gone on to create new works for a number of companies, including American Ballet Theater's Studio Company (a company of young dancers who perform in smaller venues and often move up into the main company), the New York City Ballet's New York Choreographic Institute (formed by Peter Martins and Irene Diamond as a nurturing ground for new works), Pennsylvania Ballet, and Hubbard Street 2. Upcoming commissions include a work for the Richmond Ballet, as well as for the Alvin Ailey/ Fordham B.F.A. Program (in which dancers can earn a degree at Fordham University while studying dance at the Ailey School).

The diversity of my education at Juilliard makes it possible for me to switch between working with professional ballet dancers to students whose focus is modern dance. I am prepared wherever I go, because I have had such well rounded training that I understand the specific dancer I am working with. For this, I am grateful to my teachers. I look at the generations above me, and see that there is still so much more I can become.

I am honored to be part of a tradition at Juilliard that I hope will continue for many years to come. Inviting alumni back to work with the students benefits all those involved: The students get to see some of the options that are possible after graduating; the returning choreographers are inspired by the fresh energy and can check their own growth to see how they are developing as artists.

The late Benjamin Harkarvy, a special teacher and mentor, once told me, "It isn't about the job; it's about creating a career." I want to illuminate his words for the first-year students, and for all those who listen. Those are words I live by.

Jessica Lang graduated in 1997 with a B.F.A. in dance.