SPOTLIGHT on - Nicole Jenkins (C'00)

by Jeff Ward-Bailey, guest feature-writer / photos courtesy of Sherry Hopkins

The following article was originally published in the Principia College Alumni Dance newsletter, Back at the Barre (Issue #9 - March 2011).

It is part of a special series of SPOTLIGHT articles about the dancers who inspired the charcoal drawings that grace the walls of Morey Dance Studio.  (Read the intro here.)

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When the director of Principia's Winter Dance Production fell ill during Nicole Jenkins's sophomore year, that could have been the end of the production. But it wasn't: Nicole and a small group of friends decided to forge ahead with the show, choreographing their pieces and working out the details on their own. And their homegrown approach was a success: the production was a hit with the audience, and some of the pieces they choreographed even went on to be performed by other dance companies performed were professional pieces from other companies and professional choreographers.  [*See note at the end of this article.]
It takes a special kind of dedication to turn a setback like that into such a triumphant success.

Nicole Jenkins has that kind of dedication. Like other Principian dancers who have been profiled in this newsletter, she went through a period of intense classical training before she attended the college. Nicole says her love of dance began when she was about three years old. According to her mother, she was watching "Swan Lake" on TV when she pointed to the screen and said, "Mom, I want to do that." Her mom enrolled Nicole in dance classes in a small studio near the family's home in Bellevue, Washington.

Above, Jenkins in Morey Dance Studio, June 2010


Nicole danced in Bellevue until she was eight years old. Then, one day, the dance teacher pulled her mother aside to recommend that Nicole audition for the Pacific Northwest Ballet, one of the most highly regarded ballet companies in the US. Not only did Nicole pass the audition, but she graduated from the first to the second level of classes (out of eight) within just two weeks. She continued training at the school until her sophomore year in high school -- dancing six days a week from seventh grade onward -- rising through the ranks and performing in dozens of paid productions per year.

Up until this point, Nicole was dancing strictly traditional ballet, with only small amounts of contemporary styles during the summer. "Looking back, I wish I had done other forms of dance, but because I went to such a strict professional school, I had to focus on ballet," she says. During sophomore year, however, Nicole found herself getting "burnt out" on ballet, and made the decision to, as she puts it, "be a normal high school student." She put her dance training to use as a member of the cheerleading squad during her junior and senior years of high school, and enjoyed the new sense of balance in her life.

After graduation, though, she found that "the itch to dance" came up again. She had planned to attend the University of Washington, but discovered that she would have to major in dance in order to be involved in college dance productions. Then she discovered Prin. "I could be just as involved ... without tak[ing] away from my academic progress," she says. At the college, she quickly became part of a "core group" of women who had similar backgrounds in professional dance. "It was really fun, because we were able to push each other," Nicole says.

Dancing at Prin gave Nicole the opportunity to explore jazz, lyrical, and other styles of dance in addition to the ballet on which she had focused growing up. And having friends who also shared a professional dance background enabled her to choreograph advanced pieces for the Winter Dance Production. It was during one of these productions that the director fell ill and wasn't able to participate. Nicole and her friends stepped in to create and practice that year's pieces. "We were all stretched to our max because of learning things so quickly," she says, "and challenging ourselves to a very high level of dance." The group rehearsed every day from when classes let out until 10 or 11 at night, and virtually all day on Saturdays and Sundays. Was it worth it? "Absolutely," Nicole says. "We had an amazing Dance Production, and we ended up doing all these really intense pieces that were later performed by other companies had been performed (and choreographed) by other companies/professional choreographers." (*See note at the end of this article.)

Above, Jenkins re-enacting her pose in Morey Dance Studio, June 2010


Members of the "core group" of dancers remain friends today, Nicole says. "We're all super tight, like sisters ... We had that dance experience together and since then we've been so close." One recent highlight, she adds, was dancing with this group during 2010's Alumni Reunion. "We had a chance to play around in Morey Dance Studio, which was basically where we lived all year round [as students] ... it was like a second home." She adds that she was surprised and grateful to see that a charcoal drawing of herself, enlarged from a photograph taken of a dance she performed in 1999, still hangs in Morey alongside other drawings of her dance friends. "It was pretty special that they hung them up and they're still there," she says.

Today, Alumni Reunion notwithstanding, ballet has largely taken a backseat to salsa dancing for Nicole. After graduation, she found herself debating whether to move to San Francisco to pursue a professional career as a dancer. She opted for law school instead, however, and picked up salsa dancing during a year spent back home in Washington. "I just taught myself, going to clubs," she says. But her talent obviously shone through: she was picked up by a regional salsa dance troupe called Salsa Salvaje, which gave her the opportunity to perform in the Seattle area when she wasn't working or studying for her LSATs. Later, when Nicole moved to Washington, D.C. to pursue her law career, she continued salsa dancing and was invited to join the DC Casineros, a regional Cuban Salsa group.

Right, Jenkins re-enacting another of her poses in Morey Dance Studio, June 2010


Although she has so much experience in different dance styles under her belt, Nicole says that with her career in law, it's hard to fit dance into her life. For now, she's happy to be dancing three or four nights a week and practicing ballet occasionally. And with her training, who knows what role dance will play in her future?

*The original publication of this article misquoted Nicole Jenkins as implying that some of the pieces performed the year the dance director fell ill went on to be performed by professional companies.  Although Jenkins did choreograph for other shows, that particular year under visiting choreographer David Grenke, the dancers presented pieces previously performed by other companies and professional choreographers.

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Read about the other alums in this special SPOTLIGHT series!

SPOTLIGHT on: Holliday Rees (C'00)

SPOTLIGHT on: Sherry Hopkins (C'99)

SPOTLIGHT on: Victoria Ries (C'00)

SPOTLIGHT on: Emily Wakeling (C'00)