Correction from Nicole Jenkins

We received this letter from Nicole Jenkins (C'00), one of the dance alums featured in our special SPOTLIGHT series in the March edition of Back at the Barre.  We have amended the article accordingly but felt it worthwhile to reprint the letter in full for clarification's sake.
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Hi Emily -

This piece was really well done.  Thank you for putting it together!  But I wanted to let you know that there is a part of the piece written on me that is incorrect.  It says, "We had an amazing Dance Production, and we ended up doing all these really intense pieces that were later performed by other companies."  This is incorrect.  I said that we performed pieces that had been performed (and choreographed) by other companies/professional choreographers.  David Grenke was the visiting choreographer that year.  This should be corrected as I don't want anyone to think we (or I) am taking credit for choreography we (or I) didn't do.  I choreographed pieces for other dance productions but not the one where Joy fell ill.

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns but I feel it is important that this quote is corrected.

Thanks!
Nicole

SPOTLIGHT on - Emily Wakeling (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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It certainly pays to get your foot in the door early in the world of dance. That's what I'm learning from Emily Wakeling, who, like many of her dance contemporaries at Prin, began practicing ballet and modern dance lessons at the age of four at a local dance school. She got more serious through junior high and high school, dancing every day after school for up to two and a half hours at the Cornish College for the Arts and performing in ballets such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Carnival of the Animals.

Right, Wakeling at the barre in Morey Dance Studio, June 2010

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.

SPOTLIGHT on - Victoria Ries (C'00)

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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Unfortunately, due to the arrival of her child and the ensuing schedule of motherhood, we were unable to coordinate a time in which to interview Victoria for this feature.  However, we wish her the very best as a mommy!



Above, Ries - still dancing while 8 months pregnant!  Morey Dance Studio, June 2010

We will try to catch up with Victoria another time!

photo courtesy of Sherry Hopkins

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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: Nicole Jenkins (C'00)

SPOTLIGHT on: Emily Wakeling (C'00)

SPOTLIGHT on - Sherry Hopkins (C'99)

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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Like many of her contemporaries, Sherry Hopkins began dancing at the age of four -- including ballet, tap, and jazz styles. But it wasn't until she came to Prin, she says, that dance really became a passion. "I'd always done a Russian style, a very modern style," she says. "But at Prin we learned a lyrical, modern style."

Above, Sherry Hopkins (right) with, from left, Holliday Rees, Nicole Jenkins, and Victoria Ries, doing a little "Swan Lake" in Morey Dance Studio, June 2010

Sherry, like so many others, was particularly inspired by the teaching style of David Grenke, the founder of ThingsezIsee'm Dance/Theater and a former principal dancerfor the Paul Taylor Dance Company. "His teaching style was so different from anything I'd ever seen," she remembers. "He had this passion for theater, for the macabre, almost. He just had such a modern vision ...  I knew right then that that was what I wanted to do." Inspired by Grenke's example, as well as that of professor Judith Patterson, Sherry made plans to open her own dance studio.

SPOTLIGHT on - Holliday Rees (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 Holliday Rees made the decision not to become a dancer, she couldn't have known that she -- or, more accurately, her likeness -- would eventually go on to encourage dozens of Principians to pursue dance.

Let's back up a bit. Holliday's early dance career was defined by a startling focus. She began taking ballet classes when she was just six years old. Her parents also signed her up for ice skating, music classes, and gymnastics, but, she says, "ballet was the thing" for her. She was so taken with it, in fact, that after spending several years taking classes in Oklahoma, where her family lived, she made the decision to move to California so she could continue her training under specialized instruction. She was in eighth grade at the time.

Holliday spent her high school years living with her grandparents in Walnut Creek, California, where she danced at the Twenty Castella studio. Here, she was able to get training and performance experience that wouldn't have been accessible to her back in Oklahoma. "We must have done fifteen Nutcracker [performances] a year," she remembers.

Above right, Rees re-enacting her pose in Morey Dance Studio, ten years later

Introduction of a BATB Special SPOTLIGHT Series

This was originally published in the Principia College Alumni Dance newsletter, Back at the Barre (Issue #9 - March 2011).
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Back at the Barre is proud to share the stories of five Prin dance alums who traveled back to Principia College for the Alumni Reunion last summer to reunite with each other - and to watch the Alumni Dance Production 2010.

During the weekend, they decided to go to Morey Dance Studio, their "home" of a decade past.  And there they saw quite a surprise - a series of charcoal drawings of themselves, still hanging where they had been ten years before.  So they spent an afternoon there, dancing, taking pictures, and recreating their poses from their student days (see photo below).



I didn't know about this until a few months later, when one of those alums, Sherry Hopkins, posted those pictures on Facebook.  To my delight, Sherry graciously gave me permission to use them in Back at the Barre, and so here is the result:  alumni spotlights on Holliday Rees, Sherry Hopkins, Victoria Ries, Nicole Jenkins, and Emily Wakeling.

     

Principia dancers of the last decade are quite familiar with these charcoal drawings on the walls of Morey Dance Studio!  But few have known the names, faces, or lives of the dancers who inspired them...until now.

      
Special thanks to Jeff Ward-Bailey, our guest feature-writer, and to Sherry Hopkins, for use of her wonderful photographs!
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Read about the 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: Nicole Jenkins (C'00)
SPOTLIGHT on: Emily Wakeling (C'00)

Backstage Past and SPOTLIGHT on - David Wilck

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

Christine Dunbar’s “Backstage Past” column takes a look at the Principia Dance programs over the years.

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Greetings Dance Alumni and Friends!

In this edition of BATB, I would like to share Principia College graduate David Wilck’s professional experience in the field of Dance.

During the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, David (at right, with Stewart Levin, left, in 1983; photo courtesy of Amy Nickell) developed a passionate interest in Dance. He studied dance techniques, choreography, participated in the Dance Productions as choreographer, performer, crew, and photographer and enrolled in the new academic course offering, “Understanding Dance” which had this description in the course catalog:

“General Introduction to Dance as Cultural History and as Art, with an emphasis on the development of Dance in America. Course includes the Philosophy of Dance and its Relationship to the other Art Forms; Study of History, Forms and Styles; Performance Appreciation and Criticism: Film, Video, Live; Knowledge of Major Performers, Teachers, Choreographers and Companies in the World of Dance Today. Required Textbook Reading; Lectures; Discussions; Research; Papers."

David’s classmates, who pioneered this course, included: Renee Chenue, Brad Heinig, Sylvia Hofflund, Victoria Miner, Deena Rohrer, Marcia Satterwhite and Gigi Schmiett. The class met in the Russian Room of The School of Nations.

As Principia’s Dance instructor at the time, I remember having a discussion with David Wilck’s parents regarding their concern about their son’s growing interest in dance studies versus other academic class options. I recall assuring his parents David was nurturing a talent and this was a good time for him to experience and put in to practice his new found passion for Dance. We all were glad he persisted, because David’s professional life after graduation included work as a Dance Critic for The Christian Science Monitor.

Backstage Past - After Frank Parker

This was originally published in the Principia College Alumni Dance newsletter, Back at the Barre (Issue #8 - December 2010).

Christine Dunbar’s “Backstage Past” column takes a look at the Principia Dance programs over the years.

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Last month’s issue of BATB reported Dance at Principia to be alive and well as early as 1924 under the celebrated tenure of Frank Parker. This month, I’d like to tell you more about the faculty, staff and student leaders who continued Principia’s dance education program through the years as we piece together the History of Dance at Principia.

Mr. Parker taught French, Literature, Aesthetics, Music, Art and Drama in addition to Dance. After Frank’s retirement in 1966, Principia College was not yet ready for a Full-time Dance Faculty position to be filled. The 1970 Principia Sheaf reports “students with previous ballet experience instructed their own course in classical ballet, modern jazz and interpretive dance“ under the watchful eye of Judith Miller, P.E. Instructor. (See photo to the left.)

Meeting Matt Mattox - reflections on learning from the legendary dancer

by Ruthy Lawrence Doering, guest feature-writer

The “Ed Sullivan Show” … three men in a rehearsal studio doing a dance number from the Broadway show, Carnival in Flanders.  Your eyes were drawn to one man, whose precision and dynamics as a dancer took your breath away.

That man was Matt Mattox, performing choreography by Jack Cole.

Matt was born in the city of Tulsa in Oklahoma in 1921. He began dancing at the early age of eleven.  In 1948, he met Jack Cole, who became Mattox’s inspiration.  Then Mattox tried out the Hollywood scene.  He made connections with two big influential Hollywood dancers, Nico and Cyd Chraisse. They set up auditions for him at MGM.  MGM was so impressed, they signed him to a two-year contract as a stock contract dancer.