Dance/Dance Education Information
By Chris Craddock
DANCE
In the world of dance, movements express emotions through precise, even sometimes rigid choreography. Students of dance study the history of particular dance styles, practice techniques and perform these expressions either individually or in groups.
For decades, students have chosen Kilgore College to learn more about the art of dance, more about themselves and further their collegiate careers.
Some become professional dancers, some are hired as dance teachers and some simply use the skills learned through the discipline and dedication of dance to apply to another field.
The Dance Department at KC offers an intensive curriculum in ballet, modern dance, tap and jazz for the beginning student – as well as students with more extensive dance experience.
“Many of our students continue in a four-year university dance curriculum to pursue various dance or dance-related careers,” said Cathy Beckman, lead dance instructor. “We also have graduates who are professional dancers/choreographers from New York to Los Angeles.”
Dance at KC prepares students who wish to enter the professional world upon graduation as well as those who want to continue their studies at a four-year college as majors in Fine Arts, Physical Education or Dance Education.
“The dance program here prepares students for college,” Beckman said. “Our students do very well at four-year schools. After graduation, many of our students go on to teach in colleges, high schools or private studios.”
Beckman said that it takes incredible discipline to be a dedicated dancer, but that she sees students come through her door with a range of abilities who become successful with practice.
“We welcome anyone to take the dance classes regardless of their ability or experience,” Beckman said. “We’ll start off with basic, traditional dance techniques and work our way up. We even have current Rangerettes who take dance classes, also.”
Beckman also said that the curriculum emphasizes healthy body use to avoid injury.
“We stress proper techniques to prevent unnecessary strains,” Beckman said. “Through education we can prevent most injuries before they happen.”
The dance curriculum at KC is a two-year, four-semester plan which leads to an Associate of Arts degree. All dance courses are transferrable to other public Texas universities.
Salaries depend on credentials, experience and which aspect of dance the student pursues, Beckman said.
PERSONAL TESTIMONIES
“I enjoyed being able to take a variety of styles – modern, ballet, pointe, jazz, tap and contemporary,” said Jessie Rosenberger, 24, who attended KC from 2004-06. “We were also given many choreography projects which helped me feel prepared for later projects at Texas Woman’s University.”
Rosenberger said that she is grateful for being able to learn many dance techniques at KC that she now passes on to her own students.
She is the artistic director of Simple Sparrow Dance Company, a modern-based company in Denton that Rosenberger founded. She also teaches dance and yoga throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
“Kilgore College was my first introduction to modern dance,” Rosenberger said. “Ms. Beckman also reintroduced me to yoga and its benefits to dancers which led me to becoming certified in yoga after I graduated.”
Rosenberger said that she also continues to use so many of the technique exercises and combination ideas she learned in Shelley Wayne’s class. Wayne is also a dance instructor and assistant director of the Rangerettes.
“The jazz classes as well as Rangerettes helped me learn techniques that I teach my own jazz students to help them grow as dancers,” Rosenberger said.
Another former dance student, Jenny Hammack, 23, said that the highly professional atmosphere at KC helped her through auditions, interviews and much more.
She graduated last December from Sam Houston State University with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Dance, and was recently hired as the dance and drill team director at West Mesquite High School.
“Ms. Beckman and Mrs. Wayne pushed me to my fullest potential in dance,” Hammack said. “They encouraged me to never settle to be mediocre, but to be the best that I can be.” Hammack said that Wayne was her inspiration to become a drill team director, and that she is grateful for the lifelong friends she made while attending KC.
“My time at Kilgore was the best two years of my life. I have made so many lifelong friends and have so many wonderful memories,” Hammack said. “The teachers there know how to encourage students to be their best and teach you that anything is possible. Words cannot describe how thankful I am for everything Ms. Beckman and Mrs. Wayne have taught me.”
DANCE CONCERT
Each spring the Dance Department hosts a dance concert that features the broad range of skills of its students. Some students even perform some of their own work at the concert.
“The spring concert always offers a variety of dance styles and techniques,” Beckman said. “The more traditional dances include ballet and students in the modern dance classes explore new ways to approach choreography that express a more personal point of view using ideas learned about dance in different cultures.”
The choreography for the spring concert is a collaboration of the students and Beckman for ballet, modern dance technique, improvisation/composition and performance, and Shelley Wayne for tap and jazz.
