After
35 Years, Smith Dance Reaching Far and Wide
It was in a moment earlier this
semester, during auditions for the Five College Dance Department,
when Susan Waltner, professor of dance at Smith, glanced
around at other educators who had brought dancers to audition,
and it dawned on her how far Smith’s
had come.
“I was sitting there all of a sudden just surrounded by MFA grads,” she said
recently, recalling her eyes brimming with tears as she brushed shoulders with
her former students who now had students of their own. “All these wonderfully
talented and successful dancers. I just felt so happy.”
Waltner, who launched the college’s renowned MFA in dance program in 1976, in
partnership with the late Rosalind deMille, professor emerita of dance, will
likely experience a similar rush of emotion later this month when alumnae return
to campus to celebrate the program’s 35th anniversary.
To help celebrate, the
college will host a special dance concert, with shows November
18 through 20, featuring choreography and performances by
nine MFA in dance alumnae (). Performances
will take place at 8 p.m. each night in Theatre 14, Mendenhall
Center.
“This program has been an evolution over several decades,” said Waltner, who
has served 42 years on the Smith faculty. “Its success comes from people who
are passionate about what they are doing.”
The list of graduates from Smith’s MFA program in dance choreography and performance
illustrates the degree’s breadth and multidimensionality. Numerous MFA graduates
occupy college and secondary teaching positions in the United States and well
beyond. Others are performing and choreographing with dance companies exploring
the parameters of the art.
Brenda Divelbliss MFA’99, who teaches dance at the
Cambridge Rindge & Latin School and at the Harvard-Radcliffe Modern Dance Company,
appreciated the room for individuality in Smith’s program.
“The Smith faculty was very interested in drawing out the unique artistic visions
and interests of each student,” said Divelbliss, who will present her original
choreography, Misplaced, during the 35th-anniversary concert. “They provided
the space, time and feedback critical to exploration and growth.”
Part of what has made Smith’s MFA in dance so strong is its intimate size, notes
Rodger Blum, professor of dance. No more than four MFA candidates are admitted
to the two-year program each year, so that only eight are enrolled at a time—considerably
fewer than most graduate dance programs.
“They get a lot of time with faculty in this program,” said Blum, who joined
the Smith dance faculty in 1993. “We spend a lot of hours here, and the faculty-student
ratio is excellent.”
Also, unlike in most other graduate
dance programs, Smith’s MFA candidates enter
as teaching fellows expected to participate in the education of undergraduate
dancers in studio classes. As such, Smith’s graduate dance students receive tuition
waivers and are paid a stipend for their teaching duties—an opportunity offered
by only one other dance program (the University of Iowa) in the nation, said
Blum.
But importantly, it’s the commitment to the art, the range of expression
encouraged at Smith and the exposure to other dancers that give the program its
cache, says Blum.
“There’s a level of dialogue that we [faculty] have with the graduates here that
you don’t see in many other programs,” said Blum.
Also, with the Five Colleges,
each with its own undergraduate dance program, as well as
an abundance of cultural and artistic activity in the local
area, Smith is an attractive place in which to study and
teach dance.
Back in 1976, Smith’s fledgling MFA program grew from
modest beginnings, Waltner remembers. After starting as a subsidiary of the college’s
physical education department, the degree was shared between the theater and
physical education departments before becoming its own program. In addition to
the staples of ballet, jazz and modern styles, Smith’s program is adaptable enough
to have accommodated specialties in Japanese, Chinese and tap dance, as well
as Flamenco and even Yoga for Dancers.
After 35 years, Smith’s MFA in dance has
outpaced Waltner’s original vision of what it would become. “This program has
far exceeded expectations,” she said. “It’s become a remarkable program. I feel
so proud of the students.” |
