THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE THE DANCER AS ENTREPRENEUR: A NEW COURSE IN HIGHER EDUCATION THAT GUIDES YOUNG DANCERS IN DEVELOPING COMMUNITY DANCE ORGANIZATIONS A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF FINE ARTS IN DANCE By CAROL SMITHERMAN ANGLIN Norman, Oklahoma 2019 THE DANCER AS ENTREPRENEUR: A NEW COURSE IN HIGHER EDUCATION THAT GUIDES YOUNG DANCERS IN DEVELOPING COMMUNITY DANCE ORGANIZATIONS A THESIS APPROVED FOR THE SCHOOL OF DANCE BY Mr. Jeremy Lindberg, Chair Dean Mary Margaret Holt Mr. Christopher B. Sadler © Copyright by CAROL SMITHERMAN ANGLIN 2019 All Rights ReserVed ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I Would like to thank my thesis committee, Professor Jeremy Lindberg, Dean Mary Margaret Holt, and Professor Christopher Sadler for your support, assistance, guidance, inspiration, patience, and unbelieVable encouragement through my OU thesis journey! Professor Lindberg, your laughter, humor, spontaneity, insight, intellect, passion, and creatiVity proVided the best possible medicine! I LOVED brainstorming With you! I could not haVe had a more perfect committee chair for my thesis! Thank you for being a fantastic graduate liaison, as Well. You are the best! ‘Cheers’ to the next chapter of your life! Professor Sadler, your attention to detail and content—plus your decades of experience in theatre and academe made you an excellent outside reader. I have also enjoyed Watching you masterfully mentoring your students through many performances over the past three years. Thank you for your pursuit of excellence on stage and off! Thank you, Dean Holt, for your Vision and Wisdom in guiding me through my thesis and much more. Thank you for your dedication and lifelong experiences submerged in the arts—skillfully guiding the next generation to artistic excellence. I am especially appreciatiVe of the initial inVitation to become a graduate student in the UniVersity of Oklahoma’s Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts School of Dance MFA program. The past three years have presented unique blessings and challenges and I am deeply indebted to my thesis committee, faculty, staff, fellow graduate students, and undergraduate students for your support during this time in my life. iv I am also thankful for a lifetime of teachers, colleagues, students, organizations, and communities Who proVided the inspiration for my research. Many people made sacrifices along the way so that We could giVe children, artists, and communities the chance to dance. Additionally, it’s not often in life that one has the opportunity to collaborate with another artist for thirty-four years. My life was forever changed by the artistic partnership Dianne Maroney-Grigsby and I shared with our students, communities—and the world. I look forWard to continued journeys With Dianne, Jon Jon, Heather, Brandi, Ashley, Bailey, and more. However, none of this Would haVe been possible Without my family – to Whom I dedicate my thesis. Starting With my parents, Joy and Charles Smitherman, Who—to this day—haVe proVided me With a lifetime of unconditional loVe and support. They made many sacrifices to proVide me With the best possible dance, art, and music training. They planted the seeds artistically and academically and are still the gold standard in serving God and others. They ‘wrote the book’ on leaving a legacy. I love you and appreciate you both more than you will eVer know. I also cherish my sister, Valerie Smitherman Riddle, and my brother, John Smitherman, and their families for the continued support and sacrifices they all made to help me moVe forWard! Thank you, also, for a lifetime of loVe and laughter! My blessings Were multiplied With three children Who continue to motiVate and inspire me eVeryday. John Anthony, Alexander, and Bailey Were also my students in my school and company—and actiVe members of our community dance organization throughout their young liVes. Their dedication, commitment, and contributions to the Louisiana Dance Foundation significantly helped us change the face of dance in our V community and state. No one Will eVer knoW the sacrifices they made, but I Was fortunate to personally witness their indiVidual contributions. From Germany to NeW York to California—as Well as Louisiana, I am also proud of you three for making a difference in the liVes of others in your respectiVe fields. Thank you for your support this past year, and for helping me cross the finish line—and lest we forget Maggie the Cat Who Was With me eVery step of the Way during my OU journey! I recognize and cherish my many blessings and am grateful for each day of this divine life. I look forWard to the next chapter and am confident that the best is yet to come. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT viii PREFACE 1 INTRODUCTION 14 Chapter I: BACKGROUND Precedent and AbbreViated History of Dance in Academe 21 EVolution of the Dance Profession and Importance of Higher Education 25 Dance Courses Introduced to Higher Education 30 Chapter II: EXPECTATIONS FOR TODAY’S PROFESSIONAL DANCER The Trained Dancer and the Journey 33 Early training: In the Beginning 34 Pre-professional DeVelopment 38 Early Professional Experience 44 The Young Dancer’s Supplemental Skills 46 Chapter III: DANCE ENTREPRENEURSHIP Entrepreneurship, The Dancer, The Profession 49 The Paradigm and the Shift in Dance Company Traditions 51 Dancers Wear Other ‘Hats’ for Companies 59 Dancers Encouraged to Choreograph While Still Performing 60 Dancers Segue into Artistic and AdministratiVe Positions 63 Chapter IV. UPPER DIVISION COURSE FOR THE DANCER AS ENTREPRENEUR Course Participants: Dance Majors, Minors, and Returning Professionals 66 Establishment of the School 69 Development of a Nonprofit Organization 70 DeVelopment of a Nonprofit Performing Company 71 DeVelopment of Educational Outreach Programming 72 DeVelopment of Partnerships Within the Community 73 Chapter V. COURSE ASSESSMENT 75 Students Present One Paper for Each of the Five Units Students Visual Presentations of Community Dance Organization Model Students Submit Self-Assessment BIBLIOGRAPHY 77 APPENDIX: Syllabus, Lectures for the Course, and Notes 85 vii ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to develop a course in higher education that Will guide dance artists in deVeloping community dance organizations, a process Which Will benefit the artists as well as their communities. The Dancer as Entrepreneur: A New Course in Higher Education That Guides Young Dancers in Developing Community Dance Organizations is a semester-long course that Will explore past and proVen methods of established community dance organizations while encouraging young dance professionals to design their own models. The course Will explore practical methods for community dance organizations to survive in an ever-changing society and industry, both through examining past trends and through strategic planning for the future. In developing a course of this nature, I also hope to shed light on where further study is needed. viii PREFACE I originally intended to do choreography for my thesis. Last year, When I Was restaging my choreography set to the music of Duke Ellington’s Harlem, I realized how much I miss making dances. Based on all I haVe learned and experienced at OU, I began thinking about music and themes I haVe alWays Wanted to explore, but neVer had the time to deVelop. Then, on April 24th my life changed—and so did the choreographic plans for my thesis. Throughout my recoVery, I heard from many people in my past life. These Wonderful messages reconnected me With special indiViduals—and many miraculous memories reemerged. Consequently, I Was inspired to reflect on the important Work We achieVed in north Louisiana—building a community dance organization—from 1982-2016. The majority of the messages I receiVed reVealed how life-changing dance had been for so many young people—who are now adults, and who are still benefitting from their dance experiences, as are their children and grandchildren. In our liVes, We traVerse from project to project, performance to performance, and rarely haVe time to reflect on What truly transpires throughout each process. Grant final reports, profit/loss statements, surVey findings, and other outcomes reVeal the logistics and statistics of projects, but rarely is there a measure of the heart—which is often the most important consideration for an artist. Thus, reflection and experience were the initial inspiration for my thesis folloWed by numerous changes that have occurred in the dance industry over the past decade. Also, What Will community dance organizations look like in the future? Who Will lead the next 1 generation and hoW Will they prepare to meet the challenges? The course I propose in my thesis will investigate all of the aboVe. When I moVed to Shreveport in 1982 only to learn that the job I had been offered teaching art and dance at Airline High School had been dissolVed, I immediately began searching for other options. Unable to find employment, I Was informed by Dr. Will Andress, music director of First United Methodist Church, that this historic institution Would alloW me to deVelop a dance program Within the music department if I would choreograph summer musicals and other projects—as well as teach classes to children in the neighborhood. (Anchored in the heart of downtown Shreveport, FUMC is over 100 years old and chose to stay doWntoWn amidst decades of poverty and crime, When other churches relocated to the suburbs. Helping the people of this neighborhood continues to be an important mission of the church.) With no salary, fees, or benefits offered, I accepted the job! It Was my responsibility to generate income from the students I taught. I made monthly donations to the church from this income and still contribute—as FUMC opened the door for me to build a community dance program in north Louisiana that impacted thousands of people. As our performing arts programs began to groW Within the music department, the church acquired a 100 year-old bakery building next door.