The Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment was featured in a national dance publication.
Dance Spirit published an article on their website dancespirit.com titled, “Majoring in Dance? Here’s How to Choose Your Concentration,” that featured OCU dance students in pictures and quotes.
Dance Spirit is a monthly publication and online forum that provides young dancers with dance news, health and body tips, informative articles, and dance fashion. The publication is part of a larger company called Dance Media, which also produces Dance Magazine, Pointe Magazine and Dance Teacher. The company is well-known in the dance community, said Melanie Shelley, associate dean of the dance school.
“This is a magazine that the students read, so it’s pretty cool for them to see that we are in there,” Shelley said. “This is a great way to get the OCU name out there.”
The article also mentioned the dance programs at Texas A&M in College Station and Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, but Shelley said OCU seemed to be featured more than others.
“They had to highlight some other schools, but all of the pictures except for one were pictures that we submitted, which, of course, is really cool,” she said.
Dani Jo Towle, dance performance junior, said she was pleased when she saw the article.
“This was a magazine I read as a child,” Towle said. “I mean, I would buy subscriptions to it when I was like, 7 years old, so to see my school in the magazine that I looked up to as a child was just the coolest feeling.”
Towle said she appreciated that the article explained the different fields dance students can pursue in their careers.
“What I loved about this article is that it legitimatized being a dance major—here’s where they’re going to go after this, and here’s how they’re going to be successful,” she said. “It’s not an ‘if’ they’re going to be successful, it’s an ‘are.’ It brought to light what it takes to be a dance major.”
Molly Smith, dance management graduate, was interviewed for the article about the classes she took as a dance management student. Smith lives in Chicago and works as a company manager for Chicago Tap Company, as well a dancing apprentice in the company. She also stage manages for The Side Project, a performing arts theater.
Smith said she was surprised and honored to be interviewed for the article.
“It felt really validating to be going to a school that would be featured,” she said.
The dance program at OCU prepared her for a career in the entertainment industry, Smith said.
“The school, because it’s so focused and has different dance tracks, that really prepares you to do a lot of different things in the arts industry,” she said.
Towle said she is excited that this recognition will shed light on the dance program for future generations.
“To know that the place that I attend and that I love attending is so nationally recognized, it felt so good,” she said. “I felt confident in my school, and also in me, and I just felt proud.”
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