The fall 2019 Brown Bag student choreography showcase was held from October 7- 11. I was the Artistic Director for fourteen years until I retired from the Division in the spring of 2018. Myra Woodruff was the Artistic Director in spring 2018. I was in the midst of preparing for the Hope Show mini retrospective of my work. Big surprise for me, many many students came back for that performance. When it was over, Stevie Wonder came on the sound system and the performed a version of the class I taught for 15 years. It was touching and lots of fun. Husband Les was there – the first time he had ever come to Brown Bag. There was no Brown Bag in the spring of 2019. The Division was preparing forMeadows at the Winspear (the Winspear Opera House in the Arts District). It is a huge fundraising event for scholarships for dance majors. All the works are performed with live music, hopefully reflecting the three techniques that make up the core of the curriculum, ballet, modern and jazz. It is a major commitment for teachers, students and supporting staff.
Heather Guthrie, the Dance coordinator got me a parking pass and I got my old center seat back for the performance. The performance was on the short side, about 33 minutes. There are still two classes, the current seniors and juniors who I taught over the years. Quite a few of them danced and some were in the audience. They were all genuinely happy to see me – a lot of love and warmth was shared. We miss each other a lot.
There was one “controversial” issue. On the back of the program, I always listed the upcoming main stage performances, either the Hope Show with dates and choreographers or the Senior Dance Concert. It was missing in this program. On my way out, I saw Myra and asked her about it – very diplomatically, I thought. She said there no room left since there was such a large stage crew. It is great free publicity and I hope they can get it back in the next program.