It’s not often the teacher becomes the student, but that’s what happened to TJC dance director Carolyn Hanna when a ballet dancer from New York City stopped in to teach a master class.
On Tuesday, Hanna and several students from the TJC Department of Dance and Academy of Dance participated in a 75-minute master class by professional dancer Jillian Davis.
Davis was in town with the NYC-based Complexions Contemporary Ballet, who performed that night at the UT Tyler Cowan Center.
Hanna said, “We are thankful to Susan Thomae-Morphew from the UT Tyler Cowan Center for setting up this master class and allowing our dancers to learn from such an incredibly talented and inspirational dancer.
“Master classes are a way for our students to engage with professionals and learn more about the technique and discipline needed to become true artists in the field. Jillian taught a class on contemporary ballet, which is an exciting genre that our dancers truly appreciated.”
In addition to Hanna, the class included 20 students ranging from ages 11 to 20.
“Being a dance professor, I find it important to constantly learn about all styles of dance,” Hanna said.
“It was such a unique pleasure to be able to join in the class and to remember the importance of being a lifelong student and finding new ways to interpret other movement styles and phrases. It was also a lot of fun, and I will definitely be feeling the physical effects of it tomorrow.”
As a child, Jillian Davis began training in her native Pennsylvania before transferring to a school in Princeton, N.J.
“I was in Princeton for three years and met (Complexions co-founder) Desmond Richardson there, and that was the first time I heard about Complexions,” she said.
Several years of training passed, with stops in the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Alonzo Kind LINES Ballet, School of American Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. She eventually made the inevitable move to New York City, was sidelined by an injury, then recovered and came back as both a dancer and choreographer.
Davis’ first meeting with Richardson came full circle in 2014 when she joined Complexions as a member.
“I’m 6-foot-2, so the Complexions style seemed to fit me better [than classical ballet] because I’m so tall,” she said. “Complexions has a very solid ballet background, but then we add a lot of crazy, contemporary stuff on top of that.”
For the TJC master class, Davis started the students at the barre with classical ballet basics.
“When I’m very short on time, which is always the case with a master class, I get in and try to gauge the room,” she said. “If they’re having a hard time with the basics, I can take a step back and take it slower. But if I see they’re picking up on it more quickly, I can take it further and see how far I can push them.”
Davis was impressed by what she saw in the TJC students.
“They were amazing, and I was not expecting what I saw,” she said. “They were really strong and went headfirst into it, and that’s all you can ask for as a master class teacher.”
The students were also impressed by Davis.
“Ballet is not my strong suit,” Oliver Howard said, “but her class was amazing because it was so challenging for me. I just had to keep in mind that I used to struggle with many of the things I’m much better at now. It’s a process.”
Howard, a sophomore dance major from DeSoto, will soon be pushing himself even further. He has been accepted into the dance program at Southern Methodist University, with aspirations of being a choreographer.
“Last year, I asked my TJC professors Ms. Shurrell (Wiebe) and Ms. Carolyn (Hanna) where they thought would be a good fit for me after TJC; and they mentioned SMU and TCU.”
Howard received his SMU acceptance letter in November and will begin his studies there in the fall.
“I wasn’t strong academically in high school and wasn’t able to go straight to a four-year school,” he said.
“I still wanted to pursue dance and didn’t think there was anywhere out there for me; but my school counselor suggested I apply to TJC, and I came here and fell in love with it. TJC has given me a great foundation for the future.”
For more on TJC dance programs, go to www.tjc.edu/dance.