New theater track sends Abilene Christian students dancing

"I want to put on my my my my my
Boogie shoes."

— "Boogie Shoes," KC & the Sunshine Band

Abilene Christian University never has performed the stage version of "Saturday Night Fever" for its homecoming musical, and likely never will.

But maybe another production will require actors to boogie. And soon, they'll be able to get down like Tony and Stephanie.

This fall, ACU's Department of Theater will add a seventh track to its bachelor of fine arts degree: Dance.

Not choreography, department chairperson Dawne Meeks said while enthusiastically announcing the new program at a luncheon last week. Dance.

"For 20-plus years ... it's exciting to see this finally come to fruition," Meeks told the Reporter-News a few days later, describing how long it took. "We're calling it dance, not just choreography."

The track drew support each step of the way through the approval process, she said.

Dance will join acting, design-technical, directing, musical theater, theater education and theater ministry as tracks in the undergraduate program. A student won't major in dance but receive a BFA with instruction in dance.

That's instruction beyond the classes taught this academic year by Lily Balogh, who will teach all classes next fall when the program launches.

The announcement sent Meeks dancing. Even as a student at ACU, graduating in 1995, she saw the need for instruction in dance. She joined the department in 2005.

The change, she said, makes an ACU theater graduate a "triple threat" — singing, acting and, soon, dancing.

Big splash in Big Apple

For the past 13 springs, a group of ACU students has traveled to New York City for a talent showcase. Ally Bonneau, an ACU graduate, has helped produce the showcase the past three years through her casting agency.

Also, for sixth year, seniors are participating in the Tepper Semester, a program offered by Syracuse University. Students study under Broadway professionals. 

Boston Conservatory, Carnegie Mellon and Roosevelt universities and Plymouth College also participate 

Currently, Meeks said, three grads are in Broadway productions, so ACU graduates are making their mark.

One of those is 2009 graduate Jasmin  Richardson, who is making her Broadway debut in a new show, "Gettin' the Band Back Together." She is an ensemble member, with five-time Golden Globe nominee Marilu Henner in the lead role.

Others on Broadway are Ben Jeffrey as Pumbaa in "The Lion King" and Laura Seibert, who recently was Velma Kelly (Best Actress winner Catherine Zeta-Jones in the movie), in "Chicago." Seibert currently is rehearsing with Harry Connick Jr. for a musical based on the 1973 movie "The Sting."

But, Meeks said, while ACU theater students have turned heads with their singing — not surprising due to the a cappella tradition of the Churches of Christ, Meeks noted — and their acting, when it came time to dance, well, they were not as confident.

Dance time in Texas

It was while she was in New York recently that Meeks learned the track had been approved. Courses begin in the fall, and the challenge now is to nail down recruits. Meeks said there are eager theater students out there but ACU has been losing those interested specifically in dance.

ACU now will offer a more complete package. Already enticing is study and performance at the Williams Performing Arts Center, a 92,000-square-foot facility opened in 2003, and a homecoming musical that draws thousands downtown to the Abilene Convention Center each fall.

ACU traditionally has capped admission to its theater program at 12 freshmen/transfers. The program overall numbers about 50 each semester. This keeps most classes at 12 to 16 students and more performance opportunities for students.

Starting in the fall, the cap should rise to 16 new students to accommodate the new track. Balogh said at present, 8 to 10 students are candidates for dance.

A key player in adding the dance track is Balogh, a New York native trained for 10 years at the School of American Ballet and summers at American Ballet Theater, among other companies. She has danced for New York City Ballet and Royal Ballet of Flanders (Antwerp, Belgium), and was a soloist for Ballet Next and Ballets with a Twist.  

Balogh started in an adjunct role on campus last fall, teaching and assisting guest director/alum Jeremy Varner with "Cats." Those who saw the ACU performance of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical marveled at choreographed that leaned heavily toward dance. 

Meeks said that when the idea for "Cats" was presented, some students' jaws dropped. How could they pull it off?

Thanks to Balogh, they did.

"Wow, we didn't think we could do this," Meeks said of the cast's post-"Cats" reflection. "They were feeling more confident in what they can do. It was a light-bulb moment for me, that we are capable of more.

"She has been a dream," Meeks said of adding Balogh. "We have been building up to this."

One connector was Jeff Smith. A graduate of Cooper High School, he was a cast member of a traveling production of "West Side Story" when it was performed in Abilene several years ago. Another mutual friend linked Balogh to ACU.

The teaching job was recommended and "I was very curious," she said. She expected only to stay for the fall term but was asked back for the spring. And now, she's planning classes in ballet, tap, jazz and conditioning next fall.

"Just me," she said of the dance faculty.

While a person can learn to dance with observation and practice, instruction provides history and technique.

Meeks said conditioning is important because dance takes a physical toll. 

"We always talk about 'Know thyself,'" she said, laughing. 

Makeup and acting won't be forgotten, she said. Nor will singing.

Dancers, Meeks said, are famous for not being good singers.

Boosting ACU profile

So, how does a new investment in theater benefit ACU?

For starters, Meeks said, it eventually will add more students, probably a dozen. What university is not interested in growing its student numbers?

Secondly, ACU benefits in name recognition when its graduates succeed at high levels. ACU has gotten good bounce, of course, from athletes who have gone on to pro careers but also from movie and TV set designer Nelson Coates and Les Hunter, son of retired ACU Vice President Bob Hunter, whose graphic designs include the famous crashing helmets once used on Monday Night Football.

And thirdly, it continues ACU's mission to influence the world by being an important part of it. 

The structure of the track aligns most, Meeks said, with a program offered at Roosevelt. It's an advanced program but not degreed.

"I am excited about all of this," she said. "We have been losing students to other programs. It will allow us ... to be more competitive with programs such as Oklahoma Christian University, Texas Tech, TCU and Texas State."

Adding dance certainly will raise a few eyebrows.

"This is a unique program within Church of Christ sister school programs," she said.

Meeks remembers short-term "movement classes" at ACU, and students even going off campus to a local dance studio for instruction. As a sophomore, Meeks was tapped to help teach dance.

She said "God's plan was for me to teach," and through fulfilling that goal by now leading the theater department, she was in a position to push for a dance track. 

"I thought back then, 'Oh, would't it be so cool," she said of adding dance instruction.

An expanded idea is not just to upgrade dance scenes in theater productions but to offer "standalone dance pieces, as well," Meeks said.

Meeks returned to ACU's mission to send students into whatever corner of the world they choose and be both successful and impactful.

"What we do makes a difference," she said. "With our artistic program, we want to do that well. We don't want to be schlocky theater, second tier. At our showcases, our students are getting multiple offers.

"This is the final puzzle piece. Now (a graduate) can say I am a triple threat, I can do it all."