Nicole Kennett, dance
Q: Why did you choose to come to GCAA?
A: I have worked with GCAA students previously, I used to work for Dance St. Louis, I was the education coordinator there and I spent a lot of time coming back and forth, and really enjoyed the passion that the students had for learning new types of dance, and I really appreciated the faculty as well, they’re all very passionate about making sure that the students are well-versed and well-supported and I wanted to be part of a group of people who were supporting each other for education purposes.
Q: Tell me more about Dance St. Louis.
A: Dance St. Louis is a Midwest presenter, just for dance, kind of like the Fox Theatre, so they bring in touring groups from around the world, so it’s the same thing, but just for dance.
Q: What’s different about GCAA as opposed to that?
A: Well, there, I wasn’t in a classroom all the time. I was doing a lot of coordination and planning, I worked with six to seven different schools at a time, so I was setting up different educational opportunities throughout the city and the county.
Q: Where did you go to college?
A: I went to Webster University, and I majored in dance. My emphasis was in ballet, but I dance at a modern company now.
Q: What area of dance is your specialty?
A: I have a longer history with ballet, because I started taking it at a younger age, but I have more of a passion for modern dance.
Q: Do you have any long-term, specific goals for your classes?
A: In general, that the dancers know that they can dance any way that they want to, but that the tools that I give them in class help them to do more of that. They don’t have to dance specifically like a ballet dancer, a jazz dancer, or a modern dancer, they can apply all of these tools and make themselves into a more well-rounded dancer.
Q: Anything else you’d like to add?
A: I’m really excited to be here, and I’m really trying to make sure I learn everyone’s names. I’m not great at names right away, so it normally takes me a little bit of time.