‘You have to want it’: An inside look at University of Iowa’s Dance major program

When I stepped inside the lobby, I laid eyes upon faded tiling and dated half wood, half stucco walls. Dancer’s steps pounded from the floor above, the force of which seemed to shake the building to its foundation. An assortment of snow boots and athletic shoes lined the walls outside the doors to the studios, and the chirping of piano keys echoed in the hall. To most of us, we know this place as the “dance building,” that easily overlooked structure down the hill on E. Jefferson Street. We call it Halsey Hall, but dance majors call it home.

Inside there are hundreds of stories of blood, sweat, and tears. Tales of endless practices and sublime determination.

“My Mom put me into dance when I was five years old,” said 18 year-old student Abigail Pilecki. “And I just kept dancing.”

For many Dance majors, that’s how it all started.  A single decision that was made during their childhood ignited a lifetime of intensity. For others, the story is a legacy—a passion that’s been passed down from parent to child.

Such is the case for 19 year-old student Korena Olson.“I actually started through my Mom. She was a professional dancer in Seoul, South Korea. So she decided to put me in dance classes.”

The Road to Glory

 Dance, I learned, has an unfounded reputation as an easy major.

“If those people sat in on a technique class they’d think differently,” responded 20 year-old student Courtney Fleming.

Technique, it turns out, is just one of many aspects of the Dance major that tests its’ students in both mind and body. The physical training requirements are comparable to student athletes.

“Class every day. Ballet and modern five times a week, also Jazz,” Abigail told me. “I dance about 20 hours a week.”

In truth, practice is only the beginning. Like a football player, like a gymnast, like a swimmer, the dancer’s road to glory is paved with good nutrition, the right amount of sleep, and of course—the basics.

“If you want to be the best, it goes from what you eat, to practicing outside of class, to stretching before bed,” Korena said with a fiery competitiveness in her voice.“It’s an all-day thing.”

For me, it didn’t take much convincing—Dance is a difficult path to follow. So what’s the number one thing a person needs to succeed in it?

Abigail summed it up in five words. “Passion—you have to want it,” she said. I couldn’t help but think back to my high school marching band days where our marching instructor, Scott Hsu, would often say to us, “How badly do you want to get better?” The same is true here—a dancer has to be hungry for it. A dancer has to want to be the best, to become the best. A dancer has to be unafraid to make mistakes, so they can learn from those mistakes.

Even if rehearsal doesn’t go well, a dancer still gets up in the morning and gets back in the studio the next day. Why? Because they love what they do, and want to keep doing it. They strive to be the best.

For Korena, however, it’s more than just passion. “Confidence is a big thing—if you don’t think you have it, you won’t have it,” she said.

Beast Mode

My assumption going into Halsey Hall was the same as anyone else’s who doesn’t know about the Dance program- dance majors want to dance professionally, something which nowadays is often complimented by raised eyebrows and unemployment jokes.

“That’s the common misconception, that if you’re a Dance major, you won’t get a job,” said 18 year-old student Mary Claire Rasmussen. “But there’s actually so many things you can do.”

While of course, there is the possibility of performing, that isn’t the end all, be all. A Dance major can become an athletic trainer, a collaborator in the creative processes of performance, or even take part in an assisting program for kids who want to work in the industry someday. But not everyone in the program sees dance as their future.

Mary Claire, for instance, intends to turn her major into a minor. “I don’t think—I don’t know if I want dancing to be my entire career,” she explained. “Honestly, I have a hard time putting my emotions to words, and I feel dance is an outlet.”

In any artistic medium, the artists imbibing in it find inspiration in one form or another. For the dancers I spoke with, there was consensus on the origins of this inspiration .

“I think the people around me inspire me the most- our tendencies and our culture,” explained Courtney. Like an athletic team, dancers come together in good chemistry as believers in their culture, and when one dancer gets better, they all get better.

Korena summed it up, “When you see another dancer go beast mode and just own it—it gets you.”