editor’s choice End of an Era - The Etgen-Atkinson School and Dallas Metropolitan Ballet Finale
by Janice LaPointe-Crump H
owdoes one finish the longest running showinDallas? Simply and
quietly.After 54 years,AnnEtgen andBillAtkinson, 2013 recipients of theMaryBywatersAward for LifetimeContribution
toDance, closed theirEtgen-AtkinsonBallet School and theDallas MetropolitanBallet.When rent skyrocketed beyond being able to pass the studio to a valued colleague, itwas time to
end.AsAtkinson exclaimed, “Howmany have a career this long?”
Their runwas anything but
quiet.Ann andBill prided themselves on being a ballet centered studio – nomodern, no jazz, no commercialism. Walking in the door, you entered aworld they created, remembered Pat Tuzer. “They gave you all they could, pouring everything into dance . . . itwas their passion and their lives.”
With amotto of “good training is a lasting value,” theDallas MetropolitanBallet became renowned for emotion rich choreography, exciting partnering and disciplined ensemblework. Fiercely competi- tive,Etgen andAtkinson firmly believed they could train dancers, choreograph challenging ballets and direct an outstandingDallas
MetropolitanBallet.And so they did. Three of their balletswere select- ed for theChoreography Plan of TheNationalAssociation forRegional Ballet, and they received aNEAchoreography fellowship.
Benefitting fromthe Ford Foundation grant that enabledGeorge Balanchine to seed regional companies and bring teachers likeBill and Ann toNewYork toworkwith established dancers, they developed a steady streamof professional dancers. For them, this is their single most important
legacy.Among theirmany dancers are Pat Tuzer,Kathy Chamberlain,ChristineDunham(received theDCNTNatalie Skelton Award forExcellence inDance), Shea Johnson,MicheleGifford.While some performed in different genres,Bill andAnn set out to develop ballet artistswith an admirablework
ethic.Companies employing their students includeAmericanBallet Theatre,BerlinBallet,BostonBallet, HamburgBallet, FrankfurtBallet, JoffreyBallet,NewYorkCityBallet, StuttgartBallet and others.
Their teaching strengths,writesMicheleGifford, are dedication, fear- lessness, partnering, discipline and fun. “MissAnn’s” choreography brought out one’s personality, sense of style, and passion.”More sowas their admonition to justDANCEfromthe heart and love ofmovement. Their history of excellence as a placewhere dancersweremade – “not just peoplewho dance butDANCERS!” – iswell
established.Besides this lasting valuemay be the lessons of life they
instilled.AsBill points out, their lessons included reminders to learn frommistakes, not to be beaten down by something you don’t get but learn fromit then change, to be courteous and respectful, and that life comes fromthe Creator sowemust do our best.Onewas the free spirit and the other the force. TogetherBill andAnn gavemuch to theworld of ballet and to their
students.And respecting their lives of service and performance, RegionalDanceAmerica: Southwest awarded themLifetime Membership.
Formore information, go to
www.etgenatkinsonballet.com/directors.htm
Janice LaPointe-Crump is a freelancewriter; Co-chair of theDCNTHonors Committee and ProfessorEmerita TexasWoman’sUniversityDance.
page 4 Nov-Jan 2015
www.thedancecouncil.org DANCE!NORTHTEXAS a publication of the dance council of north texas vol. 17 • no. 4
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