SY: What is your dance background?

MH: I started taking dance when I was 8 years old. Ever since I was little I always wanted to dance. Ever since I got to Iowa State I’ve been dancing here.

SY: What type of involvement do you have with dance here at Iowa State?

MH: Well, I’m a member and choreographer for Orchesis I. It is the major audition dance club at Iowa State. It is performance based; we do three concerts a year.

I’ve been an officer in the group for four years now. Right now I’m a publicity officer for them; I’ve been doing fliers and posters.

SY: What type of dance are you trained in?

MH: Well I grew up doing ballet, tap and jazz. They are the three basics. Iowa State mostly does modern dance.

I’ve choreographed tap dance for Barjche. They do 75 types of different classes every week [at the Joel Hall Dance Center in Chicago]. I think one of the things we learned was exposure and training in more dance forms.

SY: How did you get to be a part of the dance company?

MH: Well, Laurie Sanda, our adviser, set us up with an internship with the Joel Hall Dancers because she knew Joel previously.

SY: What performances or special things do the Joel Hall Dancers do?

MH: I haven’t seen the Joel Hall Dancers perform. They didn’t have any performances while we were there this summer. They do lots of things. They’re having a 25th anniversary gala this month. A lot of the dancers in his group have their own dance companies.

SY: What things did you do while you were with the dance company?

MH: Well, mainly we were responsible for taking 10 classes a week and in turn we did 10 hours of office work for them. And then of course putting the concert together was our main responsibility.

SY: What was the most exciting thing about performing with the dance company?

MH: It was producing the final concert. We choreographed all the dances, we danced in each other’s dances and we produced it. It was totally our responsibility from start to finish – the whole thing.

SY: How has the experience with the dance company helped you as a dancer or as a student?

MH: It was a great experience for us. We took 10 technique classes a week. It was four ballet, three jazz, one Graham technique and one Horton technique. They are both different modern dance techniques. The 10th one was a choreography workshop lead by Joel. It was great for our technique; we all improved as dancers. It was also good to take these classes because they aren’t necessarily offered at Iowa State.

SY: How has the experience changed your life?

MH: As dance majors it was really good to go out and see what goes on in the dance world. It was really good to see the work that people put into it and the dedication they have.

SY: What things did you learn from the experience?

MH: We’ve all greatly improved our technique in various dance forms.

I think the interesting thing about being at a company like that is there are so many different people. We were dancing with 16-year-olds and 30-year-olds. They were all from different backgrounds.

SY: What can other dancers learn from your experience?

MH: The two of us [Megan Helmers and Kelly Bartlett] lead a class based on one of Joel’s classes that we took. A lot of the other dancers at Iowa State come and take that class with us. [It is held] a couple mornings a week. It’s nice for us because we can show them what we did and what we learned. It is helpful for other dance majors; we can be used as a resource. I think they are going to establish this internship year after year.

SY: How would you feel about performing with the dance company again?

MH: He has asked us back next summer. It was a great experience. I had a lot of fun. I’d definitely enjoy going back. We’ll probably go out to Chicago during break and take a few classes and visit everybody.

SY: Do you do dance more as a hobby or would you like to make a career out of it?

MH: It is my major. I’m a double major in English and performing arts with a dance emphasis.

SY: What are your plans to do with dance after you graduate?

MH: Well, I don’t know. There are a lot of different things you can do with a dance major. With a double major, like I have, there are a lot of options. The thing I always tell my parents is that I can always write for a dance magazine.