THE HENLE DANCE PAVILION: H O M E , F E E T, H O M E A tai chi workshop for the Union community (Photo by Matt Milless)
Kira Moldow '10 in the Winter Dance Concert, "Red Roja" (Photo by Charles Steckler)
16 | UNION COLLEGE Spring 2014
with each other and with faculty and staff who champion their success. “I like that this program is a place for innovation and the melding of the mind and the body,” said Charles Batson, professor of French. He team teaches, with Moutillet, “Staging Explorations in Theater and Dance,” which forms the intellectual, academic and creative foundation for the Winter Dance Concert. Batson calls this opportunity to teach dance “another amazing thing about the flexibility and cross-pollination of academics at Union.” Other collaborators in the dance program include Set Designer and Professor of Theater Charles Steckler, Costume Designer Brittney Belz and Lighting Designer Robert Bovard. Marcus Rogers, assistant director of dance, choreographs, dances and teaches (jazz, tap, lyrical, Broadway). Other instructors are Laurie Cawley (Zumba, modern dance), Christine Geren (ballet, Pilates for Performers) and Carla Wasbes (hip hop). “The department is small and intimate, which produces great friendships and fosters a beautiful camaraderie between people who otherwise may have never crossed paths,” said Krystle Gallo ’12, a
The opening of the Henle Pavilion last spring was “a dream come true,” says Dance Director Miryam Moutillet. “This is such a welcoming space—high-tech and vibrant and breathtaking.” The building was made possible by Joan and David L. Henle ’75, with other support from Lee Losee Davenport ’37, Donald Foster ’47, Professor Emeritus Carl George, David and Leslie Steiner (parents of Courtney ’12 and Rachel ’14), Miriam Butzel (Butzel Family Foundation), Frank Pepe ’53, Ken Whalen ’49, the J.M. McDonald Foundation, Barbara Q. Myers (Myers-Ball Foundation), C.P. Adam Katz and Kenneth Wyse ’72.
mechanical engineer who minored in dance and won both a NASA scholarship and an Edward Villella dance scholarship while at Union. She now works with General Dynamics in Pittsfield, Mass. “Dance has always been a way to express myself,” Gallo said. “It kept me grounded during the toughest academic times. And taking classes like ‘The Dance Experience’ and ‘Dance of Bali’ let me explore my creativity and learn about other cultures.” Dance students choose from multilevel technique classes in a range of styles, from ballet to Broadway, as well as practica in choreography, courses in dance history and more. There are many