by Jane Bouterse
My
Happiest
Place
For 5’5” Klancy Johnson, now a 21 year old browneyed beauty with matching brown hair, that happiest place was discovered when she was three years old. She has never wavered in the decision she made as she sat on her Grandmother Nana’s knee and kept time to the music of Texarkana’s Oaklawn Opry. For over 20 years the Opry has offered opportunities to musicians of all ages to play, sing or dance to their country music favorites. Klancy’s grandparents, Nana and Paw Paw, have long been fans of the Opry and they took Klancy with them. “She had great timing,” Nana says, even though Klancy’s attention was drawn to the piano player. “I fell in love with the piano player,” she admits. Fortunately, that romance never blossomed, but Klancy’s love of music grew like an invasive plant. Klancy was also three years old when she began to take dance at Judith McCarty’s School of Dance in Texarkana. Founded in 1947, Miss Judy’s school introduced dance to most of the children in the city, and Klancy was one. “Tap was my favorite,” Klancy acknowledges, “but I still remember that pink tutu I wore in ballet, the backbone of all dancing.” As a result of her musical exposures at the Oaklawn Opry and her dance training at Miss Judy’s, Klancy knew that she wanted to be on the stage. “I wanted to sing and I wanted to dance.” Even though her grandmother worried about Klancy’s vocal ability, Nana and Paw Paw continued to encourage her performing. By her sixth birthday, Klancy entered The Little Miss Texarkana Pageant. She sang “Tomorrow” from ANNIE; and when she won the talent competition, her family cried. Little did they realize at the time their tears were shed in joy as well as hope. The win was the first of many that Klancy would earn with her singing. Shortly after the pageant, Klancy performed for the first time with a live band as she sang in the classic country tradition of Patty Loveless and Tanya Tucker, “’bout as country as you can get.” “It was a different feel,” Klancy explains. “There was a rush, and excitement I had never felt before. I was so nervous, but once I heard the music, the nerves went away. Music is something unique that touches people. I want to pull people into my song, so I just can’t stand still.” To reach audiences the way she wishes, Klancy has studied with Karmyn Tyler-Cobb, who began her career in Texarkana. Karmyn was classically trained, and her musical talent earned her the title of Miss Louisiana in 1995. Klancy learned a more formal
technique from Karmyn. That training did not stop Klancy from pursuing her own preferences, too. “I am a huge Elvis Presley fan,” she declares; therefore, she has studied his music. Her personal country music favorites include Miranda Lambert, Johnny Cash and Tammy Wynette who sings Klancy’s favorite country ballad “Till I Can Make It On My Own.” Because of her study, evolving talent and dedication, Klancy has won repeated talent contests. In 2005 she won Miss Teen Texarkana AR and the preliminary talent competition in Miss Teen Arkansas with her renditions of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “As If We Never Say Goodbye,” a song made famous by Barbra Streisand. “I won the talent competitions in Little Miss Texarkana every year starting in 1997-2002 singing those songs. Actually, I finished in the top 13 and won talent at Miss Teen Arkansas with “Broken Wing” by Martina McBride. I like having options,” Klancy admits, and her eclectic approach to her musical selections certainly equips her with alternatives. Music and Klancy? go together like peanut butter and jelly? Batman and Robin? Salt and pepper?…Song and dance—no question here. At the same time she has studied music, her dancing skills have matured. In fact, she has earned her dance instructor certification and teaches children at Judith McCarty School of Dancing. Her expertise in ballet, jazz, acrobatics, drill team and tap has been demonstrated repeatedly. “My favorite is still tap. If I could tap dance all day, I would.” Meantime, Klancy is still a student herself, as she continues to study tap and now Spanish dancing. She is becoming skilled in the use of castanets (those curved pieces of hollow wood, usually held between the fingers and thumb and made to click together in sync with the Spanish dancer’s feet). The Judith McCarty School of Dancing group usually performs at the TATD (Texas Association of Teachers of Dancing) convention. Klancy explains, “I know of no one in Texas who still teaches the Spanish dancing. I think it’s beautiful.” Since her eighth birthday, Klancy has performed with the Texarkana Community Ballet in a number of increasingly demanding roles: a clown in the Christmas collage; soldier in THE NUTCRACKER; a flower; her senior year a dream solo as the Arabian in THE NUTCRACKER; Cinderella and Coppelia. Her last performance in May 2013
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