MERCERSBURG MAGAZINE SPRING 2017
29
IN HER OWN WORDS:
Katie Vickers ’06 DANCING WAS A HUGE PART of my experience at Mercersburg. I was always a dancer, but when I came to Mercersburg, I took it a bit more seriously. I stopped playing lacrosse after my freshman year, and I danced full time for the rest of my three years. I also attended Mercersburg at a time when there was a lot of transformation. [Dance instructor] Denise Dalton’s first year at Mercersburg was my freshman year, and the dance department was really small. We were dancing in Boone Hall up until my senior year when they demolished that building to build the Burgin Center. During construction, I remember dancing all over campus: the wrestling room, the Edwards Room, the gallery space in Irvine Hall, and even outside. We were finding every tiny space we could inhabit on campus to practice dance, and it was actually really fun. While I was at Mercersburg, Denise Dalton really pushed me to go to dance programs in the summer and to go to college for dance, and I’m immensely grateful. It became clear to me at a young age that dance was what I wanted to do as a profession and as a lifestyle. After Mercersburg, I went to Ohio State University, where I got a BFA in dance and a minor in integrative health and wellness. Following college, I immediately moved to Brussels, Belgium, where I went to a conservatory called P.A.R.T.S. (Performing Arts Research and Training Studios) under the direction of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and her company Rosas, one of the best dance schools in the world. I did a four-
year program there, and I’ve been living in Brussels ever since. I’m choreographing and making my own work, and I’m dancing for Daniel Linehan and the Cullberg Ballet, which is in Stockholm. I’m also building summer programs. I direct the summer program at Mercersburg for dance and theater for young kids, and I’m starting a new summer program at Ohio State where I’m bringing European artists over to the United States. For my husband [Albert Quesada] and me, it’s important to have a nice dialogue between the two art communities of Europe and the U.S. Recently, my husband received his green card, so we’re planning to move to Philadelphia to hopefully start a cultural center there and then live between Philadelphia and Brussels. I honestly think that if I hadn’t attended Mercersburg, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing. I think it was clear from the beginning that Mercersburg was a school and a space that allowed me to investigate and explore dance outside of its form. It’s really a way of thinking and a way of living and being in the world. I also remember teaching dance—hip-hop and salsa—to other students during what used to be the music period, a free period right after lunch for artists and musicians to practice their craft. It was a highlight to learn that this art form that I know and love can touch so many people, and I think that’s something amazing about Mercersburg. You can do what you love there and also see how it expands beyond your own interest.
Katie Vickers speaks at a Mercersburg school meeting in January 2016
Editor’s Note: Vickers began working with Mercersburg Summer Programs in 2011, and she and her husband are now co-directors for the Performing Arts Intensive, a two-week camp combining both theatre and dance courses. To learn more, visit www.mercersburgsummer.com.