art in abundance
still teaching and ended up writing the dance curriculum for Durham Public Schools. She carved out three years to pursue a master’s degree in dance therapy and counseling from Columbia College Chicago and felt better equipped to help her students when she resumed teaching at Hillside in 2012.
ON REFLECTION
“We’re all carrying things in our body,” Nicole says, and that reveals insecurities and self-esteem. “How can we move to not carry this tension? What if I were to lift, stand, engage and reach out? Before you dance, before you reach out to connect with [an audience], you have to ground yourself in this space.” Nicole says she wishes she had an Empower when she was growing up. “I didn’t see any dance companies that represented me, and I was like, I won’t be a professional dancer because I don’t see anybody who looks like me,” she says. “If I just had that confidence boost; if I just had that someone… I look back, and I’m like, ‘I wasn’t a bad dancer.’ I thought I was a bad dancer, because that was the mentality that I had.” She remembers the pressure she felt to be exceptional. “Ballet technique has to be astounding in spaces where I might be the only one in the classroom,” she says. “So that was very hard. I quit dance for a while. I wasn’t getting selected to be in pieces, because I didn’t quite fit. What did that do for my self-esteem?” For that reason, Nicole says she remains committed to the emotional and physical well-being of her students and to providing opportunities for young dancers to see themselves reflected in the community and in their chosen career paths. “I never thought I’d be a dance studio owner,” she admits. “That wasn’t in my life’s five-year or 10-year plan, because I never saw that that was something I could do. It’s so important for this next generation of children of all backgrounds to see that you can actually have a career in this, and it can look like whatever you want it to look like. Some of my students have started their own studio, and they work in different studios. I love these kids, and take care of them as my own.” 64
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the reel world
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Follow the Retro Films maestro’s cinematic journey at Durham’s historic theater BY G EORG E SPEN CER | PHOTO B Y J OHN MICHAEL SIMPSON
“great showman.” That’s how Jim Carl, senior director of film programming at the Carolina Theatre, describes himself. This jovial impresario of all things cinematic has created more than a dozen annual film festivals and series over the past 26 years that put the historic theater on the national film landscape. In the process, Jim has become something of a cult icon to devoted fans who return time and time again. He is best known for his long-running weekly Friday night double features of classic movies called Retro Films. (The theater has branded the name.) Retro, as fans call it, screens hits such as “E.T.,” “Die Hard,” “The Shining” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” mixed with cult favorites like “Harold and Maude” and “Galaxy Quest.” All films must be at least 20 years old. Jim, the theater’s longest-serving staff member, adds a personal touch to Retro. He greets moviegoers in the lobby, where he invites them to enter a drawing for kitschy gifts. “Sign in for door prizes!” he hollers to people lined up for popcorn. (Think refrigerator magnets of Bette Davis or Cary Grant.) Before the first movie begins, he bounds onto the stage and shouts, “Hello, everybody!” After welcoming the audience, he teases coming attractions, pulls audience entries from a black plastic Halloween cauldron and – to much hooting and applause – invites winners to come down and claim their swag. The lights lower, and smoke plumes shoot from fog machines at both sides of the proscenium arch. Colored stage lights flicker. One of his handcrafted trailers unspools a rapid-fire montage of classic movie bits. Next come film trailers that ran the week the classic movie premiered. Yet another trailer reveals trivia about the film. A final one says, “Spontaneous cheering and applause erupt!” And that is what happens. “I enjoy being on stage with geysers and all the music swelling,” Jim says. “My philosophy has always been, ‘Interesting is good, but fun is better.’ My goal has always been to entertain, to make people happy.” Jim initially faced a big decision – whether Retro Films would only show movies he liked. “Where I came down in my thinking was, I didn’t want this to be films I personally enjoy,” he recalls. (He has a fondness for 1970s and 1980s flicks.) “I wanted Retro to be something for everyone, for every part of the community, as much as possible.” A third of the films he screens come from each year’s 5,000 to 6,000 cauldron-collected audience suggestions. Jim recently launched genre-specific cinema series that include MysteryRealm; FantasticRealm; RetroRocks!; Disney-Quest; RetroNoir; Kaiju-Quest (think giant Japanese monsters); Free Retro Family Days; and the Sensory-Friendly Film Series for those with autism and others needing sensory accommodations. Volunteer judges curate the Carolina’s two festivals – OutSouth (gay cinema) and Nevermore (indie horror). Early on, Jim programmed only a few classic flicks annually to fill schedule gaps; this year, the theater will show about 230 repertory movies, not including first-run films. Annual attendance
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