|
How FaB came to be |
|
A brief history of our dancin' heritage: |
| Once upon a long ago there was a beautiful princess who had danced a lot. She danced many different styles for many moons. Eventually she needed a job to sustain her love of dance, and, luckily, JMU was looking for a dance professor. |
| So Earlynn J Miller went to JMU and was hired. She was faced with a daunting task: create a Dance program from the primordial ooze that was the then few dance classes. She knew that there was much hard work before her. She rolled up her puffy poet-blouse sleeves and set to work. |
| With time and energy and time and money and time and sweat, and some more time, there were a Dance Major and a Dance Minor, and there were majors and minors filling the halls of Godwin with happy faces and happy feet. Happy arms, too, but that's a different story. Dr. Miller needed a way to showcase the many Folk and Ballroom dances she had collected through her life and the Folk Dance Ensemble was formed. |
| Each semester new students would register for this class, having come from their own experiences or being recruited from the Folk or Ballroom dance classes. But the Ensemble seemed to have a life of its own! Once enrolled, students had a tendency to stick around. Dance was too good! The Folk Dance Ensemble traveled around Harrisonburg, the Shenandoah Valley, the State of Virginia, and sometimes even further to teach, learn, and perform. |
| For thirty years there was bliss in the JMU Dance Program. But Dr. Miller grew impatient. She had dedicated her last thirty years to creating a Dance legacy at JMU and had, unfortunately, neglected her own Wanderlust -- there was the whole world to live! And to live it to its potential would require more than the short summers she had been offered. |
| So Dr. Miller packed her character and jazz shoes with her clogs, boots, tall wooly socks (and secret cotton socks underneath), bare feet, and everything else she might need and she went on her way, leaving a repertoire and language of dance behind her. |
| What to do!?!?! The leader was gone, but the dancers remained! |
| Much discussion led to the formation of a club: the FaB Club you're interested in right now. |
| From the dancers new leaders were chosen. They worked to create a club that would be enjoyable and easy for new members, but also challenging for those who had danced before. The JMU Ballroom and Folk Dance Club has been working to recruit new members and entertain the continuing members since the Fall of 1999. |
| FaB works to keep Dr. Miller's legacy alive by performing (whenever we get the chance!), teaching, and learning new dances. We try to educate new dancers everywhere we go, and try to make dance as un-intimidating as possible -- we love to dance! And we think you will, too, once you give us a chance. |
|
|
|
|
Questions, comments about
FaB or classes? Please contact KT.
|
|
|
|
|