UAA’s Dance program takes a final bow

Correction: A previous edition of this story incorrectly said that Momentum Dance Collective recruited from Sunlight Collaboration. Momentum Dance Collective has existed before Sunlight Collaboration, and though they sometimes hold auditions, they do not recruit dancers and have never recruited anyone from Sunlight Collaboration.

Disclaimer: Kaycee Davis is a reporter for The Northern Light and was interviewed for this article.

It was a crowded Friday night at the Anchorage Museum on April 7. The museum’s large atrium was so filled that guests had to find space on the stairs and the second story balcony to watch the dancers below. 

Music filled the space as onlookers watched the evening of dance performances begin. An estimated 2,500 people turned out to watch the UAA Dance In Concert Retrospective 2023, the final performance of UAA’s Dance program. 

The retrospective performance was an immersive experience, with dancers performing in the Atrium, the Art of the North gallery, the Alaska Exhibition and the Pass the Mic exhibit simultaneously. There were different performances happening every 15 minutes. 

Onlookers were given the opportunity to walk between performances, enjoying live music, tap dance, group and solo performances and even a dance with a bronze toilet in the middle of the floor. It was electric and emotional as a community came together to say goodbye to a beloved program. 

In 2020 the University of Alaska Board of Regents announced that dozens of programs in the UA system were being cut in an effort to save money – UAA’s theater and dance program was among them. Since then, the minor has been slowly phased out as remaining students completed their degree requirements. 

Jill Flanders Crosby is a dance professor, and has been teaching dance at UAA since 1976, long before dance became a minor in 2001. 

Dance classes were originally offered through Anchorage Community College starting in 1971, and switched to UAA in 1987 when Anchorage Community College merged with UAA. 

Flanders Crosby said that the impacts of UAA’s dance program are easily seen in the Anchorage community – not only are dance groups in Anchorage filled with UAA dance students, but UAA dance alums have started dance companies in town. Stephanie Wonchala, The founder of Pulse Dance company, is a UAA Dance alumna, as is Katie O’Loughlin, the co-founder of Sunlight Collaboration.

“We didn't have a minor yet, but there was a small group of us … undergrad students who were interested in dancing more and perhaps creating something together,” said Kuznetsova. Students created a club which quickly sparked an entire dance community.

“What Jill [Flanders Crosby] created was like this really fertile ground for so much creativity and so many people coming together,” said Kuznetsova about that time.

Through the program, Kuznetsova learned more than just how to dance. She also learned how to care for her body, how to relate to other people, how to be present, and how to listen. Kuznetsova credits that experience with teaching her how to show up in the world and be a better parent and friend.

“I left… fifteen years ago and I live in a completely different country now. And I’ve applied so many lessons from being a part of the program to my life.”

Kuznetsova now works professionally as an independent dancer in Toronto, organizing community dance events and teaching people who do not consider themselves dancers how to dance.

Currently, only two dance minors remain at UAA– Kaycee Davis, and Buggy Ezell. 

This is Davis’ second time with the program. She originally took dance classes in 1991, and returned after receiving her English degree in 2019. 

One of her favorite things about the program was how it respected people. “Our department was inclusive before inclusivity was a thing. We didn't have stick figure ballerinas there. We had all sizes. We were body positive. That wasn't even a word 30 years ago,” said Davis. 

The lessons that Davis learned through dance at UAA were so pervasive that she brought breath counting techniques from the classroom all the way to the birth of one of her children. For her, dance provided a level of “body awareness” that she was able to take into the other moments in her life. 

The other remaining dance minor, Ezell, graduated from high school in 2020, and said that it was frustrating coming to UAA only for the program to be suspended. She originally came to UAA excited to be a part of a dance community and to find friends within it. 

“What really sucked about that is the fact that almost all of my classes were like, one to two people,” said Ezell, “Everyone was trying to graduate out of the program.”

Ezell said that UAA’s once-vibrant dance club no longer has enough members to continue being an active club. 

Flanders Crosby said dance companies are important and valuable to Anchorage dancers, but Anchorage also needs what the university provided as an equally important part of a dancer’s education. 

“Dance in higher education is where your dancer learns how to teach without injury … they learn principles of anatomy, physiology, kinesiology. They learn how to open their eyes to understand why dance forms reflect particular cultural values and how. And thus they learn how to make sure that those are visible rather than hidden.”

She also said that cutting this program will give high school students who want to continue to pursue dance no other option than to leave the state. She said that cutting this program only takes more people away from Anchorage’s resident dance companies. 

Ezell said that she doesn’t understand why a program like this would be cut. 

“And when arts are cut, they're cutting out community outlets,” said Ezell, “And without those kinds of outlets, grades are gonna drop and community relationships are going to suffer and there's gonna be so much more depression, because at least for me, I get such a … relief from dancing and finding people who share .. that same passion.”

“I think they're taking away a huge chunk of goodness from our students, and it's just, I can't… fathom why they're doing it.”

Kuznetsova said it was a shock to learn that the program was ending, and that she’s still in denial about it. She said that in a place as cold and isolating like Anchorage, UAA’s dance program was her main way of staying connected to people. 

“I can’t imagine Anchorage without the dance program.”

In the final retrospective concert, Flanders Crosby said that every single performer passed through UAA’s dance program in one way or another.

“To bring everyone together and celebrate what the dance program did for this community, and to allow all the performers to come together and share and express what the dance program did for them, in particular, was huge,” said Flanders Crosby  

“And to see that many people down there was a testament to… no matter what happens with the dance program, the community respected it and supported it and came out in force in a way that I hope it makes some people stop and think about what they are eliminating.”