Monday, February 11, 2008
When Bill Evans was 13, he was teaching dance to students more than four times his age. At 22, he was performing professionally. Today, he is recognized as a pioneer in his field and one of the most talented tap dancers alive. None of it may have been possible without a trip to the movies when he was three years old, which opened his eyes to the possibilities of human movement.
“Some guy was tap dancing on the screen,” Evans said. “It wasn’t a conscious decision, but that’s when I said, ‘ah people can dance,’ tap dancing specifically.”
Bill Evans watches the rehersal of his choreographed dance in Robinson Gymnasium on Friday. His dance will be performed at the Lied Center on April 17 and 18 of this year.
In the 64 years since witnessing tap dancing for the first time, Evans has become a legend in his field. In 2004, the Lehi, Utah, native was voted one of the top-three tap dancers in the United States by Dance Magazine. For the past week-and-a-half, Evans has been at the University passing his knowledge of tap and modern dance to students.
Evans taught master’s classes during the day and rehearsed with a select group chosen to perform with him at night. On April 17 and 18, he will return to perform at the Lied Center with the 14 students who worked with him from Feb. 1 to Feb. 10 as part of the Elizabeth Sherbon Centennial.
The performance in April will honor Elizabeth Sherbon, a University alumna and former member of University faculty with whom Evans worked with for decades.
“It’s very meaningful to me personally to have opportunities to come back here because I care about this place,” Evans said. “I’ve seen the dance program from its inception really. I’m always delighted to see how the program continues to grow.”
It isn’t the first time Evans has worked with University students. Evans said his relationship with Kansas went back 40 years to 1968, when he choreographed the performance of a group of high school students that was performed at Hoch Auditorium.
In the years since, Evans said he had developed relationships with University faculty and that he was always happy to have the opportunity to renew.
Janet Hamburg, dance professor, has known Evans since 1976 and worked at the Bill Evans Summer Dance Institute for more than a decade. She said the opportunity to work with such a decorated and influential member of the dance community was a priceless experience for both students and faculty.
“What he brings is decades of professional experience both as a teacher and professional performer,” Hamburg said. “It has been so enriching and inspiring for our students to study with him. He is truly a master teacher who is internationally recognized.”
After discovering a love of teaching at 13, Evans said he relished the chance to work with students to encourage their growth as both dancers and individuals.
“It’s about affirming life for me, trying to improve, enhance and deepen ones awareness of life itself,” Evans said. “It’s a process during which people open themselves to growth and change. It’s not just their dancing that changes. It’s their way of thinking, sensing and feeling and understanding who they are.”
His pupils are just as grateful to receive his guidance.
Nora Burt, Chicago sophomore and one of the 14 students who will perform in April, said having Evans at the University, even for a short period of time, had helped her change the way she thought about dance. Burt said Evans’ teaching style had challenged students to think about how they felt as they danced rather than how they looked.
“It allows us to sort of relax, breath into our movement and just sort of enjoy dancing rather than worrying about making the shapes that we sometimes do in our classes,” she said.
Although he will be 68 in April, Evans said he never felt as vibrant and alive as he did on stage. He said he had organized his life around dance and in return had found fulfillment from performing and teaching future dancers.
“I feel fully alive,” Evans said. “To me, the opportunity to perform is kind of a sacred experience, my spiritual practice. I believe that parts of myself − my thinking self, feeling self and intuitive self − are all fully alive when I’m performing.”
In April, Evans and 14 students will show the Lied Center audience what it means to be truly alive.
—Edited by Matt Hirschfeld
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