Lack of space shackles the dance department
Classes moved to MPR
By J.p. Lawrence
Jeremy Goldsher hefts his body skyward as he skips and hops from side to side during an introductory dance class at Bard College. Surrounding him are 23 of his fellow Bard students, teachers with dozens of years of experiences, and the steady beat of an electric drum. The only thing missing is a dance studio.
Before last year, the dance department held its classes in the two studios allotted to them in the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, but the growth of the program has forced them to shift some classes to the Multipurpose Room in the Bertelsmann Campus Center.
“The Dance Department truly had no other space they were able to use,” said Julie Silverstein, Director of Student Activities and the Bertelsmann Campus Center. “The MPR was their final space option outside of their dance studios.”
Silverstein said they discussed moving classes to the MPR several years ago, but decided against it due to a mutual understanding that the space is meant for students and their activities.
Last year, however, the chronic lack of space reached a tipping point, and the dance department was given the space Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the day.
“I think this issue needs to be viewed as a symptom of the larger problem regarding the campus-wide space crunch,” said Silverstein. “We all know that lack of space on campus is an issue for everyone, which has required all of us to be more flexible and creative about the use of space.”
Jean Churchill, a dance instructor at Bard for 32 years, said she is glad that they are able to use the MPR, which she describes as an adequate dance space, but she understands that the space is meant for students.
Churchill said she has seen the dance department grow from two rooms in what is now the film building to two studios in the gleaming Fisher Center, and now the program is growing out of space again.
If it were up to her, the dance department would have two more studios, Churchill said, but she understands that that’s not likely in the current economic climate.
Churchill, who has taught an introductory course every semester, said she loves teaching students like Goldsher, who are new to the art and perhaps tentative, the joy of movement and of mastering the body.
At Bard, however, these students are forced to learn to skip and tilt and lean in Bard’s multi purpose space, while the Fisher Center, overbooked, broods on the other side of campus.
“All programs would like to use it for some reason or another,” said Churchill. “I’m really glad this has worked out, and I hope it continues in the future, but isn’t it basically a room intended for student activities?”