January 18, 2006
Partners stay in step
Partner dance class combines grace, athleticism and trust
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
A synthesis of grace, athleticism and training, the bottom line to partner dancing is trust.
A dozen female ballet students at the Dance Center, all veteran dancers, have been mastering partner dancing this school year thanks to a growing number of guys in a Partner class taught by Sarah Lowe. From just a few this fall, last Thursday night's class featured eight teen males who lifted, dipped and kept the girls soaring through the air for the hour-long session.
From the first day of class, Lowe has stressed the importance of trust and staying focused. She also laid down the law: no goofing off.
"I let the guys know that you don't let the girls fall, they're risking their lives because, depending on the lift, they can get really high," recalled Lowe, who has been dancing 18 years. "The guys know it, they've been very careful."
Working together is key: the girls jump and hold their position while the boys lift, stabilize and carry, then bring her down in a controlled fashion.
It's a delicate and demanding balance - literally.
"The girls try not to break the form," said Heather Benningfield, a senior at Traverse City West High School who has been dancing three years. "If you shift your weight, even just a little bit, it's bad."
Lowe, a senior at Grand Valley State University student teaching this year at East Junior High, both studied and taught dance at college. A dance major before switching to education, she accumulated extensive partnering experience and wanted to share it.
"They've all been dancing a long time but what's neat about partners is it's the final stage you try to get to: ballet, point and then partnering, which ties it all together," said Lowe, who also teaches a partnering class for pre-teens and younger teens on Monday nights.
"There's a lot of energy and the kids are just amazing," she added. "Every class they surprise me with how much they are able to do and how much they absorb."
The older teens' maturity has defused any discomfort at the intimate quarters of partner dancing.
"There's many moves that you're awfully close and it's very personal but they get it done and do it very professionally," Lowe said.
Rachel Thomas, a star of many ballet productions at the Dance Center, brought her boyfriend, Bryan Parshall, to class last fall. The couple had already learned ballroom dancing - Parshall learning to dance and Thomas adapting her skills and training. They relish sharing another form of dance together.
"I used to just teach him lifts for the fun of it," said Thomas, a senior at West High School who has been dancing 13 years. "We'll be out in the yard because the ceilings [at home] are so low."
"We have so much fun," she added of partner dancing.
A 2005 graduate of West, Parshall played football for the Titans and is now a student at Northwestern Michigan College. Calling it a "riot," Parshall is surprised at how much he likes partner dancing. But the veteran athlete did not expect the intense physical and mental demands of the class.
"I thought this would be easier [than football] but it's not," he said. "Football requires coordination but you're not really lifting people, you're just hitting, slamming people. In dance, you have to be graceful, you have to be careful."
Parshall has a new attitude about what his girlfriend does so many hours a week, an appreciation for how hard she and the other dancers work and train. As for watching ballet, he has come a long way from his first reaction of, well, boredom.
"Now I appreciate it a lot more," said Parshall, who had a part in the studio's recent production of "A Christmas Carol."
Ben Apps, a 2005 West High School graduate, started attending partner class before Christmas break. Friends with Benningfield and her twin brother, Alex, whom she lured to the class last fall, his interest was peaked after dropping Alex off one time. He stayed at first "because of the girls" but his motives soon evolved.
"I kept coming back because it was hard and you improve yourself," he said. "It is a work out, but it works different muscles, makes you lean and toned and you can build muscles."