For April Henehan, acceptance into the exclusive Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellows Program was just the boost she needed as she enters the final year of her Master of Fine Arts degree in choreography.
Henehan was one of eight choreographers selected from across the world to take part in the program. Over the 10-day residency, Henehan was able to focus entirely on creating and perfecting a dance alongside two of the top teachers in the United States: Dianne McIntyre, a former Grand Company dancer and Risa Steinberg, an educator at Julliard.
“I would call them our heaven-sent angels for the whole process,” Henehan said. “They would come into rehearsals every day, and provide feedback based on an area of focus that we either predetermined, or just based on what they observed themselves. They kept guiding towards our goals, we discussed with them on day one about what our intentions were for the following 10 days and what we are hopeful to potentially walk away with.”
The dance-immersive experience includes living onsite, researching in the Jacob's Pillow Archives, viewing dance exhibitions, seeing Festival company performances, and attending artist and scholar-led talks. Through the program, Fellows strengthen individual artistic points of view and acquire an influential network important for a choreographic career.
“Jacob's Pillow is one of America's great contributions to the field of dance,” said JU dance department chair Brian Palmer. “Massachusetts farmland dedicated to the creating and performing of dance has carved out a unique platform to provide respite and inspiration to choreographers, companies and performers growing and experienced alike. To have an MFA in Choreography candidate and undergraduate student dancer from Jacksonville University represent us is truly an honor for us all.”
One of the perks of the program was to be able to create a dance without any expectation of having to perform it right away. Henehan said that took the pressure off of presenting a finished product, and instead allowed her to take her time and perfect every second of the dance.
“It was really kind of taking myself back and reminding and resparking the passion that I have for creativity, and why I'm still invested in this art form almost 40 years later,” she said.
Henehan, along with longtime friend and undergraduate dance student Robert Rimmer ‘23, stayed onsite at the famous dance venue Jacob's Pillow in Becket, Massachusetts. As a choreography fellow, Henehan was allowed to choose dancers to bring with her who would perform the routine she created.
The inspiration to apply for the program came from Henehan’s late dance mentor, who was accepted to the program in 2019 after dreaming of attending for years, but tragically passed away before getting to attend.
As a high school dance teacher, Henehan was quite used to writing letters of recommendation for her students to apply to various opportunities. This time, she decided to seek out an opportunity of her own.
“I thought back to that conversation (with my mentor), and I thought why not me,” she said. She applied, and received her acceptance a few days later.
And now, she’s glad she did, calling the experience nothing short of “life changing.”
“I would say overall, the experience was not only invigorating, from a physical point of view, as far as our bodies and how we were dancing, but I would also say from a mental and a spiritual place,” she said. “It gave me the tools to really focus on a couple of different ideas that I had been playing around with within the last year as an MFA candidate.”
