My Photo Essay

Modern Dance

The San Diego Dance Theater is where it all takes place. The students inside perfect the art form of the multiple dance styles, specifically Modern dance. Modern dance encourages dancers to use their emotions and moods to design their own steps and routines, which separates modern dancing from other dances such as ballet. Specific techniques for modern dancing have been developed over the past 100 years beginning originally as a rebellion against the poise and formal structure of classical ballet. Ballet is strict, limited and and disciplined, which is why the first modern dancers felt the need to break away and be different. The goal behind modern dance is to interact the viewer through the dances. The dancers have to reflect the world as it is now: urban, edgy, moving towards gender equality, deeply human, and danced by people of varied sizes, colors and backgrounds. Finally these dances help us understand a shift in ourselves: As they perform dances in a way that can breathe life into the people of our region and beyond, they reveal to us something we have not realized before.

Jean Isaacs' San Diego Dance Theater

One day walking down the hall I complimented Jean by saying her students Minaqua McPherson and Blythe Barton were extraordinary dancers. She replied by saying, “Its because they dance every single day. Dancing is who they are.”
Dancing has been Jean Isaacs whole life as well; from her first dance classes as a little girl to beginning 3's Company with Patrick Nollet and Betzi Roe, to Isaacs, McCaleb and Dancers to the San Diego Dance Theater. She has created Cabaret Dances which performs annually at the San Diego Museum of Art, and her work has been commissioned by the San Diego Opera, The La Jolla Playhouse, various theaters, and for the "New Wave" Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. She now uses her experience and talent to teach new generations of dancers to excel in the art form. Jean Isaacs has inspired thousands of people around the world for the last couple decades to pursue their goals. “I've had a lot of students... and they often say that have no support for this. They'd say 'My parents expect me to be a doctor or lawyer and if I decide to major in dance they will stop paying for my tuition.'” Jean has helped her students realize that success can be defined by either wealth or happiness and if dance is what they love, they only have one life to go for it. “As a dance leader and inspiration, Jean Isaacs ranks among the finest of San Diego choreographers...always trying out 'new ideas' and urging the dancers around her to do their best!” (Bravo San Diego, Rob Appel, 2008). Jean Isaacs is a modern example of a dancer who loves what she does. Even when chasing a dance career after college was looked down upon by society and her families' expectations, she followed her dreams.

Minaqua McPherson

“I started out by doing ballet as a young girl, but I was too much of a wild child... the only part I liked were the tutus. I thought those were the coolest things ever.” ~ Minaqua McPherson. From a young age, Minaqua realized that the structure and limits of ballet couldn't compare to the freedom that came with modern dancing. Working as a teacher and student at Jean Isaacs' San Diego Dance Theater, Minaqua gets the chance to live out her dream and be happy with what she does. “Dancing is my release and the out of reality experience is my happiness.”
While California is not the most lucrative supporter of the arts, Minaqua realized that it's difficult to live off a dancer's wage. Her addiction to dance has pushed her to become crafty in life taking on various full or part time jobs in order to pay for her classes and realize that it's not impossible to make it. Dance has impacted her life because it has changed her physically and mentally. She finds dance important because she is capable of taking all the challenges that come with it to continuously shape her “In all of life's situations both professionally and personally.”

Blythe Barton

“Dance is not a hobby for me, or even a lifestyle, it is my whole life.” ~ Blythe Barton. Blythe began to take dancing seriously when she was about ten and hasn't stopped since. Blythe's motivation of teaching dance comes from her love for it. She sees the beauty in dancing because it is “An art form that is gone the moment it is viewed, ephemeral.” Dance gives Blythe the opportunity to create emotion with motion which every dancer strives to achieve. As a student and teacher at Jean Isaacs' San Diego Dance Theater, she's pursuing her dreams of one day becoming a dance teacher and professional dancer. She yearns to perform with the professional dance companies in San Diego, and even present her own choreography in a professional setting. “I would love to share with others the passion I feel for dance.” She loves how words can't always express the way she feels, and sometimes only actions can satisfy what she tries to convey. True art makes the viewer think or feel in a new way, which is something that she hopes to accomplish with her performances.

Generations of Future Dancers

Down the long corridor are all the different classes and styles of dance held at the San Diego Dance Theater. From all ages, genders, race and levels, students all dance at their own pace. Through all the challenging classes and practices, students begin to discover the importance behind the art form for themselves through first hand experience. Each dance artist, performer, choreographer and teacher have their own way of moving. “In a given situation, the body must adjust quality, alignment and effort to match the movement presented. I enjoy the challenge of manipulating my own body to conform to infinite personal standards.” ~ Blythe Barton. Dancing is a physical and mental challenge that the dancers have to overcome, which is why the satisfaction in the end is worth so much more in the end. The passion comes from the ability to control and take charge of your body, and to accomplish what at first you believed you couldn't do. The generations of children, male and female growing up as the next performers for the stage have the chance to experience what dancers feel now. The life changes that comes when dance becomes a part of who you are.