An Inspired Chat with Nancy Evans Doede

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Nancy Evans Doede. Check out our conversation below.

Nancy, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: Are you walking a path—or wandering?
I am definitely walking a path, but it took quite a bit of wandering to focus in on it. If you had asked me when I was a fresh graduate from college if I saw myself being the Artistic Director of a modern dance company in Pasadena, CA, I would have quickly said a flat “no.” In my early 20’s, with few responsibilities and mostly dreams to fulfill, I was set on becoming an actor. After graduating from Illinois State University with a degree in Theatre, I jumped at the invitation to be one of 9 original members of Steppenwolf Theatre, then operating out of Highland Park, IL. I poured everything into that. We were labeled ‘audacious’ by Chicago critics, and I guess we were. We didn’t necessarily mean to be, but we were dedicated to doing work we felt strongly about, and pushed boundaries against all odds to produce it. It was heaven. I had been deeply involved in the Dance program at ISU, but never considered that I would be good enough to dance professionally. It wasn’t until I discovered, quite by accident, the modern dance choreography of Hanya Holm, when seeing a dance concert to support a friend who was performing, that I shifted gears. It was a pivotal moment in my life. I studied with Hanya, and left Steppenwolf for Minneapolis to work with Nancy Hauser. I became a professional dancer. My theatre background never left me, however, and it showed in the choreography that I did during that time. I met my technical theatre husband there, and we moved to San Francisco in the early 80’s. I looked into dance there, did some teaching, but found it difficult to fit into what I perceived to be a rather closed system there. We moved to Los Angeles 2 years later, where my parents were living, so that when we had children, they would know their grandparents. My husband fit smoothly into the technical stagehand business, and I went back to doing theatre. We had two kids, and I didn’t go back to a dance studio for almost 9 years. It was my children who brought me back. They wanted to study ballet, and I found an excellent studio for them. Over the next several years, I established myself there as Costume mistress, eventually teaching technique and composition in summer intensives, then on a regular basis, then choreographing larger works for studio performances. I also began teaching dance in high schools, and in 2009, began my own company called Nancy Evans Dance Theatre. I am able to blend my love for dance with my roots in theatre, and have maintained my company now for nearly 17 years. Now I also bring my compositional background to students and professionals as a mentor/coach.

I think that most paths wander. That’s where you find surprises. Not being afraid to wander allows you to be reinforced in your chosen path. What could be distractions can, in fact, be motivations to look in different directions to expand your scope and deepen your artistry. An artistic path is a lot like climbing a mountain. You stay on a path through a forest, step off for a moment to see where you’ve been and gain perspective, then return and continue upward until, after several or many “turnouts” you arrive at the summit where the view is awe-inspiring and the beginning of the path is like a speck at the bottom of the mountain. You take a 360 degree look around you and decide where to go next, taking all of your experience with you.

I began as an ambitious, curious devoteè, and have developed into a mentor – still curious, always curious. There is still so much to learn. Now I help young dancers to find their own paths and encourage them to set out on them with confidence, embracing the occasional wandering along the way.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am Nancy Evans Doede, Artistic Director of Nancy Evans Dance Theatre (NEDT), a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization working out of Pasadena CA. NEDT is a modern dance based professional company that weaves theatrical elements into our work. Our dancers must not only be excellent technicians, but also actors and very musically inclined. I am very influenced by the Bauhaus period in art, probably because my training is from the lineage of Mary Wigman, a German expressionist modern dancer who did some stunning work in the 1930’s. She maximized effects with the use of masks, oversized costumes, and large movement choirs. She also did very simple solo work, focusing on principles of movement more than standardized technique. I have followed that tradition, and that has carried over into the work my company produces. This is something that makes us unique. Our work is both abstracted and characterized. It is developed for an intimate stage rather than a large auditorium so that the audience is more immediately drawn into the work. We focus on how the human spirit is moved. Sometimes that is with a soft, heartfelt solo, and sometimes through the use of large-scale costumes or props. Each performance strives to be a blend of elements, so that the audience has the opportunity to experience something personal and also perhaps something metaphorical. Working collaboratively with the dancers and their individual talents always brings new ideas to a piece, helping it to evolve into its final expression onstage. We are currently about to perform with three other local companies in a biannual production called Foothills Dancemakers, the first weekend of December, and are preparing for our concert series in May called WORKS 2026.

Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
That I had to follow the rules. I grew up in the 1960’s, but my parents were from the generation that experienced both the Great Depression and World War II. I was brought up to be the best girl I could be, which for me, translated into perfectionism. I never wanted to put a foot out of place. Validation was incredibly important to me. Risk was to be avoided. I didn’t want to “get into trouble.” What I’ve learned is that getting into “trouble” is really a degree of how much you let your curiosity lead you. Taking risks can be dangerous, yes, but not every risk has danger attached to it. Without risk, you play it safe, and that’s where your vision of the world resides. I started embracing risk and growing my confidence when I went to college. I wasn’t tied to being a lawyer or a doctor or a scientist. In fact, I went thinking I would go into Speech Pathology/Audiology. Then I found out what that would really be and I knew it wasn’t my path. I wandered through several iterations in college (isn’t that what it’s really for?) and finally graduated with a degree in Theatre with an emphasis on Dance. Total opposite. What happened is that the creative spirit that was always inside of me, living itself out in my dreams, actually started to find fertile ground to plant myself in. I may have grown up thinking I had to be the best girl, but I’ve realized over the years that part of being that girl meant I had to grapple with things that demeaned women. That demeaned me just because I was female. I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself radical in my thinking, but the shackles on the back of my neck rise whenever I sense injustice, especially regarding gender. In short, I think probably all of us are born into certain norms, and our parents for the most part do the best job they can do coming from their own backgrounds, but the stuff of life is coming face to face with some of those norms that you find you don’t agree with, and challenging them. That’s growing up. Not always easy, sometimes painful, always enlightening.

Take a look at those dreams that you believe in. Are they so out of reach?

When you were sad or scared as a child, what helped?
Being with my dog, Huckleberry. She was a mutt that I thought was the most beautiful show dog on earth. I tried teaching her how to run off-leash in a circle and she decided to just run. She would get under the covers with me if I was afraid to go to sleep. I held her when there were fireworks. Sometimes we would huddle together and shake in my mom’s big closet. She accompanied me to the scary, dark basement when I had to find something I absolutely needed in that moment. She ran up the stairs faster than I could after I got it. She never argued with me, but she still made her point of view known to me. I taught her how to do things that my mom said were never going to stick. They did – maybe because they started as a game we both played together. Being an only child, she was my sibling. We brought her home, the runt of the litter, when I was 5. She died when I was 22. There was never anyone but her.

Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What do you believe is true but cannot prove?
That there is a collective consciousness. A deep, internal knowing of right from wrong.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. If you laid down your name, role, and possessions—what would remain?
My family.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nancyevansdancetheatre.com
• Instagram: @nancyevansdancetheatre
• Facebook: Nancy Evans Dance Theatre

Image Credits
Ayame Orlans, Jenn Logan