Meet Nancy Evans Doede of Pasadena

 

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nancy Evans Doede

Hi Nancy, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Like most little girls in the 1960’s, I took ballet classes, and, like most little girls, wanted to become a ballerina. At age 16, it occurred to me that when in pointe shoes, I stood nearly 6 feet tall, and it was highly unlikely that I would ever get into a corps de ballet. If I ever did, I figured I would be relegated to the back line with a rose in my mouth. I switched to theatre, both plays and musical theatre. I majored in theatre with an (almost) minor in Dance at Illinois State University, and while I was very involved in the dance department, my Chair said I was probably best suited to directing because my ballet technique was not impeccable. Upon graduating, I joined a small band of actors in establishing Steppenwolf Theatre, in the Immaculate Conception Grade School basement in Highland Park, Illinois, and was privileged to work with some of the finest talent anywhere. I did, in fact, direct there. However, dance still tugged at my heart. I went to see a friend in a concert at my alma mater and witnessed a dance called “Kindertotenlieder”, choreographed by modern dance pioneer Hanya Holm. I was smitten, and I took a leave of absence from Steppenwolf to go to Colorado Springs for eight weeks to study with Hanya. She was 87 years old to my 22 when I began working with her. She was tough on me, but she was the best mentor I could have asked for, and we remained friends until her death at 99. After my first summer with her, she recommended I go to study with Nancy Hauser in Minneapolis, which I did. I became an apprentice in the Nancy Hauser Dance Company, and then a full company member a year later. I stayed with Nancy for 5 years, dancing, choreographing, and teaching in her school. My husband and I moved to San Francisco, and I tried to pursue dance there, but found it a difficult and somewhat closed system. We moved to Los Angeles less than a year later, and I went back to theatre, although I took dance classes around the city. I found it impossible to find any classic modern dance in Los Angeles. I was Managing Director of The Actors’ Company in Burbank, and then co-founder of Outpost Theatre Ensemble, where I acted in, directed, wrote, and produced plays. I had two children during that time, and took a breather from performing to be available to them. They both loved to dance, and eventually they brought me back to the studio, to teaching, and to choreographing. Both my children went on to be dancers; my son, Nik, dances with Ballett Augsburg in Germany, and my daughter, Ashleigh, danced with Anaheim Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet II, Nevada Ballet, and is now the Associate Artistic Director of Nancy Evans Dance Theatre where we work side by side. I began Nancy Evans Dance Theatre (NEDT) in the fall of 2009, when I had an “empty nest” and a desire to create. Our first season was in June of 2010, and we have been producing consistently ever since. We have enjoyed being guests at colleges, festivals, have toured regionally and nationally, and created two exhibit-driven dance theatre evenings as commissioned artists at the Norton Simon Museum. Our Executive Director, Jenn Logan, as well as my daughter, Ashleigh, have been dancing with and helping to run the company since its inception. Without them and their constancy, business sense, and individual artistry, NEDT may not have achieved the milestone we just hit: our 15th Anniversary concert series. I already have plans for our next season, and will be preparing myself over our summer hiatus to “hit the floor running” in September!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Other than the first day when a road is fresh, it is not smooth. The more you travel on it, the bumpier it can get. You learn to navigate, patch, and sometimes even re-pave it, but you can’t expect a well-traveled road to remain smooth. It’s the same with a company. We have had bumps along the way, yes. Producing concert dance in Los Angeles is a challenge. It’s expensive, and it’s not what Los Angeles in known for, so garnering a dedicated audience takes time and a lot of word of mouth. The pandemic was a huge crevice in the road. Many companies fell into it, never to emerge again. We prevailed by taking our live concert work into the arena of film. Keeping up morale during a time like that is crucial to surviving it. We contacted dancers in Europe who were also in lock-down, and created short films with them by sending material back and forth and meeting over Zoom. We made new friends, new art, and kept our sanity. I have had company dancers move on to other careers, and I’ve wondered if we would survive. I’ve looked at the budget and wondered if we will meet it. I’ve looked at empty seats before a show and hoped they would be filled. These are sometimes formidable challenges. It’s up to what you decide is most important. Nancy Evans Dance Theatre is important to me. The joy that it has brought me, my dancers, and the audience, convinces me to continue. I feel it’s our job as artists to not just reach across a chasm, but sometimes be the bridge. We are in the business of celebrating humanity in its many forms. Challenges bring our best selves to the forefront when we connect to meet them. It’s the struggles that keep us sharp. I’m not advocating constant struggle! I’m only saying that they are inevitable from time to time, and how we face them determines our future. Nancy Evans Dance Theatre has been here for 15 years. I’m looking ahead.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As Artistic Director of Nancy Evans Dance Theatre (NEDT), I am responsible for the overall creative vision of the company. With the support of many others, we have established a mission statement that I endeavor to align with in everything we do. That mission statement is: THE MISSION OF NANCY EVANS DANCE THEATRE IS TO CREATE ORIGINAL WORKS OF DANCE THEATER THAT CELEBRATE THE VALUE OF STORYTELLING BY AND FOR EVERY GENERATION; TO FEATURE TYPICALLY UNDERUTILIZED MATURE ARTISTS FROM 20 TO 60 AND BEYOND; TO EXPOSE NEW AND DIVERSE AUDIENCES TO THE BEAUTY OF LIFE EXPERIENCE THROUGH TRADITIONAL AND NON-TRADITIONAL MOVEMENT LANGUAGE; TO EMPOWER OUR ARTISTS TO BE CO-CREATORS; TO MAKE LASTING HUMAN CONNECTIONS.

Because my background is in both theatre and dance, NEDT is truly a dance-theatre. NEDT is known for its storytelling in its dance works. That does not mean that every dance has a literal story line, because sometimes the work is more abstract. However, there is meaning, relationship, and feeling inherent in it. Perhaps the best comment I have ever received is how accessible the work is. I think this is what sets us apart. People who know nothing about modern dance come away with a feeling of being moved, included, or having their curiosity aroused. We hold Q&A sessions after performances, which I think are crucial to our growth and are a great barometer in telling us how our work is being received. Our goal is to have a conversation with the audience through movement, and at the end of the performance to feel that we have a shared experience because of it. With all the world offers to us and demands of us, the arts play a pivotal part in connecting us; in connecting that little spark that lives in each of us that is our humanity, our heart.

I’m most proud of two things, really: first, that there is no age limit in my company. I have dancers in their 20’s. 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and me in my 60’s. Every age has its life experience, its unique energy, and its own voice. There is not only room for all those voices, but we need to hear them. The audience is also made up of those many voices, and if we are to connect with them, the more breadth we have, the more successful we can be. The other thing that makes me proud is that I am able to continue a legacy of modern dance that was passed on to me. I had the very special experience of studying with Hanya Holm, a protege of Mary Wigman, who is considered to be one of the Pioneers of modern dance. Hers is a very expressionistic form. When I danced for Nancy Hauser, who was a protege of Hanya Holm’s, I was expected to not only dance, but choreograph and learn to teach. She included several of my dances in her repertory, which was an honor. What I have done with my company is extend what was given to me. Dancers in NEDT are encouraged, and sometimes even required, to choreograph, and when the work is ready, those dances have also been included in our repertory. I am not a “one-voice” artistic director. The work does not only have to be my choreography. In fact, other voices need to be heard. That’s no threat to me. One has to grow into the title of Artist. That can only happen by taking risks, having your work seen and critiqued, re-imagining it or sometimes even setting it aside as an experiment. It requires developing your own vision, your own critical eye, and your own standard. I believe that by fostering an environment where my company dancers can develop is only going to enrich us as a whole and make us stronger. I’m committed to that. I believe that also sets us apart.

How do you define success?
Reaching people and finding common ground. It’s a living thing, not something that you achieve and then are done with it. Success is a verb to me. It is a real-time process, dependent upon you, what you have to say, and sharing that experience with another in real time. Success is momentary. When a connection is made, you can feel it. That’s success. It’s lived in that moment. What keeps us going as artists is that we are always looking for that moment every time we perform. You can have 100 little successes in any one performance. What’s so great about that is that it is a shared experience – you aren’t the only one having a success. For me, those moments of connection are what being human is all about.

Contact Info:

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

Image Credits
Ayame Orlans
Jenn Logan