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Pillar of UCSD's Dance Program Bows Out With Final Show
Ioana Patringenaru | June 11, 2007
She worked with hundreds of students, helping some of them become professional dancers and choreographers. She saw UCSD’s dance program move from cramped quarters in the campus' old main gym to professional studios near the La Jolla Playhouse. And, now, she is leaving.
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| Students rehearsed for "We Dance Our Dances," directed by Jean Isaacs, last week. See more photos of the performance. (Photo / Manuel Rotenberg) |
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Jean Isaacs, who has been on UCSD’s faculty for 22 years, is retiring at the end of this academic year. Last week, she directed her last installment of “We Dance Our Dances,” the undergraduate end-of-the-year production. Isaacs’ departure marks the end of an era for UCSD, said Margaret Marshall, a senior lecturer who advised the undergraduate dance faculty from 1975 to 1997.
“We were pioneers,” Marshall said. “And that’s important.”
Isaacs is a dynamic, passionate artist with a deep concern for the future of dance and the future of young artists, said Theatre and Dance Chair Charlie Oates. She had a great impact on students just by being herself, he added. He also said he was sad to see her leave, but was glad that she would be able to devote more time to her company.
Isaacs said UCSD has brought stability to her life. But she injured her knee and underwent two surgeries in the past five months. Teaching here while running her own dance company and dance school has become increasingly difficult, she said. “I need to protect my body,” she said. “I’m a maniac, I know that,” she added later.
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| Jean Isaacs (right) shows a colleague a scrapbook she received at her retirement party. |
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Isaacs started teaching at UCSD when the dance program was part of the now-defunct physical education department. Classes took place in fencing studios, above the basketball courts in the campus’ main gym. Instructors would often have to shout to be heard above the din of basketball games. Isaacs would regularly come down with laryngitis in winter, when the studios were particularly cold, Marshall recalls.
Finally, students told then-Chancellor Richard Atkinson that dancing in the main gym had become unhealthy. To get the administration’s attention, Isaacs decided to hold one of her classes in front of the chancellor’s office. Upon hearing the news, Marshall rushed to the scene, where she ran into Atkinson and Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Joe Watson. They had a low-key discussion with Isaacs and her students. Marshall said she believes the impromptu dance-in opened a communication channel. Discussions eventually led to the construction of a new dance facility on campus.
The Molli and Arthur Wagner Dance Building opened in 2000. By then, UCSD’s dance program had expanded, with dance becoming a major in 1995. Students responded to good teaching, Marshall said. Isaacs knew how to ignite their passion, she recalls. Isaacs’ classes often seemed to follow two themes that would help students emote: death and sex, Marshall added. “There never was a dull moment in her classes, that’s for sure,” she said.
When asked to reflect on her career at UCSD, Isaacs immediately talked about her students. She still remembers the names of two undergraduates she choreographed in her early years. “I was so proud of them,” she said. “They looked like pros.”
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| Students rehearsed for "We Dance Our Dances" last week. (Photo / Manuel Rotenberg) |
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Then there’s Monica Bill Barnes, a dancer and choreographer who lives in New York. “She’s a wonderful artist,” Isaacs said. “You can see that I trained her. But she does things her own way.” Barnes came back to San Diego for Isaacs’ retirement party May 19. She performed a piece that included some of her former professor’s favorite moves.
Last week, Isaacs worked late into the night with the cast and crew of “We Dance Our Dances,” the end-of-the-year undergraduate show. Around 8 p.m. Tuesday, she called all dancers to the stage during a tech and dress rehearsal at the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre at the La Jolla Playhouse.
She asked them to exit through the theater at the end of each number, instead of using a side door. “We’re trying to create an illusion that it’s magical, in a way,” she said. She also asked choreographers to come see her at the end of each piece to get notes. Then they could go home. “I know you’re all studying and you’re all exhausted,” she said. She reminded dancers to turn in their costumes at the end of the show. “I’m still looking for my underwear from last year,” she joked.
Undergraduates went on to perform an ambitious show. Many of their pieces mixed dance with spoken word. Some were solos. Many used big casts. “I think this is the strongest show we’ve done,” Isaacs said, adding the late-night rehearsals don’t make her feel like she’s retired. “It hasn’t hit me yet.” |
