CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 29 Y ou alright over there? Be careful!" ex- claimed Avis Hatcher-Puzzo, as two dancers practiced a difficult move. Wanting her students to move on to something that won't result in a twisted ankle she firmly requested, "Okay guys…please start with your plié series." She knows how to take command of a room and the stu- dents pay attention. Relatively new to Fayetteville State Uni- versity, the Connecticut Yankee was brought down south in 2008 when her husband's job with Baer Pharmaceuticals transferred to the Triangle area. One aernoon, I lounged with her on the wooden floor and she told me of her journey to build one of the most up and coming modern dance programs at a historically black college or university (HBCU). With a graduate degree in eatre, Hatcher-Puzzo was hired to choreograph musicals at FSU. "And they also wanted me to teach the dance class as part of the physical education curriculum. ere were no specifics…it was just called DANCE." Hatcher-Puzzo soon learned that the main forms of dance being taught in the course were "stepping" and litur- gical. As a trained ballet and modern dancer, she knew that if FSU were to become to competitive and include a dance major or minor, proper dance technique would need to be put into practice. By MIrIaM Landru arts Fayetteville state university's Modern dance program lands on its feet "I was thinking…you don't major in that. So, I always start off my story, I was going to do musical theater dance, jazz, all of that…then students kept coming to me and ask- ing me about Alvin Ailey. at's the Modern dancer they had all heard of," she shared. "You can now minor in dance here, and in modern dance you actually have to train. You need to have that foundation." To start building the program, Hatcher-Puzzo worked with students who either had no dance experience or dance training from studios where sometimes she had to re-teach them proper technique and liturgical dancers. "I would rather have eclectic, artistic dancers rather than have them all look the same. ey all have great stage presence," she explained. Modern dance is not the only form the students study in the program. African jazz and hip-hop are also taught. Different modern techniques such as the Horton method, Cunningham and release technique are also practiced and performed. Realizing the importance of ballet as the foun- dation of all forms of dance, Wei Ni, former professional dancer with the Carolina Ballet and Assistant Director of Charlotte Blume School of Dance, teaches the students weekly. Hatcher-Puzzo chuckled, "In Connecticut, I was the alternative teacher, I would go to the ballet school and teach hip-hop and modern…then in the urban areas I would teach ballet." e dancers have performed at various events in Fayette- in the business of DAnCe ,,

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