(Editor’s note: This column ran first in the Sunday Brew newsletter. Be among the first to get articles like this one by signing up for Hoptown Chronicle’s newsletters.)
When David Thurmond stepped onto the Alhambra Theatre stage Friday afternoon to introduce a master dance class for roughly 30 young people, he got straight to his point about how things would go if they should ever audition as professional dancers.
“From the moment that you step on stage, I”m telling you there are people back there … that are taking notes,” he said, pointing to the last rows of the darkened theater.
“They’re watching how you walk up on stage,” he said. “They’re watching what you do when you get up on stage, and then they watch how you do in a warm-up.”
Things can progress quickly in auditions, he warned. A choreographer might start cutting potential hires during the warm-ups.
“That’s not going to happen today,” he said, reassuring his Alhambra crew. “But I want you to assume that that’s the circumstance.”
“Give your best every moment … total focus,” he said.
And if the dance moves become confusing, he said, “Don’t let it throw you. Hang in there, hang in there, hang in there.”
A former Louisville ballet dancer, Thurmond grew up in Hopkinsville and graduated from Hopkinsville High School in 1967. He has held numerous arts jobs in Kentucky, including founder and director of the Governor’s School for the Arts.
I was sitting in the theater Friday with a few dozen observers — and when Thurmond spoke about hanging in there, I realized his pep talk could apply to more than dance. I’d come to watch the Pennyroyal Arts Council’s master class, taught by Thurmond and his former student, LaVelle Smith Jr., a choreographer to music industry elites such as Michael Jackson and Beyonce. I hadn’t expected to take away advice that could apply also to my life.
Hang in there.
Give your best every moment.
Total focus.
Smith added, “Don’t be afraid to ask questions. No question is too small.”
Great advice, I thought, for all walks of life.
(You’ll find more of my photos from Thurmond and Smith’s master class for the Pennyroyal Arts Council’s smARTs offering in our Instagram post.)
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
