Dance Class with Culver

 

Dance Class with Culver

Jackie Culver is a jazz dance teacher at the University of Portland known famously for her many quirks and her energetic and fun spirit.

To begin class, Jackie Culver unpacks her CD player and sorts through her collection for the day's warm up music. More often than not, she will choose music written, composed and sang by her husband, who she met while attending the University of Portland in their college days. 

Often, Culver will bring in artifacts from her dancing days to show her students (or as she calls them, her "pretties"). Pictured is her explaining a college thesis she wrote on the psychological affects of dance. 

Jackie has been dancing for about 65 years, though as time went away, so did her hearing. When she cannot hear the music clearly, she will follow the beat by feeling the vibrations of the music through the dance floor. 

Jackie has trained in Russian ballet, contemporary, jazz, salsa and many other styles of dance, though her favorite is the hustle. She believes that anyone can dance, especially her students.

Culver enjoys taking the time to talk to her students. In a circle they will all sit as she tells them about anything, from the songs her husband wrote about her to the children's center she volunteers at.

In her hand is a photo of her at age three, dressed for a ballet production of The Sleeping Beauty. She loves dance now just as much as she did then.