Tutu much to love about teaching - The Times

MIDLAND — Every day when Jennifer Verba shows up for work, she's thinking, teaching and living in the world of dance.

Now in her 13th year as director of dance at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School, she's passing along her passion and knowledge to students interested in pursuing a career in dance.

"I love watching them grow every year. You see a change in their growth, and that's awesome," she said. "It's awesome that I can share my knowledge with them."

At Lincoln Park, 75 high school students — mostly girls, but a few boys — are dance majors. There are also roughly 100 music and theater majors who also take some dance classes. In the middle school, there are around 50 aspiring dancers.

It's the job of Verba and five other dance instructors to provide their students an education in various dance genres. They oversee the instruction, technique, practice and conditioning needed for students to have a foundation for any dance form they may pursue.

Ranging from beginner to advanced levels of study, there are classes in ballet, pointe, modern, jazz, tap, improvisation, dance composition, introduction to dance and dance production. Each class typically lasts an hour, 20 minutes.

On Mondays and Wednesdays, Verba teaches three ballet courses. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, it's one modern dance and two ballet courses.

On Fridays, she has four classes: Senior Synthesis, which is helping seniors get ready for college (putting together a resume, writing a thesis paper, etc.); Dance Composition for juniors, which is learning how to choreograph movements; Intro to Dance for ninth- and 10th-graders; and Dance Production, which provides hands-on experience in all aspects of a production.

In addition to those classes, dancers at Lincoln Park also participate in three major productions each year. This school year's productions: "The Nutcracker," which was held in December; "Snow White The Ballet," performed earlier this month; and "Singing in the Rain," set for March 29 to 31, April 5 to 7 and April 12 to 14.

For three to four weeks leading up to each production, Verba and her students have rehearsals from 4 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday.

“This place is wonderful," Verba said of Lincoln Park. "Every student who walks through these doors is unique and special and really has a drive to want to do something. They all have something they want to do that’s special.

"I don’t think this school is for everybody. But for those who want to flourish or try something new and be dedicated to an art form, this is the place for them."

Verba, a 2000 graduate of New Castle High School, got attracted to dance as a little girl. She was 5 years old when she started tap dancing and 6 when she started ballet.

"At a very early age, I fell in love with it," she said.

By the time Verba was in high school, she was dancing with the New Castle Regional Ballet, a pre-professional ballet company. At Slippery Rock University, she earned a bachelor of arts degree in dance and a bachelor of science in elementary education.

After graduating from Slippery Rock, she thought about going to New York City to audition for dance companies. But then she met her future husband, Nathan, who is now a fifth-grade teacher in the Big Beaver Falls Area School District.

"So I decided that I’d rather stay around here, teach elementary in a public school and do musicals, maybe teach at a dance studio at night and start to raise a family," said Verba, who also has a master's degree in education.

But then in the spring of 2005, she got a phone call from a friend who told her about Lincoln Park.

“A friend told me they’re building this beautiful performing arts school in Midland and that I should interview for a dance position. So I did," she said. "The school was literally at its first level of being built."

During the interview process, Lincoln Park administrators were impressed with Verba and gave her the job. She's been at Lincoln Park ever since it opened its doors in 2006.

"It was like a miracle," she said.

The mother of 8-year-old daughter Cadence and 5-year-old son Cy, Verba envisions herself teaching dance at Lincoln Park for years to come.

"I always make jokes that I’ll still be here (teaching) someday on a walker or in a wheelchair because our dancing body parts start going," she said with a smile. "So yes, I think I'll be here for awhile."

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