Gilburt Loescher '67 Since delivering the 2005 undergraduate commencement address, Gilburt Loescher ’67 has toured refugee camps along the 1,500-mile Thai–Burmese border, written two books about the plight of the dispossessed and continued teaching and research at the University of Oxford. At 63, Loescher is not considering retirement any time soon. “I really love what I do,” says Loescher, one of the foremost experts on international efforts to deal with forced migration. “I’ve been doing this since the late 1970s and have developed a great deal of experience about these issues. I also enjoy teaching and the students seem to get a lot from me, so I think it would be a shame to stop that.” Besides, Loescher says there’s too much to be done. By his estimate, 50 million people worldwide are displaced from their homes because of conflict... Read Post   Comment

Chair for a Life of Passion

When UA alumna Stevie Eller was performing with Orchesis, the University of Arizona’s dance group in the 1950s, Gene Kelly was revered as a major dance force in musical film. More than six decades later, Eller’s enthusiasm for dance and Kelly’s influence thrive at the UA.

In February, President Robert Shelton announced the establishment of the Stevie Eller Endowed Chair for the Director of the School of Dance. The recipient is well-known faculty member and UA administrator Jory Hancock. Over the past 18 years, Hancock has raised the program from committee status to division to the UA School of Dance.

(This endowment) gives us a sense of fulfillment,” Eller says. “And because it’s possible to give, think what joy and dreams are fulfilled for everybody.”

Nobody wanted Jory to leave the university; we wanted to do something that would create incentive for him to stay.”

Hancock is quick to note that the endowed chair is the result of the work of all members of the dance school. “This endowed chair is a tribute to the performance of everyone who has worked on behalf of the program,” says Hancock. “When you surround yourself with really good people, good things will happen.”

Stevie Eller is one of those people, moved by Hancock’s energy and vision.

Hancock will use the income from the endowment primarily to enhance programming. “That includes anything,” he says. “It could be things or people, but people are more valuable. My plan is to use the funds to reward the work of the faculty and staff, in particular the staff. Additional support to the staff will help the unit, and ultimately, the faculty.”

It was Hancock’s sister who opened the door to the world that would become his lifetime passion. “My sister wanted to introduce me to dance, because she loved it so much. So, she took me to see Gene Kelly in An American in Paris.”

Big sister’s enthusiasm must have been in the genes, because the movie had a tremendous impact.

“Gene Kelly was so athletic.” Hancock says. “I was about 11 years old and crazy for baseball at the time. But after that, I was hooked on dance.”

A Colorado native, Hancock danced as an apprentice with American Ballet Theatre, as a member of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, as a soloist with Houston Ballet, and as a principal with Seattle’s Pacific Northwest Ballet.

With styles ranging from classic to modern, Hancock has danced internationally, traveling from Canada, Mexico, and China, to Ecuador, Scotland, and Taiwan. He earned a master’s degree at Indiana University and was appointed a faculty member there in 1983.

Along the way, Hancock incorporated another longstanding passion into his life by marrying fellow dancer Melissa Lowe. Strong partners on and off the dance floor, the couple exudes a combination of creativity and quiet determination.

Fate brought Hancock to the UA when a faculty opening captured his attention in 1987. “Indiana University was only interested in ballet,” Hancock says. “The UA already had ballet and modern living side by side. The curriculum was interesting and I saw a frontier that seemed more open to what I wanted for my future.”

When the opportunity evolved into an employment offer, Hancock and Lowe joined five other faculty members of the UA dance program.

Hancock’s influence permeates the entire dance school. Appointed director in 1990, he has created a nationally ranked curriculum and point of pride for the UA. “There are maybe one or two places in the country that do this as well as we do,” Hancock says.

Not bad for a faculty member whose original office at the UA was adjacent to the physiology cadaver lab.

Today, competition for admission to UA dance is fierce. Enrollment is capped at 125 undergraduate and 15 graduate students. Some of those vying for a spot are recruited by The Juilliard School, as well. For students wanting a conservatory approach in a liberal arts setting, the UA is the clear preference.

The program’s triple-track dance styles, learning experiences, and people reflect Hancock’s philosophy of integration.

More traditional programs, for example, direct students to a single-dance specialty. At the UA, undergraduates are required to learn and master three styles — ballet, jazz, and modern. Students don’t affiliate themselves with any one discipline, and they move from one to the other to the next. “There is enough equality among the styles that our undergraduates simply say, ‘I’m a dancer,’” Hancock says.

In order to adequately showcase the three styles, the students meet a demanding schedule that includes 25-30 performances annually. Other programs average 6-12 performances each year.

In the process of creation, graduate students, undergraduates, and faculty choreograph together. “We try to make the work what’s important, not who is doing the work,” Hancock says. Both the artistic and academic domains benefit from integration. He adds, “One minute, the faculty are choreographing; the next they are lecturing. We have no designated academic who solely lectures.”

Hancock ensures that each faculty member is well-versed in at least two technical styles. “We weave it all together to create a unique education.”

The learning experience is further broadened with the integration of travel. UA dancers have performed at notable national and international venues, including the Jazz Dance World Congress in Chicago, Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center, Amsterdam’s International Theater school Festival, and similar festivals in Mexico, South America, and elsewhere.

“When we were in Washington,” Hancock says, “we visited the Holocaust Museum and Arlington National Cemetery. Can we teach — as deeply — that kind of cultural awareness and historical perspective in the classroom? We can’t.”

The endowed chair will provide essential funding for another Hancock inspiration, the Center for IDEAS (Integrated Dance Education and Service). The center places heavy emphasis on service. In 1995, Hancock teamed with Tucson’s Pima Air & Space Museum director to create a tribute to World War II veterans. Members of the Air Force, Army, Marines, Navy, and National Guard gathered to enjoy dance, music, and memories from the 1940s. The students heard, first-hand, the veterans’ heartfelt tributes to their fallen comrades.

The young people listened to stories of heroism, told by the men and women who lived it. The students realized that they, too, could access this history and find personal stories — through their grandparents.

“They started thinking about World War II as it related to their own families in a way that was so much more visceral,” Hancock says. “Through their art, they were able to offer a meaningful tribute and come away with a better understanding of a critical time in world history.”

Service also brought the dancers to the Arizona Cancer Center. After one benefit performance, the students met the young patients, and came face-to-face with the stark realities of pediatric oncology. They were left with a strong imprint of cancer’s ravages that is not found in a textbook or lecture hall.

“As an artist, you have to be able to say something about life,” Hancock says. “If you only spend your time in the classroom and studio, you won’t have enough to say.”

On that pivotal day in a Colorado movie theater, Hancock integrated dance into his life. Today, integration is vital to the UA School of Dance, the Center for IDEAS, and the program’s leading edge. After more than two decades of remarkable success at the UA and the ultimate faculty honor of being awarded an endowed chair, what’s next?

Hancock answered this question with his usual thoughtful analysis. “I remember a fine-arts retreat in the early 90s. I was asked to describe my ‘audacious dream’ for dance.

“I responded that I would like to have a touring program of the best ensemble in the country, one that is international, one that competes for the nation’s best students.”

In 1991, that didn’t seem likely. But it happened.

With a nod to her time as a UA Orchesis dancer, and with classic Gene Kelly grace, Stevie Eller got behind that dream.

“Because of the Stevie Eller Theatre, because of the Stevie Eller Endowed Chair, we have stability and I know we’ll have excitement in the future.” Hancock says. “This endowment provides the extra cushion that will allow us to offer a more meaningful learning experience that can only happen well beyond the classroom and studio. Stevie’s support makes that possible.”

With characteristic understatement, a small smile plays across Hancock’s face as he contemplates the future. “We’re on a pathway to something special.”