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In fall of 1960, Jamie Kellam arrived on the University of Colorado campus to study dance. As in other universities of that time, dance was part of the Women’s Physical Education program, so dancers, women only, could get a Bachelor of Science degree with an emphasis in dance.

Students in the PE department trained together in both sports and dance courses. While all the women were athletic and fit, Jamie saw a marked difference between the PE and dance students. Doing leaps across the floor in a modern dance class, the dancers were graceful with straight legs and pointed toes, whereas the PE majors rose into the air and came down with a thud.

Jamie remembers one PE student stopping midway across the floor and asking why the dance students looked so much better than she did. The dance teacher laughed and told her it took a lot of practice.

Jamie took a year off in 1962 but returned to CU to continue work on her degree. Fate intervened, and in 1963 she married the love of her life, Alan Redmond, who graduated in January 1964 and entered the Navy.

Charlotte Irey, one of Jamie’s teachers, told Jamie that Alan was a wonderful man, but she didn’t have much hope that Jamie would be able to come back to finish her degree. For the next three years, the Redmonds moved from state to state and Jamie was able to take classes at the University of Georgia, William and Mary and the University of Hawaii, where she studied with Jean Erdman. She also taught children as well as adult dance classes in recreation centers where they were stationed.

After Alan completed his three-year tour of duty, they returned to Denver and Jamie returned to CU to complete her degree. During Jamie’s absence, Charlotte had convinced the administration that dance should be a program that stood alone as a discipline.

To Jamie’s surprise, dancers entering the program now were able to earn a bachelor of arts degree in dance. With the dance classes Jamie had taken during her three years off campus plus her previous CU work, she could finish her degree in one year. In 1968, Jamie was awarded the first BA in dance from CU.

The faculty was smaller in the early days of the dance program. Charlotte Irey, who began as a part-time PE instructor in 1945, taught and directed the new dance program and continued as director until her retirement in 1988. Marilyn Cohen served on the faculty from 1953 until 1993.

Patricia Eckert taught for the first few years of the program, and Arlyne Arndt served as the accompanist/receptionist and overall dance support person. The dance program is now housed in the Department of Theatre and Dance, has eight faculty members, including a technical director and musical director, and offers a BA, BFA and MFA in dance.

Dance students today take many of the same classes that were offered in the ‘60s: modern dance, choreography, music for dance, methods of teaching, dance history and dance production/stagecraft. With the new degree, additional dance classes were added while some PE classes were dropped.

Jamie remembers the choreography of the ‘60s as being primarily narrative, based on literature, but some choreographers, inspired by the influential New York artist Merce Cunningham, explored pure movement. Jamie loved the earthiness of Martha Graham’s work and remembers her choreography textbook, “Modern Dance Forms,” by Louis Horst, Graham’s mentor, which was “modern” at the time.

Dance programs throughout the country had performance groups with the word “orchesis” in their titles, the Greek term meaning “to dance,” and CU was no exception.

“Orchesis was where it all came together. It was not only our chance to create but to put all our knowledge to work. They wanted it done right—no slouching—no minimal performance but presenting the best it could be,” Jamie recalled.

The students not only performed, they wrote and duplicated the programs, made their costumes and props and helped with the lighting and music.

After 40 years of attending CU dance concerts, Jamie sees the changes in the field of dance as a whole and how the CU program has adapted to those changes. The department offers more performance opportunities, classes in a wider variety of dance forms, and classes in related areas, especially somatics and technology in the arts.

Jamie acknowledges the foundation of the program hasn’t changed since dancers today are trained just as she was. “The program instilled in you a love of exploring dance. The challenge to get your body to go to the max. To work hard. To discover new venues. All of our teachers cared about us personally as well as being students. They knew us; we were not just numbers. I think we took away with us many of life’s lessons.”

Jamie remains an integral part of the dance program. A scholarship fund was established in her name by Alan and the Kellams, Jamie’s parents, in the mid-70s. Charlotte Irey was very excited to receive the support for the dance students. The dance program now had an endowed scholarship and joined the ranks of other CU departments that were able to help support their majors.

Since 1975, Jamie has come to campus each spring to award the Jamie Kellam Redmond Scholarship to the outstanding undergraduate student who shows dedication to and excellence in dance. After seeing the new crop of students each year, Jamie notes that the dancers now come better prepared, with more discipline. “It seems to me that they live dance. What a great way to look at this world.”

This story originally appeared in the Department of Theatre and Dance newsletter (). For more information or to support the CU Department Theatre and Dance, please contact Micah Abram, director of development, CU Foundation, at 303-541-1465, or via e-mail at micah.abram@cufund.org.