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Friday, May 18, 2012
Covering Dallas, Monmouth, Independence, Falls City and surrounding areas since 1868
Jeanette Harmon Richards, left, and daughter Rena Richards are both dance students at Western Oregon University, Jeanette after a 20-plus-year hiatus.
November 08, 2011
MONMOUTH -- Holding your breath while performing an arabesque -- a ballet pose in which one leg supports the body while the other is outstretched to the rear -- is a pitfall Rena Richards said she was perpetually warned against in her mother's dance studio while growing up.
"She would say not to do it and it's always stuck with me," Rena said.
It's still common advice in Western Oregon University's Maple Hall dance facility for Rena. And her mom -- and fellow dance student -- Jeanette Harmon Richards.
The two are on the same barre in their intermediate ballet class on this day. As the hour winds down, professor Sharon Oberst runs her group through tour jetes.
"Chasse. Step brush. Kick. Land," Oberst said as her dancers float across the floor, leaping from one foot to the other in half-turning jumps.
"Don't hold your breath."
The class draws to a close and most are beat -- including Jeanette.
"There are some lessons more intense than others and this was one of them," she said. "I have weak ankles, so I'm tired ... but it feels good, too."
Jeanette wipes sweat from her brow and grabs her backpack. She's got 10 minutes to change clothing and get to a lecture class on the south side of campus. Rena gives her a quick kiss on the cheek.
Rena, left, and Jeanette work on center floor exercises during their Intermediate Ballet class at WOU on Thursday, Nov. 3. Jeanette pursuing a bachelor's degree in dance; Rena is a literature major.
"See you later, mom. Have fun in class."
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When Jeanette registered for fall term at Western Oregon, she knew she and Rena would both be taking dance courses. That they would end up sharing two classes wasn't preplanned, however.
"It just kind of happened," Jeanette said.
Most can tell by glancing at the pair that they're related, Rena said.
"We'll tell them we're mother and daughter, and they'll say, `I was wondering about that,'" she said. "It's kind of fun to hear that reaction."
Oberst said this is the only time in her 25 years at the university that she's had a parent and child in the same class.
But it's not her first time working with Jeanette. She was one of Oberst's students back in 1987.
Jeanette dropped out of what was then Western Oregon State College in 1989, in part, to get married and have children. She was one term away from earning an education degree.
Dance has been a lifelong passion. She wound up starting The Dance Studio on Main Street in 1994, then sold it six years later when her family moved to Eastern Oregon.
They returned to Monmouth in the early 2000s. Jeanette's been teaching part time at her old business ever since.
Leaving school before getting her degree "bothered me a lot over the years," said Jeanette, 45. "But I always knew when my kids were grown, I would go back and finish."
She's pursuing a bachelor's degree in dance -- she already has plenty of credits. But her goal is to attend graduate school in two years to become a physical therapist.
"I'm basically changing careers," she said.
Being in college again is strange, Jeanette said. That she's a continuing student with a 20-plus-year gap between enrollment has caused all manner of registration quirks. Every lesson seems to be on the Internet, Jeanette said. She's had to reacquaint herself with chemistry and biology for her science minor.
Jeanette looks over notes before a Biology 101 class last week. She is pursuing a dance degree, but plans to attend graduate school to become a physical therapist.
"Kids seem more focused now than when I was going to school," she said.
"I try to sit in front of the class," she added. "I don't ever want to miss one."
Her age made her self-conscious in the beginning, especially when it came to dance class, Jeanette said.
"I was nervous because here I am, an older person, in class with a bunch of kids," she said. "When you're in a dance class, especially in improvisation, you interact with others and I think it's harder to do that with somebody not your own age.
"But it's definitely getting easier," she said.
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The idea of having a parent in the same college class should seem an uncomfortable prospect for a young adult trying to strike out on their own.
"If it had been in English, maybe that might have been kind of weird" said Rena, a literature major.
But dance has been natural.
"It's something we've always done together," Rena said.
Jeanette said they give one another space and encouragement, and that in Maple Hall, she's just another student.
There are advantages to being family and fellow undergraduates.
"The other day I had a bad cold so I stayed home," Rena said. "Mom taught me the combinations I had missed, so that was helpful for the next class."
Rena said she's proud of Jeanette for returning to school.
"She studies a lot," she said. "My dad is actually taking some classes online, so they study at the kitchen table together ... it's really cute."
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