The University of Idaho Argonaut

Alone on the studio floor, dance student Jamie Wollenberg practices her routine in the morning light on Thursday. Tyler Macy/Argonaut

Wollenberg, who is a junior dance major at the University of Idaho, said that dancing is her passion, and now she gets to take it to another level.

“Dance is the only really strong thing in my life,” she said. “No matter what happens, I can find a space in a studio or in some random corner of a hallway and just dance. I can let out my emotion — whether I am in love with someone or I hate my mom, it’s just this amazing natural high. Everyone dances.”
For the past two years, Wollenberg has been attending the UDA dance camps each summer.

“At camp you bond with your team, compete, perform and learn,” she said. “When you’re a dancer going to camp is just what you do.”
While at camp last summer she was tracked down and asked to fill out an application for the job.

“My friend had gotten one and we were laughing about it, and then one of the instructors, who’s a dancer for the Seattle Sonics, chased me down,” Wollenberg said. “(He) pulled me aside to tell me that I had to apply for this job, I was the best one there and that I was perfect for the position.”

Sure enough, earlier this year, Wollenberg heard back from UDA and was offered a position teaching at their summer camp.
She said that it’s a big deal for any dancer, regardless of the style of dance they specialize in, and that it still hasn’t really set in for her.

“I have gotten to know a lot of the teachers over the years and I really look up to them,” she said. “Now I get to be that person for someone else.”
Wollenberg will begin teaching camps at the end of May twice a week where she will be training, teaching and performing for those who attend.
Her first camp will be at Lake Tahoe, but Wollenberg said that with the two camps a week she could be anywhere.

“I could be in California on Monday and in Florida on Friday,” she said.
Since she isn’t 21-years-old, she will be teaching mostly on the West Coast, but once she meets the age requirement she will have the opportunity to travel everywhere, even internationally.

For the first two years with UDA, Wollenberg will have to re-apply, but will then be able to teach for them at their camps whenever she wants.
Wollenberg said that the biggest thing she’s looking forward to is that she’s going to have a job that is entirely dance oriented.

“Everyone I will work with and will be teaching will be as crazy about dance as I am,” she said. “I am passionate and intense about dance, and people here don’t really get why. It’ll be nice to be in that realm where people are on the same level.”

Greg Halloran, UI director of dance and one of Wollenberg’s dance instructors said he thinks this will be a great opportunity for her.
“She already has teaching and leadership experience, and this will give her this chance to show her talents nationally,” Halloran said.
Halloran has known Wollenberg since she first came to UI as a freshman three years ago and said that one of the things he likes about her dancing style is that she has a nice spark to her dancing.

“Her technique is solid and she knows how to give the extra 10 percent if needed,” he said.
Diane Walker, who knows Wollenberg through her work with Dancers Drummers Dreamers, said this will be a wonderful experience for Wollenberg.
“All experiences like this will both add to her knowledge and skills and at the same time test them. This is always an exciting challenge and a huge benefit to a university education,” Walker said.

Walker also said that Wollenberg is well organized, self-directed, and she gets things done.
Mary Heller, another one of Wollenberg’s dance instructors at UI, said she’s seen Wollenberg grow over the two years she’s known her.
“Jamie is the type of dancer who’s really grown in versatility as a performer, technician, artist, and choreographer,” Heller said. “She really has presence.”
Heller said that she thinks Wollenberg will do well teaching for UDA because as a novice teacher Wollenberg has done quite well.

“She’s just beginning and she’s nice and is personable,” she said. “Her style is really clean and consistent, and she really cares.”
In the end, Wollenberg said she would like to get a job in performance dance and would like to travel south because it would be a completely different experience.

Working for UDA will help Wollenberg in her future endeavors.
She said in the past, UDA instructors have gone on to dance for the Sonics, Miami Heat and even become Rockettes.
“The networking opportunities are ridiculous,” she said.

Wollenberg said she knows there are other reasons why this will be a good experience for her.
“There will be situations where I will need to know how to handle them and I will get to learn how to deal with that,” she said. “Also performing all the time will be tiring, and it’ll be a challenge to wake up every day and be peppy and happy, but it will be a good learning experience.”

Halloran said he foresees a successful future for Wollenberg, no matter what she decides.
“She can be a strong teacher, performer, leader,” he said. “I am not as familiar with the full-time job opportunities on a dance team as I am with concert dance, but I know whatever is out there Jamie will be one of the success stories.”