UWSP student depicts life through dance

The life story of 92-year-old Cate Wagner of Antigo was the basis for one of four dances created and produced by her grandson, Jamie Beckland of Stevens Point, who will graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point this month.

Beckland was supported by a $450 student research grant used to record and choreograph the dances including one based on his great-grandmother’s biography. Beckland used the money to purchase audiotapes, videotapes, costumes and props for a production entitled "Beginnings: An Evening of Original Choreography." The performance, sponsored by Centertainment, was staged this spring at UWSP.

"I 've wanted to do my great-grandmother’s oral history for years," Beckland said. "It was one of those projects that I always had in the back of my mind, so I applied for the grant last semester and did the interview sessions with her in January."

The dance performance wasn’t the end of the story though. Beckland intended the production to be educational as well as entertaining, so he recorded his rehearsals and the performance and donated the videos to the Department of Theatre and Dance. Faculty members may use the tapes in teaching future students how to create dance. In addition, he hosted a question and answer period after each performance so the audience could learn more about the process of choreography.

"Members of the Student Research Fund Committee are encouraged that more and more students in the arts and humanities are using this fund," said David Staszak, associate vice chancellor for academic programs and grant support services. "This is an example of a project that is unique."

Funding for the student grants comes from a number of sources, Staszak said, including the University Personnel Development Committee, the state funded Undergraduate Initiative Fund and the UWSP Foundation.

"My grandmother is a great storyteller," Beckland said. He used the recordings of her voice as the soundtrack for the dance.

The last section of "Cate’s Story" deals with Beckland and Wagner’s discussions of death. "I learned the most during our conversations about death," he said. "She is so content with her own mortality. I wanted to convey her total acceptance of moving on to heaven. It made a powerful and emotional end to the piece."

Professor Susan Gingrasso was Beckland’s supervising teacher for his independent research class.

Beckland is son of Laura and Cliff Jacobsen, 3832 Heffron St., Stevens Point, and Kim Beckland, Marion. A 1996 graduate of Stevens Point Area Senior High School, he is a senior international studies and Spanish major with minors in dance and economics.

He also choreographed works for previous UWSP productions of "Danstage" and "Afterimages" and performed in a production of "Brigadoon."

Beckland has served as an assistant for the New Hope Productions Children’s Theatre Troupe and as a marketing and press intern at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. He worked as an English teacher at Sogang language program English camp in South Korea. He made presentations at the UWSP Teaching and Learning Conference last year and at the Creating a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence Conference this year.

He received the University Leadership Award, the Academy of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Student Award and was inducted into the United Nations Environmental Programme Global 500 Roll of Honour. He also participated in a semester abroad in Poland.

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