31 Mar 2022 Celebrating Artistic Excellence: Stephen Stone and Stephanie Thibeault of the UALR Dance Program
By Dwain Hebda
Like all college instructors, Stephen Stone and Stephanie Thibeault work every day to convey knowledge and understanding to their students. However, the duo happens to do it in a much different manner than the majority of their colleagues.
Stone and Thibeault are professors in the Department of Dance at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the only collegiate dance program in the state. It doesn’t look or feel like other academic classrooms, but the impact on students is just as profound. More so, in fact, as either of the longtime dance professionals will unabashedly tell you.
“We are losing our souls in this world, and our souls are connected to our bodies,” Thibeault said. “We are losing the connection between our brains and our bodies, and there is no art form that makes that connection better than dance.”
“In dance, you have the best of all worlds. You have the whole physical aspect, but we are also about the how and the aesthetics and the human communication that comes through that.”
Thibeault bounced up and down in her chair as she talked on the subject, so passionate about the benefits of dance on the individual. Stone, while more reserved by nature, is equally insistent on the qualities of dance as a conduit for learning, culture, and self-expression.
“To dance puts you in your physical body in that if you aren’t intentionally physical, then you’re 100% cerebral in this life,” he said. “To me, my definition of art is when someone says something in a way that’s never been explained before. In dance art, when a given piece of work says something in a unique way, then that’s when I believe it’s art.”
Both instructors have been passing along their truths about the art form at UALR for more than a decade. Thibeault, a Jonesboro native who earned her undergraduate degree in Missouri and her Master of Fine Arts degree in dance at the University of Maryland, joined the Little Rock faculty in 2008. North Carolina-born Stone completed his bachelor’s degree and graduate work in choreography and performance from the University of North Carolina Greensboro before joining UALR in 2011.
Each instructor brings a unique perspective to their work, informed by their respective development as artists and educators. This, in turn, helps them relate to their students as they undergo their development in the art form.
“At first, I don’t think learning dance came very naturally to my physical body, but to my brain it was tailor-made,” Stone said. “I think like a mover, although I never was incredibly flexible or tall or had,what we in the business call, a great facility. But boy I wanted to dance so much that every single class, every single day, I would push myself. And it was a challenge, but it was great. Somehow, I felt like I had something to offer because here I am decades later still in the same business.”
“I was just the opposite, physically,” Thibeault said. “I don’t mean that everything was perfect, but I was super flexible and so certain things came easily to me. But it also took a lot of work to find different aesthetics. I’m also a very analytical person and was very much about doing it the exact, right way, and I wanted perfection. I had to learn to be spontaneous; I was always creative in my own way, but things like improv terrified me as a young dancer. I had to push myself to find different voices.”
The duo has also been around long enough to have seen dance change and styles blend. This is something that has challenged them to adapt during their teaching careers.
“This is a real thing and there were a number of years where I was really scared of this world that was becoming completely fusion-driven,” Stone said. “Now, having studied a lot more, it’s inevitable that things evolve. So, you are either against the tide, or you’re with the tide. And if you’re with the tide, it takes you to the shore, which is where you’re trying to go.”
“I talk about this a lot,” Thibeault said. “I teach a lot of modern classes, but what does that even mean? Is it modern from the 1950s or is it modern today? Some people sign up for a modern class thinking it’s a hip-hop class. But the cool thing is, we bring the best things forward from those established techniques. I teach a ‘Stephanie’ class which draws from a lot of influences, as well as the knowledge that our students come in with.”
The approaching end of the school term will be bittersweet for the two educators. On the one hand, they’re collaborating on BodyWorks, a dance and multimedia performance slated for April 22-24. On the other hand, both are pondering their next professional move since UALR is working towards eliminating their dance degree program, which is the only bachelor of fine arts degree in dance the state has ever seen.
Stone, while disappointed in the university’s decision, leaves the school with no regrets.
“I have intentionally, and over the course of my career, developed the ability to see people,” he said. “I feel like I see people better and beyond only dance or only art, but in any situation, which is why I think I’m a teacher. If you don’t see people, then there can be no relationship, and teaching is a relationship. Even though one person is named the teacher, if it’s happening as it should, then both people are learning the whole time.”
BodyWorks will be performed at the University Theatre, University of Arkansas at Little Rock campus on Friday, April 22; Saturday, April 23 and Sunday, April 24 Tickets go on sale Monday, April 11 at ualr.edu/theatre/events.
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