Jordan Plowman
Lantern Staff
Looking around Butler Community College, one may see many happy couple and friends. Married Couple Kelsey and Diondre Teagle work in the dance department as dance instructor adjuncts.
Teagles attended Wichita State University; Kelsey majored in dance, and Diondre majored in musical theater.
The couple met at a musical dance production at Wichita State University. Kelsey and Diondre danced in the same piece and eventually a friendship grew into a partnership. Their partnership now continues into their work.
They work at the Encore Dance Company in Wichita, instructing a diverse age range of kindergartners to high school seniors. Diondre teaches musical theater, lyrical, ballet and tap, while Kelsey indulges in jazz, point, lyrical and ballet.
“They are kind of similar, but the things that make them different is my style is very precise and there are a lot of accents within all of the choreography I do,” Diondre said. “[Kelsey’s are] pretty intricate. She is better at transitioning and adding certain tricks within the transitions.”
Here at Butler in their first semester, the couple puts their focus into jazz, modern, hip-hop and ballet. Kelsey teaches in the morning on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and Diondre teaches in the afternoon Tuesday and Thursdays.
Both of them bring different levels of training to their classes. Kelsey has trained professionally her whole life, while Diondre did not start taking dance classes until he got to college.
“Her [Kelsey] choreography is probably a little bit more technical elements, while mine [is] musical[ly] driven,” Diondre said.
Working at Encore, Butler Community College and with the Educare students, both Diondre and Kelsey work with a wide age range on a daily basis. Throughout the week combine, they will work with students aging from three years old to college and have to adjust accordingly each session.
“Sometimes it can be kind of frustrating depending on what age range it is,” Diondre said. “The way it is cool, is you get to see the different stages of everyone’s … life in terms of growing, how third and fourth graders interact with each other verses freshmen and seniors interacting with each other in the dance environment. It is also cool because as dance teachers, we have to approach each class differently. I cannot approach these college students the same way I teach a fifth-grade music theater class. I have to come in with a different mindset and that they learn differently.”
The couple will have their first Butler Community College dance showcase on Dec. 5.