Pre-Professional dancer Kale Jette, center, smiles while watching fellow dancers Elizabeth Bilotti, left, and Bess Millard, right, rehearse his choreographed piece for the student showcase Tuesday in Carnahan-Jackson Dance Studios. The student showcase will feature works by the Festival Division at 2 p.m., and Jette will showcase his piece alongside other works by the Pre-Professional Division at 4 p.m. today in Carnahan-Jackson Dance Studios.
NORA SMITH
Staff Writer
As 4-year-old Kale Jette waited in the small studio lobby while his sister took dance classes, he and his brother raised havoc, bursting with energy; it wasn’t until a little boy walked out of his sister’s class that his mom realized she could enroll them in dance classes as well.
Jette is pursuing a career in dance 16 years later and is currently in the Pre-Professional Division of Chautauqua School of Dance.
“It’s crazy to think that if it wasn’t for that one little boy who came out of that class, she wouldn’t even (have) thought to put us in [dance classes],” Jette said.
Jette said no matter what, he probably would have found his way to where he is today. He recalled making up dances and performing them for his mother long before he knew what dance was.
“I started [dance classes] when I was age 5, which is incredibly rare for male-presenting dancers because so many of us will probably start in our teens and a lot older just because, obviously, it’s not a thing we’re put into when we’re younger,” Jette said.
It wasn’t until high school that Jette began to consider pursuing dance as a career, with a competition-based studio as a solid foundation. Still, he considered pursuing something in math or science in college, but went to the Boca College Dance Fair and auditioned for multiple colleges to give it a shot.
“I was like, ‘I’m just going to try. I’ve been dancing all my life; I might as well see. I love it so much, it would be great to even do it as a minor or something,’ so I was like, ‘I just want to try,’” Jette said.
There, Jette said, Sarah Wroth, professor of music in ballet and chair of the Ballet Department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, began dancing with him.
“It was basically from that that made me realize, ‘Wait, I actually could do this,’” Jette said.
Jette said Wroth told him, “You can get a job. You can do this. Come join me at IU, and we’re going to do it.” At Indiana University, Jette met Bonnefoux McBride Artistic Director of Chautauqua School of Dance Sasha Janes, who introduced him to Chautauqua Institution. Now, for the second time, Jette has choreographed his own piece at Chautauqua, with four choreographed pieces to date.
The School of Dance provides interested dancers with the opportunity to choreograph their own pieces, giving them studio space, dancers and time to rehearse before displaying their work. Jette’s piece for this year is titled “Na’au” and will be showcased at 4 p.m. today in the Carhanan-Jackson Dance Studios to a crowd of parents, peers, faculty, staff and members of Chautauqua Dance Circle.
Jette, who is Hawaiian, said he likes to incorporate Hawaiian language into the names of his pieces, and that “Na‘au” literally means intestines or guts, but also represents internal feelings of the heart and mind, or a gut feeling. The first piece he choreographed at Indiana University was titled “Kaumaha” and meant the lifting of a weight.
Although Jette said he has choreographed dances for himself in his room and has always loved to improvise, he didn’t realize his potential until he took a class at Indiana University and had to choreograph a dance.
“It’s crazy to think how I never thought these things were an option for me until I tried it, and then I got such incredible feedback from it. I was like, ‘Wait, I was just doing my own thing. I didn’t realize it was actually something,’” Jette said.
Jette said he has enjoyed the validation and feedback from faculty like Janes, but also loves the collaborative process of choreographing with his fellow dancers.
“There’s a lot of kids that have a real interest in choreography naturally, and so the most valuable thing you can give an upcoming choreographer is space and dancers and time — and so we do all of those things,” Janes said.
Janes said this also provides dancers with an opportunity “to be on the other side of the studio,” working with and directing their colleagues, in turn giving them insight into how to be a better collaborator when learning choreography from others, in addition to choreographing.
“You never know what you’re going to see,” Janes said. “It’s really interesting. Some of the voices that come out of these works are really interesting.”
Jette said he admires Janes and his love for choreography.
“I put him on such a pedestal because, honestly, I would want to be him when I’m older. That is definitely what I want,” Jette said.
In the choreographic process, Jette said he tends to assign nicknames to dancers or roles that highlight the technical and emotional skills they bring to the piece.
“It naturally happens when I choreograph in general; I give them that nickname, and through that nickname, I use their technical skills and base … the choreography on them and on what I think they represent as a dancer,” Jette said.
Jette said his process is very collaborative with the dancers; through the development process, the choreography emerged naturally through exploration.
“[The dancers] know what looks good on their body,” Jette said. “They know what they would want to do, so that’s why I like the more collaborative process and can be like, ‘Do you want to do this?’”
Jette said he hopes to dance with Complexions Contemporary Ballet one day and that all he’s ever really wanted is to move.
“I will be at the studio late at night, but I will be improving,” Jette said. “I will be moving. I’m not practicing my pirouettes, but I’m moving my body.”
