Final Draft of Profile Piece

“Turning Points”

Amy Rodgers dreams of pirouettes even after her ballet career has ended—showcasing her skills and her tutu-fitting body line as she lifts her leg to her knee, spinning around gracefully on the tips of her toes. Pirouette is the step “to turn” in ballet terms—the number of turns increases as he or she develops their skill. “I still dream about it. Doing perfect turns or untying my Pointe shoes,” said Rodgers with a nostalgic smile.

Rodgers started her ballet career on the late side, two months from 13 years old, in New York. “When I was around 12, I saw Flash Dance and said, ‘Oh, I want to do this!’ It was because of that. Embarrassing, but absolutely true.” Throwing herself into the art at full force after her movie-inspired classes, she landed her first job by age 16 with the Washington Ballet. She then also danced at the Atlanta Ballet as a soloist until she tore a tendon in her foot, forcing her to take a year off. Although Rodgers attempted a return to ballet, she realized that she had other things to devote her life to.

“I waited tables in New York, mostly because my dad got annoyed I was watching T.V. at home,” she said with a smirk, “I met all these people who were writing and acting, and they’d all been to college. I thought they were the most interesting people I had ever met.” This propelled her to apply to and attend Columbia University at 24.

During college, Rodgers developed an interest for film, especially with her ballet background gravitating her toward another type of art: “I think there is something detail-oriented about dancers that has helped influence the way that I have worked with texts and films. Especially with ballet—your hand, or all the little details you have to be aware of all the time,” Rodgers said, “I spent so much time thinking about audiences and thinking about their point of view.” Finding her niche in film, Rodgers continued her studies in graduate school at the University of Michigan.

School helped Rodgers to start to develop her ideas on feminism. “I became aware of the movement when I went to college. I became conscious of what it meant other than what you hear on ‘School House Rock’ with women’s’ rights” she said laughing. A class at Michigan that emphasized these newfound thoughts was Gaylyn Studlar’s “Hitchcock and Feminism.” Rodgers became so enthralled with this concept, that she brought the class to Kalamazoo College where she is doing her post-doctoral teaching fellowship in order to become a professor at a liberal arts school.

Rodgers has fit right in with the Kalamazoo College crowd. “When I think about her virtues, I think others of my colleagues have those virtues,” said Andrew Mozina, head of the English department. “She is extremely energetic in the classroom. Her mind is really quick so she is very agile in discussions.”

She maintains composure throughout her classes. She split the class into smaller groups so they could discuss readings and the film. Rodgers inserted herself into a group, acting as a student rather than a facilitator. The only thing that separated her was her brightly colored floral capris that she is known for. She said that staying still is hard for her. “Walking around is my thing,” Rodgers said, as her vibrant pants flowed with each step.

“Amy is so energetic that she never struggles to hold the class's focus. And while she is incredibly intelligent, she never acts as if her insights are superior to a student's,” said Laura Fox, a senior in the class.

Rodgers combines her passion of teaching and of feminism and film to encourage the class in finding the importance of this discourse and why it needs to be talked about for them. “What does feminism mean to me? It means an awareness of how women exist in the culture that they occupy and ideally, it means making both men and women aware of that,” she said. “I want my students to engage with those ideas of feminism instead of just accept them. I hope for all to have a more creative understanding of what feminism is."

Now that Rodgers has developed her thoughts on feminism, she has been able to think back to her dancing days and think critically about that particular lifestyle. “I accepted the paradigms and aesthetics of ballet,” she said. “I certainly wanted my body to look like how I was told.” She aimed for the skinny waist, lack of breasts, and a bodyline that never faltered in any direction. Dancing has become a heated subject when it comes to feminism because of these body demands. Rodgers never really thought about feminism and dancing while she was a ballerina, mostly because she believed in her role as a dancer. But now she understands that there are issues.

“I think there is a problem in ballet that so many of the choreographers are male,” she said. Rodgers explained that male choreographers have a different sense of body image than females. Every day, dancers struggle with body issues and the ideal look, but she hopes that this will not remain. “There’s more to it than that. I think there are ways that dance, and ballet in particular, glorifies women.”

Times are turning, and Rodgers embraces feminism into both her past and her present life, whether focusing on film, pirouettes, or even family. “I’m surrounded by men! I have a husband and two little boys, and I’m very fortunate to have a husband that is supportive and does traditionally more feminine things,” she said. “I enjoy my kids, but I really enjoy my career.” Rodgers is trying to find ways to reconcile aspects of feminism with her life. “For me it means just trying to be comfortable with who I am, which I wasn’t always, but now I am a lot more, and anyone can always work on that.”