The Mrozowski Method
A professor follows her dream and changes the way Wheaton approaches dance.
By Betsy Cronin
Cheryl Mrozowski works her classroom like a lion on the Serengeti. On the red padded floor of Wheaton's Dance Studio, she stalks and watches, weaving through the neat lines of students as they dance in unison. There's an unassuming majesty in her movement, making Mrozowski seem both invisible and looming at the same time. Just as the dancers complete a particularly difficult passage, she strikes; she throws her hands in the air and all movement stops.
"OK, let's take it again from the plié, " the teacher says quietly. "You'll get it." The "Mrozowski method" of dance--hard work, determination for change and fundamental passion for the subject--is what propels Wheaton's Dance Company to new heights and brings one professor great joy after years in the spotlight.
Cheryl Mrozowski grew up in Newport, R.I., completing an undergraduate degree in history at Salve Regina University and dancing with the State Ballet of Rhode Island. In 1966 she was crowned "Miss Rhode Island." Although the "Miss America" title eluded her, she was named "Most Talented Dancer," an award that included college scholarships. The next few years saw great change in Mrozowski's life. She married a United States serviceman and moved to Dayton, Ohio, where she danced professionally with the Dayton Ballet. Relocation to England prevented her from working with a professional dance company, so instead she entered the Society of Russian Style Ballet Schools, an intense four-year program teaching the "Vaganova" ballet technique. As part of her work toward a teaching certification there, she danced as part of a sevenmember opera ballet of the Cambridge Opera Society.
In 1976 she returned to Washington, D.C., convinced that teaching dance was her calling. She performed with several small companies before auditioning at American University to obtain a graduate degree in dance. She obtained a degree and taught dance at American University until 1981, when she went to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival to teach and dance in the repertory house. She says she moved back to New England to obtain a "real job" at Wheaton in 1987. She arrived with a determination to change the way the institution treated dance.
"My first day was the same day the Dance Company was having auditions," she recalled. "The company members picked the new dancers they wanted rather infrequently. I remember there was a little blonde standing off to the side who was a beautiful dancer and I kept saying 'What about the little blonde over there? It doesn't seem like she is going to get picked and she should, she is a really good dancer.' I instituted a annual audition for the company that very day." The most dramatic change in dance at Wheaton came last year.
Until 2002 dance was part of the Athletics Department. Last year the program moved to the Theatre Department, now called the Department of Theatre Studies and Dance. The Dance Company in the late 1980s was an entity that met twice a week to choreograph numbers for a small annual production with an even smaller repertoire. Mrozowski began teaching jazz technique in 1987, gradually adding ballet and other techniques. Today, the company continues this practice of regular technique workshops at every rehearsal.
"Dancers today need to know all forms and techniques of dance if they want to make it in the professional world," Mrozowski explained. "Dance is no longer extracurricular, as it was for me when I was young."
Mrozowski would like to offer more classes and believes that "the work should come from the classes and not our performing group. It is imperative to continue a momentum of growth within the Dance Department. I want to see more men participate in classes at an advanced level and as members of the company. If art is going to reflect life, how can we leave out half the species?"
One program Mrozowski believes will add visibility and participation in dance is the Evelyn Danzig Haas '39 Visiting Artists Program, which brought the Alvin Ailey II dance troupe to campus in September. Dancers worked both with dance students and the Dance Company during a weeklong visit to campus that culminated in a public performance.
"The Ailey II visit has added another dimension to the interest among our students," she said. "It was incredible to watch our dancers respond so well to Ailey II and follow along with their instruction because I know we have prepared them for it. We have had professional dancers of Ailey caliber teach our kids in the past and this is why I feel this program was such a tremendous success....They could do it; they didn't miss a beat. I have this to feel amazingly proud. My hope is that we can do a program like the Ailey II residency for a longer period. We did one week; now let's do three."
This is the essence of the Mrozowski method--expecting, giving and receiving more hard work from students. The evidence of this philosophy--evolved during her 27 years in dance and education--papers the walls of the professor's office. Photos, Dance Company posters, press clippings and personal notes are displayed like trophies. It's all part of the process, Mrozowski says. "Not a day goes by that I don't reflect on my good fortune and the paths that have led me to where I am today. I followed my dream. I followed my passion and I feel so lucky."
