Tag: Arts Education

  • Kelley Pettibone

    Kelley Pettibone

    Interview

    Transcript 

    00:00 Victoria Bartolotto

    Hello, everybody.

    My name is Victoria, and today we are talking with Kelly Pettibone, a professional creative working from and within South Carolina.

    As we get started, can you tell us about your current career and where you are currently located?

    00:14 Kelley Pettibone

    Yeah, I live in Columbia, South Carolina, and I am an educator. I teach for the School of Visual Art and Design at the University of South Carolina in Columbia.

    As an artist, as a working artist, I mainly am a printmaker, but also mixed media artist and sculptor. I’m a mom and a dog mom. I’m a wife and my husband is a retired Army veteran and a disabled veteran.

    So, I wear many hats. I do a lot of different things.

    00:50 Victoria Bartolotto

    Okay. Before we get into the nitty gritty details of being a professional educator, but also a studio artist, we have a brief section of our interview called “One Career, Sixty Seconds,” where you give an elevator style pitch about what your work is and how it kind of functions. Are you ready?

    01:08 Kelley Pettibone

    I’m ready.

    01:08 Victoria Bartolotto

    Okay, you can go ahead.

    01:11 Kelley Pettibone

    All right. Primarily printmaking and mixed media collage art, I focus mainly on grief. That’s the nature of my art. My art was born in grief as a therapy for myself. I look to my studio as a way to heal myself and work through my grief. That has blossomed now into more of a joyful space.

    I also work sculpturally. I entertain the idea of home and what home means to me in the essence of losing my entire family in a decade of time. That is kind of where all my body of work began and where it has continued to grow, through living with that grief rather than living in grief. I love to do art as therapy, but it’s become so much more.

    02:05 Victoria Bartolotto

    Wow. I know art speaks to a lot of people and with that being your main focus, is there anything about South Carolina in particular that brings, in addition to your family and the grief that you experienced, does the state or your particular region or the city of Columbia bring anything to your art as well?

    02:25 Kelley Pettibone

    It does. My father passed away of leukemia, and he was treated at the MUSC Center in Charleston. My parents lived for a while down across the street from the Folly Beach Pier in Folly Beach. That’s where he was getting treatment. I used repurposed wood when they rebuilt the Folly Beach Pier. I was able to get a lot of that wood.

    I use that in my sculptural work because of the place and it’s from Folly Beach. It’s significant to South Carolina in the region.

    03:07 Victoria Bartolotto

    So that project with the reclaimed wood is just one of many. Is there another project in particular that had an impact on your creative journey as well?

    03:17 Kelley Pettibone

    Absolutely. In working with my mother, she passed away in 2018 on Mother’s Day, so May has been a big month for me. I had all of her clothing after she passed away. No one tells you what to do with people’s stuff. You have to make these rough decisions.

    As a printmaker, I needed paper. And so, I took her cotton clothing and pulped it and turned it into paper. That was a significant experience in learning to let go of things, but repurposing it into something that’s going to be useful for me in my art practice.

    I have now started a whole new series of handmade paper using four generations of denim. It’s my grandmother’s, my mother’s, mine, and my daughter’s blue jeans. So all denim. So, I have quite the denim pulp happening at the moment.

    Things like that, learning how to let things go, but then repurposing it into something else within your art and giving it a new space and then sending it out in the world to exhibit or wherever it ends up. It’s kind of cool and fascinating.

    04:31 Victoria Bartolotto

    Before entering becoming a studio artist full-time and obviously with teaching and things like that, did you have any fears about pursuing studio art as a full-time job? Was there anything that kept you back from maybe pursuing that as a source of income? If there was, what might have inspired you to continue beyond it?

    04:58 Kelley Pettibone

    Right now, I’m entertaining the idea of, and I haven’t yet, and only because I’ve been holding back. I wasn’t ready to pull the plug yet on it, but I want to join like art events as a vendor to sell art outside of a gallery environment, but in like an art fair and community events.

    I want to do that in terms of like the capitalism side of selling my art, but I work to fund my art. That’s kind of why, being an educator and getting that check from being an educator helps fund my studio passion and my art helps me buy more materials so that I can do that.

    Well, now I’m at a point where I have a lot of art and I need to get rid of it. I’m running out of space. So now I’m at the point where how do I sell this and how do I do both? How do I make money being an educator as well as making money being a studio artist? It’s great I can make it, but now I need to figure out selling it.

    06:12 Victoria Bartolotto

    Can you talk a little bit about the gallery experience and how a student who might be wanting to pursue becoming a studio artist or have their art exhibited in a gallery? Can you talk a little bit about that and how that works?

    06:26 Kelley Pettibone

    Yeah, it’s a full-time job in and of itself. I’m trying to find open calls, who’s looking for work, for what type of work, making sure that your work fits in that space. My work, because it’s grief in nature, doesn’t fit in a lot of places. So, you kind of have to pick and choose.

    Also, if it’s sculptural art, it might be an environment where there are a lot of traffic. Maybe sculpture isn’t okay to say show in a bookstore where there’s going to be children and families and things like that.

    So, you kind of have to know the gallery or do your homework and research the places. But it’s a lot of time spent on the computer. It’s a lot of administrative type work in the looking, but also in the applying. I had someone tell me one time, “if you haven’t collected a box of nos, then you haven’t made it yet as an artist.” Throwing all the pasta at the wall and seeing what sticks, basically.

    You have to be okay with being told no. I’ve applied and reapplied at places, I’ve been told no and then reapplied, and then I’ve been told yes with the same body of work. So maybe it’s just not the right time, but maybe later. And I’ve been told no, not this year, but next year, and that’s okay. You can put it on a back burner for next year.

    Planning ahead and keeping a good calendar of what you have going on and what you have applied where, so you don’t overbook or double book your work. Last thing you want to do is have this body of work in one gallery and then you’ve promised another space the same images or the same pieces.

    So being a good juggler and a good manager but also being good administratively and researching.

    08:27 Victoria Bartolotto

    With the different types of mediums that you work with, do you approach each one through the lens of grief, or are there different lenses that you approach the different mediums through?

    08:40 Kelley Pettibone

    I kind of always seem to fall into that vein because it is so therapeutic for me. But when I work with printmaking, mainly I’m a woodcut printmaker and so I carve wood and carving is meditative, but it’s also very mindful.

    I have to be present while I’m carving because one carve and now it’s gone and I can’t get it back. So, you have to be fully present and fully mindful of what you’re doing in that.

    But whenever I am, say, mixed media collage or painting, it’s more playful and it’s more joyful and I can dance around and listen to music while I’m working, and I don’t have to necessarily be as mindful with that. And it is more of a playful in nature process for me and also very impromptu.

    When I am working in printmaking, it’s very planned and it’s very organized. I have to have an idea of where it’s going, or it’ll fall apart quickly. With collage, it’s very throw it all up in the air and see where it lands. And then if I don’t like it, just cover it up with paint, you know? So, it’s not a lot of planning at all, if any. I might start with a color story and that’s about the extent of the planning on that.

    But with sculpture, also, it’s more mindful. I have to kind of have an idea of what I’m going for and then sculpt it out. But it also can be more playful than the printmaking for me. So, I kind of go back and forth between the two or three or four. I might have three or four things going on.

    And when I’m tired of being present and I’m tired of being mindful, then I might say, “okay, it’s time to play.” Then I’ll go do something else that feels more playful for a while.

    10:34 Victoria Bartolotto

    It seems like there’s a good balance that you have.

    10:36 Kelley Pettibone

    Yeah, I try. I try to, and I don’t know if maybe it’s the ADD or the ADHD in me that I can’t sit still for very long. So, I have to kind of hop around in both process and in my pieces. I get bored with something for very long. And so, I can only sit here for a few hours and then I gotta, oh, I gotta go do something else.

    11:01 Victoria Bartolotto

    Yeah.

    11:02 Kelley Pettibone

    Seasonally, I’m like that in my own house too. Like I change around spaces and I change around things. I just get tired of it after a while and I have to do something different and freshen it up.

    11:14 Victoria Bartolotto

    Do you have any advice for young students, particularly like high school or freshmen in college who might want to pursue studio art and multimedia art as a profession? Do you have any advice? Are there any particular skills that they should have or a mindset they should go into it with?

    11:32 Kelley Pettibone

    The only real advice that I have after having taught studio art for a while is that I have a lot of students. The very first thing they’ll say at the beginning of the semester is, “I don’t know how to do this very well” or “I’m not a good drawer” or, you know, “I can’t draw” or “I can’t do this”. Nobody does when you begin.

    I didn’t even know of printmaking or like my idea of printmaking was making posters or t-shirts. I had no idea, and everyone starts somewhere. And don’t be afraid to learn and play and allow yourself to play because through play is when you learn what works well and what doesn’t work well.

    But also, I think my greatest advice, because I started as a biology anatomy major. That’s a heck of an adjustment. But I spent a lot of time and a lot of money in classes that didn’t translate over to studio art.

    But don’t spin your wheels and waste your time doing something because it’s what you feel like you ought to do. Or like, “I had an uncle that was a biologist. I should study biology.” No, you should not. You should admire your uncle for being that and what he was and his hard work. But if that is not innately you, that is not what you should do.

    And I feel like everyone should follow their passion. And if the world were full of people that were passionate about what they do every day, imagine the space we’d live in. I mean, it’d be different.

    13:21 Victoria Bartolotto

    It would be so different.

    13:23 Kelley Pettibone

    Everyone waiting to take your order would be so happy you’re here. “My pleasure,” everywhere. If it was like that, it would be wonderful. And I feel like that if making art is your passion, you’ll find a way. Everything else will fall into space. The money will come. All the questions will get answered. You will find a way to make it work if that is what your passion is.

    If it’s not what your passion is, then that’s gonna be a struggle bus. But if it is what you’re passionate about, then you will find a way. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. But definitely don’t do something because — I have a lot of students that are in my class, classes, studio art classes, and I’ll say, “what’s your major?” “Math.” “Why? Do you like your major?”

    And they’ll say, “well, I really wish that I was a studio art major, but–” and I’m like, “why aren’t you a studio art major?”

    And then they’ll say, “well, because I can’t make money at that, because my dad said I can’t make money at that.”

    Well, you can, make money at that. As a matter of fact, I have artist friends that sell art for the price of cars, houses. You can make money at that, but you have to decide how much you’re willing to sacrifice to make that happen in the beginning to make that money in the end. Passion is where it lies and do from the get-go what you are passionate about doing rather than having a 25-year college plan like I did before you finish up.

    15:20 Victoria Bartolotto

    Yeah, no, I can totally sympathize with that because I graduated with an English degree. And a lot of people come up to me and they’re like, “oh, what do you want to do with an English degree? Do you want to be a teacher?” And while teaching is an amazing profession, it is not for me. And I’m like, “oh, no, I want to be an author. I really want to write books.” And they’ll be like, “Authors don’t make any money. You won’t make any money.” It’s just like, well, I have a vision. I have a plan. I want to make it work. And so, I can totally sympathize with that kind of mindset, for sure.

    15:55 Kelley Pettibone

    I remember specifically coming home after I had discovered, I was in clinicals, and I was going through all of my notes. I had tons of notebooks full of all anatomy stuff. And I was going through all my notebooks, and I realized that all my notes were drawings. I draw all my notes rather than write notes. I have pictorial notes.

    And all my notes were mainly drawings of like body parts and like the human body and its inner workings. And I thought, “I’m an artist”. That’s what I am. I don’t want to be stuck in a lab for the rest of my life.

    There’s no creativity in that, and like you feel about teachers. That’s a life for somebody, but that is not the life for me. That is not what I want to do. We need those people, but that is not my jimmy jam. I went home and I told my parents, I remember I was not living at home at the time, but I told them one night over dinner, I said, “I’ve decided that I’m gonna change my major.”

    And both of them were like, “what?” And I said, “I’m going to art school.” And I remember my dad, who was a chemical engineer, he said, “How are you going to support yourself being an artist? Like you’re going to be one of those people that sit on the side of the road and tries to sell art out of your trunk. Like, how are you going to do that?” And I was like, “I don’t know if I haven’t figured it out yet, but I will.”

    And my mom, she was always so supportive and she was like, “Well, I know you’ll do it, and you’ll do great because you’ve been drawing since you were like 2. So, I think you’re going to be fantastic. Like maybe you can make Hallmark cards.” That’s what she said.

    17:43 Victoria Bartolotto

    That’s what my mom said, too! She was like, “You can write for Hallmark.” And I was like, “I don’t know, maybe?”

    17:49 Kelley Pettibone

    You write it; I’ll make it comical. There we go! It’s a collaboration.

    I just remember them thinking, “How are you gonna do this?” But my mom being very supportive, but also she couldn’t support you forever. I know now, once I figured out that I do love teaching, I love teaching, I love creating artists. That’s like my thing.

    Like, I believe everybody is an artist. You’re an artist. You’re an artist of words.

    18:25 Victoria Bartolotto

    Yeah.

    18:25 Kelley Pettibone

    We’re all artists in our own way. You don’t necessarily have to be a painter or a sculptor. We all have a gift and that’s an art. Being able to write is an art. You’re in the literary arts. I couldn’t write a book. Maybe I don’t know. But I have written poems and poetry. So, it’s all an art and we’re all creatives in some way.

    I feel like being a teacher is kind of the vein where I fell into and creating and encouraging students to follow their passion is like right where I belong.

    And that funding my art, you know, my independent art as a fine artist, as a studio artist, that’s necessary. But also having a creative space for me is necessary. My grandmother used to say, “Idle hands are a devil’s workshop.” And that’s true. Like I cannot not create. That’s essential for me. It’s essential to get all of these feelings and all of these thoughts out.

    If it becomes a whole body of work that gets shown in an exhibition, if it touches somebody, even if just one person, job well done, you know?

    19:51 Victoria Bartolotto

    Yeah. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today. I sincerely appreciate it.

    19:59 Kelley Pettibone

    Enjoy your summer and congratulations to you.

    20:01 Victoria Bartolotto

    Thank you so much. I appreciate it. I hope you have a lovely day.

    20:04 Kelley Pettibone

    All right, you too.

  • Terry Roberts

    Terry Roberts

    “There’s always something new to learn, if you really believe in yourself then something will happen.”

    Terry Roberts is a conductor, professor, and lifelong musician in Florence, South Carolina. He leads with passion and perseverance across every stage.

    Transcript

    Emma Plutnicki | 00:01 

    Okay, so first, what do you do for work and where are you currently working from?  

    Terry Roberts | 00:06 

    I’m the coordinator of music at Francis Marion University, and I’m a professor for various different classes and ensembles, and I’m also the music director of the Florence Symphony Orchestra. So, this is all in Florence, of course. I’ve been here, I’ve been a conductor since 2003 and with the University for about 16 years. I believe.  

    Emma Plutnicki | 00:31 

    Amazing. So, what is one thing that you love about working in South Carolina, specifically?  

    Terry Roberts | 00:37 

    Well, normally, you can play golf year-round, but not now. Well, I was raised in the South mostly. I’m from Oklahoma originally, but, yeah, most of my life I’ve lived in the South. It’s a lot nicer, calmer. I had friends, one friend of mine, who’s a soloist, said “The only reason to go to New York is to get the check and leave.” So yeah, I was in Europe for a long time. When I moved back, people asked why I didn’t move to New York. I said, “Well, I can get to New York real easy. I don’t need to live there.” So yeah, and I get up there to do some gigs. But, yeah, one week’s about all I can stand in there.  

    Emma Plutnicki | 01:25 

    Fair. So, what does South Carolina bring to your work? Does it have any unique influence on your work compared to working anywhere else, working in New York?  

    Terry Roberts | 01:37 

    Well, like I said, I’ve had, I’ve had the good fortune to live in several different places. So, I’m more like trying to bring what I’ve learned culturally in different countries, different places in the United States, to impart that information, if you will, to my students and also to the public, and culturally speaking simply. South Carolina obviously has a lot of history. One of my professors was a famous composer from Latta, just up the street here, Carlisle Floyd, and I studied with him when I was in Florida State University, and I played some of his works and things like that.  

    Emma Plutnicki | 02:28 

    And how would you describe kind of the working community in South Carolina? How is your local professional community?  

    Terry Roberts | 02:38 

    Oh, well, Florence especially is sort of booming. To be quite honest, when I moved here, I wasn’t going to stay, but things change you know. That’s fate, as they say, and this particular community has really just blossomed. I mean, we have two major hospitals, several major companies have moved here, and culturally, it’s just a gold mine. There’s a lot of culture going on here, and there’s a lot of talent within the community. So, it’s great. I mean, it’s very refreshing, and everyone loves to partake in the arts here, which is great. And I try to be diverse as possible, which is a hard thing to do anyway, but to include as many people as I can in the arts. So, I mean, when I had hair, long hair, I played in rock bands and all that stuff. So, you know, I’ve sort of done everything, if you will, so just a classical player.  

    Emma Plutnicki | 03:46 

    Amazing yeah, so within your working in a creative field, how do you define personal success and professional success?  

    Terry Roberts | 03:57 

    Oh, wow. Well, for me, personal success is being able to learn more every day. You never stop learning in music. There’s always something new to learn and to hopefully to grow a bit every day. Professionally, I’ve been blessed to have done a lot of different things. I’ve played in all the major, I played French horn, solo horn in Europe for 16 years, and I played in all the major opera houses, concert halls in Europe and the United States. And that was, I was very fortunate. I was able to learn two more languages, you know. So, all those things are because of music. I got to see a lot of the world. So, it, I’ve been very fortunate. And it wasn’t easy at first, I have to admit, you know, but I think everyone who’s successful has to persevere.  

    Emma Plutnicki | 05:08 

    Yeah, amazing. So, you said it was difficult. Were there any fears that you had when you first decided to step into a profession in the arts?  

    Terry Roberts | 05:18 

    Well, my father has a PhD in music education. He was a chairman of music for years at universities, and so I was sort of raised in that environment. And I thought about actually becoming a pilot, that really intrigued me. But then I would have to stop playing, and I really wanted to play. And I mean, I’ve been playing some instruments since I was six years old, so, you know, and playing music is almost mathematical too, so that sort of tied in. I thought about piloting or architecture and things that, and my father encouraged me to do that because he didn’t want me to be a poor musician. But, but anyway, it worked out. So, it was hard at first. I mean, when I got to Germany, I was going to study for one year, and I had like, $250 in my pocket and a horn and two suitcases, and I didn’t know what was going to happen. And it just sort of blossomed from there. So, I was very fortunate. Right place at the right time, so to speak.   

    Emma Plutnicki | 06:24 

    Yeah, it’s great how it works out that way. Were there any people in your life giving you advice? Do you remember like the best advice or the worst advice that you ever received?  

    Terry Roberts | 06:39 

    Well, I mean, gosh, there’s so many different people. My teacher, he was very famous horn player, Erich Penzel in Germany. He gave me a bunch of tips about how to handle conductors and now I’m a conductor, so it’s funny. And I would talk to a lot of different conductors, I worked under some very big names, and I would ask them how they went into the field. And all of them, all of them, talk about perseverance, and talk about, when you’re starting out, how hard it is, and it is. You just have to be at the right place at the right time. You know, there’s, there’s plenty of people out there that can do my job, but I just happen to get lucky, you know? I tell my students, “There’s always someone waiting to take your place.” You have to think that way. You have to, you have to practice. You have to always continue to get better. You can’t just sit and do nothing. And that, I believe that still to this day. I mean, the orchestra could say one day, “oh, come on and get someone else,” you know, with different ideas, you know.  

    Emma Plutnicki | 07:46 

    Makes sense. And within your career, has there been one particular project that has made a significant impact on your life or a project that you think really showcased your creativity and kind of was the pinnacle of your career?  

    Terry Roberts | 08:15 

    I don’t think I’ve reached that yet. To be quite honest. I hope I haven’t. I’m very proud of some of the works I’ve commissioned to be premiered with this orchestra, and I’m doing another work next fall, in October, that a former student of mine is writing. So, I’m always very proud when former students are successful. It makes me, you know, it’s like having your own children be successful. You know, which I do have children, they’re somewhat successful to me.  

    Terry Roberts | 08:58 

    I mean, it’s always good, when you see someone succeed and you’ve been nurturing them and sort of mentoring or whatever, you know. So, yeah, I mean, I like helping out young people, and I think that’s probably one of my best things around.  

    Emma Plutnicki | 09:18 

    I love that. So nowadays, what does a typical workday look like for you? What’s your work process and what’s kind of expected of you on a daily basis?  

    Terry Roberts | 09:32 

    Well, one thing about the arts, it’s never the same every day. I mean, obviously at the university you have your schedule. But, like, I’ve just done three days of rehearsals with three different ensembles, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. And today, I gotta regroup. I’ve gotta get ready for a different ensemble. Yeah, so and then I’ll teach a bit. I always have one day, and this is my day actually. I always have one day during the week where I try to regroup, and that’s Thursday this semester. But normally I come into the office, I start answering emails, which there’s plenty of, and stuff like that, and then I’ll start studying whatever music I need to be studying for the next concert I’m doing, or next project I’m doing. And at the same time, I’m doing budgets for the orchestra, budgets for the music program, things like that and people are asking me for money and all that neat stuff, a lot of paperwork. I mean, everyone goes, “Oh, so it must be so great be a musician.” I say, “Well, you know, when you spend 75% of your time doing the other stuff, so you can be a musician, yeah, it’s really great when you make music.”   

    Emma Plutnicki | 10:53 

    So how are you able to keep that work life balance where you’re able to work on your professional responsibilities, but then also have time for personal creativity?  

    Terry Roberts | 11:07 

    It’s, actually not that hard. It’s all about time management. And, you know, teaching my students about that, that’s the one thing that you know, ever since I was, gosh, since I don’t know “it,” or whatever. The first thing I do every day is do some music. You know, whether it’s practice, listen, study or something, that’s the first thing you want to do every day. That sort of like, gets you going, then you can take care of all this, other things like that. So, I don’t think it’s hard to balance it out. I like to play golf, I like to watch sports, crazy about the football stuff right now and, you know, I try to have other interests. And everyone you know, sort of, you know -I hate saying this. Everyone thinks that I’m just focused on music. I said, “You know, I have a normal life,” you know, and that’s what you have to have, is a normal life.  

    Terry Roberts | 12:10 

    So, you have to shut it down sometimes. And I get, you know, nervous or excited, whatever. But you have to learn how to turn it off, too. And that’s, that’s difficult, and some days I’ll get pretty perturbed, you know? But you always have to look for a solution. You can’t stay perturbed. You have to figure out what you can do. After every rehearsal, I like to sit down for a second and just think about what I can do to make something better. You know, after when I teach something, did I teach it correctly? Or can I make it better? Make it more understood, if you will. So, it’s, it’s a, you know, different lifestyle. It’s not going into the office, clocking in, do your work, there, go have lunch. It’s not that. You’re sort of married to music, but you have to, just like with your spouse, you have to spend a little time away from it.  

    Emma Plutnicki | 13:20 

    That’s a great perspective to have.   

    Terry Roberts | 13:23 

    I once told someone, I’ve known my horn longer than I’ve known my wife.   

    Emma Plutnicki | 13:27 

    Yeah, there you go. True. Perfect. So just as we wrap up, are there any other questions you wish I would have asked, or anything else you’d like to add about you, know, your career and your life.  

    Terry Roberts | 13:43 

    I think the most important thing for anyone in the arts doesn’t matter, music, art, theater, whatever, that you cannot become discouraged. And that’s easy to say, very easy to say, because I have been discouraged many times. I’ve done auditions all over the world, and, you know, been disappointed, gotten almost there, and you feel really disappointed afterwards, but you have to persevere. You can’t just stop, you know. If you really love what you’re doing, it doesn’t matter. And I used to say, “the money will come later.” Yeah, you have to pay bills. Yeah, you have to know how to do a budget and all that stuff. But, if you persevere, if you really believe in yourself, then something will happen. It might not be exactly the way you thought. I mean, I didn’t think I was going to be a professor. After growing up that way I swore, I’d never do that. Here I am, you know. So you just never know the path, you have to be flexible and persevere.   

    Emma Plutnicki | 15:22 

    Well perfect. Do you have any other creatives in your life that you think would be good for us to interview? Can you think of anybody?  

    Terry Roberts | 15:40 

    My wife, she was a prima ballerina in Pacific Northwest Ballet in France and we met in Monte Carlo. We were both working there, and she does the ballet here. She’s artistic director of the South Carolina Dance Theater.  

    Emma Plutnicki | 15:58 

    Okay, amazing. If we could get her contact information, or I can send you the link to nominate an individual.  

    Terry Roberts | 16:05 

    I’ll just email you her email address and whatever.  

    Emma Plutnicki | 16:08 

    Okay, amazing. That’d be great.   

    Terry Roberts | 16:11 

    She’s seen more of the world than me. She has literally been around the world. But she’s from Wilmington, North Carolina, of all things. And she went to North County School of the Arts and studied. Well, she’d been dancing since, professionally, she started at 17. Dancers have a short lifespan, you know. Then she went into teaching, so I never saw her dance. I met her when she was finished dancing, so.  

    Emma Plutnicki | 16:41 

    She’s got to still be dancing a little bit these days, right?   

    Terry Roberts | 16:44 

    Well, she demonstrates. And sometimes she says, “I shouldn’t have demonstrated that.”  

    Emma Plutnicki | 16:50 

    Yeah.  

    Terry Roberts | 16:53 

    So, she choreographs and runs the ballet here.  

    Emma Plutnicki | 16:57 

    Okay, amazing. That would be great if you could send that over.