Fred Strickler
| Fred Strickler | |
|---|---|
| Born | Frederick Strickler August 5, 1943 Mount Clemens, Michigan, U.S. |
| 💼 Occupation | Dancer |
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Fred Strickler (August 5, 1943) is an American dancer, educator, and co-founder of the Jazz Tap Ensemble.[1] He is known for his originality, musicality, and fusing jazz, tap and modern together.[2]
Early Life[edit]
Fred was born on August 5th, 1943 to Kenneth and Lynnette Strickler in Mount Clemens, Michigan. His immediate family moved to Columbus, Ohio when he was only four months old. Although his father left the family in his early adolescence, his mother, siblings, grandmother, and various aunts and uncles remained close. Brought up in a close-quartered home, Strickler was foreign to the idea of privacy. Between sharing space in an eight-room home, at times housing up to 18 people, Strickler didn’t experience much solidarity. He frequently fought with his three older brothers, Dan, Alan, and Jeri, as well as his two sisters, Ruth and Mary Sue. The family expressed love through raising voices, high expectations, and an immense amount of support. Without a father figure, Strickler relied on his mother and grandmother as personal mentors.[1]
His grandmother’s children rotated in and out of the home. The Batey clan, Batey being his mother’s maiden name, [1] struggled financially. In a time without welfare, the Batey’s somehow always managed to put food on the table and pay for lessons, both music and dance.
Strickler received the most attention from his grandmother out of all the grandchildren. Her influence significantly impacted Strickler. His maternal figures are among the major influences in Strickler's life.[1]
Strickler’s earliest memories of the performing arts stem from attending the symphony orchestra with his siblings and uncles. He adored the idea of getting dressed up and captivated by a world he never knew existed. The children began taking music lessons as a part of their primary and high school education, as well as for personal development. Strickler had an extreme fascination for sounds. He uses this exficitiation in his choreography and musicality.
Early Education[edit]
Strickler attended Chicago Elementary School and Starlet Junior High. Both schools were in a socioeconomically struggling neighborhood. Strickler later did residency at Starlet in hopes of becoming a beacon for children growing up in a similar position as he did. Later on, he attended Central High School in Columbus Ohio.[3]
Introduction to Dance[edit]
Before he ever took his first dance class, Strickler and his siblings tagged alongside their sister, Ruth, who began taking lessons at Jimmy Rawlin's Dance Studio.[4] Rawlin's demanded a lot from students, but treated them well.[5] Strickler later cites Rawlin to be a major influence on his career.[1]
In 1953, Strickler began practicing dance with his sister, Ruth, at home. Training in jazz, tap, ballet, and ballroom, Strickler was enamored by the art form and always striving to match his peer’s skill sets.[1]
In order to pay his way through lessons as a financially unstable child, Strickler worked at the studio as a substitute and janitor. He explored the studio after hours all by himself.v[1]
By the time Strickler reached his teenage years, he began exploring other performance modes and trainers including musical theatre, ballet, and jazz.
Higher Education[edit]
College was an inevitable path for Fred. The maternal figures in his life always saw higher education in his future.
Strickler entered Ohio State University in the fall of 1961 as double major in Mathematics and English Education. Lynn Rawlins-Dally, daughter of Jimmy Rawlins and fellow Ohio State student, introduced him to modern dance classes through the university, which was the only dance genere they offered. In 1963, Strickler changed his major to a Bachelor of Science in Education and Dance.[1]
At Ohio State University Strickler was able to experiment with the feeling and art of dance, rather than the performance and entertainment aspect that he was accustomed to through tap and musical theater. Meanwhile, Strickler continued to pursue styles beyond modern through outside theatre and tap gigs. This income helped him pay his way through college as well.[1]
Notable teachers in his college training included José Limon, Martha Graham, Judith Dunn and Anna Sokolow.[1]
In an effort to avoid the draft, Strickler completed his graduate education at Ohio State University as well. Although, he never completed his graduate degree and pursued his professional academic and touring career instead.[1]
Career[edit]
During his undergraduate years, Strickler experimented with various paid dance opportunities. Whether it was entertaining military troops abroad or seeking small fiscal support from musical performances, Strickler attempted to maintain a relationship with his jazz and tap shoes.
Bella Lewitzky played an integral role in Strickler’s career. As one of his most influential mentors, Lewitzky paved the way for national and international touring jobs, added master experiences to his repertoire, and helped him gain a deeper understanding of technical body knowledge.
While living in Riverside, California as a University of Riverside, California professor, Strickler would travel at least twice a week to Los Angeles to take Lewitzky’s classes. Later on, he became her assistant at the California Institute of the Arts, choreographed pieces for her company, Bella Lewitzky Dance Company, and toured domestically and abroad.
In order to cope with his dual career of academia and professionally dancing on tour, Strickler used numerous narcotics. In 1975, Lewitzky’s disapproval of his behavior, burnout from his professional and personal life, failure to technically evolve with other company members, and a desire to advance his career elsewhere led Strickler to leave the company after seven and a half years.
The summer before his departure, Gary Bates, fellow Lewitzky company member and University of California, Los Angeles graduate dancer asked him to collaborate on a project with six other members. This eventually became known as the Eyes Wide Open Dance Theatre. All six co-founders delve into synthesis, developing costumes, scores, lighting and set design.[1]
Alongside this “mutual apprenticeship,” Strickler received his second choreographers fellowship, experimented with his own composition, and continued experimenting with freedom in dance, as inspired by Merce Cunningham and the Judson Dance Group,[6] two premiere names in the modern dance industry at the time. He also trained and performed with Lynn Dally and her modern company. [1]
The Eyes Wide Open Dance Theatre evaporated after six years when the co-founders fell into the relative career projects. Eyes Wide Open Dance Theatre was failing to make profit and pay rent for studio space. Strickler, whose name was on the contract, was personally affected by the financial shortcoming.[1]
University Career[edit]
In 1966, University of California, Riverside professor, Christena Schlundt, offered Strickler a university-level teaching job. He quickly moved to California from Ohio to teach modern dance and work as an associate in dance. He also had a personal agenda to reestablish a relationship with his distant father, who lived in Riverside at the time, and train with his idol, Bella Lewitzky, who was teaching in Los Angeles.[1]
Strickler spent 40 years teaching and professionally advancing at UCR. He rose in the ranks from associate in dance to distinguished professorship. He sat on several boards and was fully involved in university life among student and fellow faculty members.[1]
Throughout his time at UCR, he taught beginning and intermediate modern, folk dance, musical theatre, and choreography classes. He also participated in works himself, as well as set pieces on his students for collegiate showcases. Around 1975, Strickler was asked to teach tap due to popular demand. This was around the renaissance of tap, when the genre had a resurgence in interest.[7] His professional partner, Ray McNamara, made many accompaniment appearances in his university classes to pianist and percussionist.[1]
Strickler was also invited as an artist resident at San Jose State University to teach one class for one student, Christie Wyatt. He quickly became a mentor of hers as she performed his own piece, “Excursions,” at 22 other colleges. Eventually, Strickler referred her to Linda Sohl-Ellison’s company, where she trained for almost six years.[8]
Fred Strickler & Friends[edit]
As Strickler faded out of Jazz Tap Ensemble, he became the artistic director of an original project with percussionist Ray McNamara, pianist Althea Waites, and later on, dancer Denise Donovan. Other guest musicians, composers, and dancers worked with the group throughout their seasons as well.
Strickler was looking to return to his initial love of dance and curiosity for sounds. He created “The Tacit Agreement” and “The Tacit Understanding,” while experimenting with what his body is inclined to do when he hears certain sounds. He claims to be some of his most notable works during this time.
Fred Strickler & Friends created New Ideas on Tap, which is intended to highlight innovative tap movement in a synthesis with other musicians and performers.
In 2008, Fred collaborated with McNamara and Donovan again for the intimate concert series, Where I Live, that took place in Strickler’s home territory of Riverside, California. The performances were held in an oak-wooden floor studio with roughly 24 seats for an audience to gather. Where I Live was an expression of himself as an artist, a dancer, and a human being.
Tap Dance Career[edit]
Strickler has long considered himself to be a “modern dancer in tap shoes.” [1] He and his cohorts sought a certain depth in tap dance that had never been explored before. Many of his performance works maintained vaudevillian aesthetics, but with concert-style structure. He was always looking to pursue new ideas in this arena.
Lynn Dally and Dancers and the Eyes Wide Open Theatre merged into Pacific Motion Dance Studios in Venice, California.[9] Both companies were just eager for rehearsal space, but they ended up producing thirty concerts in two years in their studio space as well. Pacific Motion Dance Studios consisted of two rooms, one specifically for tap.
Camden Richman, a jazz-tap percussionist,[10] visited the studio and introduced Strickler to this fusion of the jazz and tap genres. He was enamored with the idea. During Richman's stay, she, Strickler, and fellow dancers attended the Evolution of the Blues show at the David Geffen Playhouse where they experienced the great art of rhythmic language from tap dancer, Foster Johnson. [1] Johnson taught jazz-tap to Strickler for the first time. Strickler was unfamiliar to tap dancing with scatting, rather than counts.
Jazz Tap Ensemble[edit]
In 1979, Lynn Dally, daughter of Jimmy Rawlins, Richman, and Strickler founded Jazz Tap Percussion Ensemble, which was later shortened to Jazz Tap Ensemble or JTE.[11] In the era of Big Band, JTE crafted a unique set of dancers and musicians who played and danced to virtuosic jazz music.
Less than three months after their founding, JTE gained national attention. Bridget Terry, a publicist for filmmaker Robert Altaman, encouraged Altman to produce a documentary about tap in America featuring JTE titled Tapdancin'.[12] Strickler personally felt ill-equipped to convey informative and fulfilling content, but nonetheless, JTE was excited to receive recognition. [1]
In the summer of 1979, JTE was invited to the Dance Theatre Workshop in New York. JTE pioneered and introduced the idea of fusing tap dance aesthetics with the depth and intentions of modern dance.
The various founders of JTE contributed several styles to their performances. Strickler often created pieces that were intended to raise spirits and applause through a cadenza-like dance. Strickler established himself in the dance industry via his breakthrough solo with JTE, “Tone Poem,” in 1981.[1]
Sally Sommers, tap historian, reviewed Jazz Tap Ensemble as one of the best new tap groups in America, spearheading tap dancing’s renaissance. Strickler cites that he was actively aware that he was a part of the revitalization of tap.[1]
JTE helped Stricker solidify his artistic style via exploring the depth of jazz-tap, touring all over the world, and collaborating with other brilliant artists.
In 1984, the day after their last set of performances at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, Richman and three of their musicians left the ensemble unexplained. While venting to his best friend, Patrick Scott, Strickler called Lynn and convinced her to help turn the fate of the company around. They eventually re-enrolled all of the performers for the entire upcoming season.
In 1986, Strickler eventually left the company in a huff because he felt that Lynn was overtaking the leadership role. At the same time, he was also ready to advance his career in other areas. The JTE sparked a revival in his dance career and prolonged his performance career well beyond other professional dancers at the time.
"Tap Dance Concerto"[edit]
In 1983, The Conductors Guild, a subset of The American Symphony Orchestra League, asked Jazz Tap Ensemble to perform the "Tap Dance Concerto" by Morton Gould. Strickler was intrigued, but Dally and Richman were uninterested. Strickler listened to Gould’s work through the New York Public Library and was eager to take on the choreographer role. Crafting a four-part solo in his studio apartment, Strickler struggled to properly define rhythms and create a piece that was pleasing to the ear and the eyes. Conductor, Maurice Peress, encouraged him to improvise the last section, the most musically complex section. To everyone’s surprise, Strickler received a standing ovation and impressed Gould.[1]
Strickler continued to perform "Tap Dance Concerto" for 25 years with 45 different orchestras. Later on, other professional tappers, Sam Weber and Lane Alexander, took on the piece themselves.[13] [1]
In 1992, Strickler joined Linda Sohl-Ellisons dance company, Rhapsody and Taps, as an ensemble member, soloist, and choreographer. The company rarely toured because Sohl-Ellison was deeply involved in her career at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California.[14] Strickler was among dancers significantly younger than him, as he was already well into his career. [1]
Personal Life[edit]
Growing up in a family where sexuality was hardly discussed and living in an era where gay relationships were taboo, Strickler remained closested throught his entire adolesence. Always intrigued by the male gender, he managed to secretly experiment, but not without an implicit shame. By the time he was 28, he came out to his parents.
Strickler eventually developed a relationship with his father during his early 20s, around the time he began teaching at UCR and when his parents remarried. He still held some resentment towards his father’s leaving of the family, but still made an effort to reconnect with him.
Originality was very important to Strickler as a professional artist and as a human. He never wanted to imitate anyone else’s style. The fear of being a fraud and not successful enough drove him to work harder. Insecurity was his greatest motivator in both his professional and personal life. As a dancer, unless he achieved perfection every performance, he considered it a failure. Digesting affirmations was greatly difficult for him. It took decades into his career until he could confidently brand himself as an artist, not just a dancer.[1]
Dance Philosophy[edit]
Strickler does not define movement by any intrinsic meaning, but rather the meaning of movement develops from what the audience views it as. Movement is simply about the orientation in space. He admires the body in motion because it signifies that life is happening.[1]
Dance Advocacy[edit]
Strickler brands himself as a dance advocate, as he has made great efforts to fight for the existence and opportunities for the diverse styles in Southern California. He created the Dance History Project of Southern California, an organization that highlights the various happenings of sub-industries of the general dance community.[15] As he progresses into his late career, Fred Strickler looks forward to seeing tap progress in other cultures. [1]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 Digital Collections, The New York Public Library. "(sound recording) Interview with Fred Strickler, 2019, (2019 - 2019)". The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
- ↑ Hill, Constance Valis (22 January 2010). Tap Dancing America: A Cultural History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0190225384. Retrieved 1 October 2020. Search this book on
- ↑ Strickler, Fred. "Fred Strickler". Fred Strickler Facebook. Facebook. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- ↑ Gray, Kathy. "Jimmy Rawlins". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- ↑ Gray, Kathy. "Jimmy Rawlins". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- ↑ "The Work is Never Done". Judson Dance Theater. MoMA. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- ↑ "Notes on the Tap Renaissance". Dance History Project of Southern California. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- ↑ Sohl-Ellison, Linda. "Linda Sohl-Ellison". Orange Coast College. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- ↑ Hill, Constance Valis (22 January 2010). Tap Dancing America: A Cultural History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0190225384. Retrieved 1 October 2020. Search this book on
- ↑ "Camden Richman". SFGATE. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- ↑ Gray, Kathy. "Jimmy Rawlins". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- ↑ "Notes on the Tap Renaissance". Dance History Project of Southern California. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- ↑ Hill, Constance Valis (22 January 2010). Tap Dancing America: A Cultural History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0190225384. Retrieved 1 October 2020. Search this book on
- ↑ Sohl-Ellison, Linda. "Linda Sohl-Ellison". Orange Coast College. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- ↑ "A Starting Point for Future Research". Dance History Project of Southern California. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
External links[edit]
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