Dancin’ Through Life by Elizabeth Cantine
Dancin’ Through Life
by Elizabeth Cantine
It all started at age four after weeks of begging my mother for dance lessons and being inspired by my first live ballet of Swan Lake. It was easier for her to say yes after a very unsuccessful eye surgery to try to correct my cross-sightedness and wandering eye. The surgeon advised her to take books away from me for a while.
I was so excited after my first dance lesson, and I can remember it as though it were yesterday - learning how to skip across the floor. I couldn’t wait to tell my father, “Daddy, look what I learned today in dance class!” After I showed him, his dry response was, “What? I have to pay for you to learn to skip when the other kids are doing it on the street for free!” Fortunately, he agreed to continue the skipping lessons. Shortly thereafter, my mother and I took our local bus to the studio of Burch Mann who soon became my second mother and the studio my second home. With her, I studied many genres of dance and as a teen, joined her professional company American Folk Ballet. We performed at San Gabriel Mission, Wilshire Ebell Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Ford Theatre, Hollywood Bowl, UCLA, and opened Frontierland at Disneyland with our concert. The company toured the United States, appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show twice, and danced in the Academy Awards to “Raindrops Keep Falling’ on my Head”.
When I was given the choice to tour the United States, I decided to stay in college since my immigrant parents worked all their lives to put their four children through college. I continued my freshman year at UCSB and was able to study dance in an outstanding modern dance extracurricular program. I transferred to UCLA my sophomore year to become a modern dance major. I was then given the incredible opportunity to study my junior year abroad in the land of my roots, American University of Beirut, Lebanon. The extracurricular program in modern dance was also very strong with the company of men and women, all from the Middle East, except for myself. I returned to UCLA as a History major and French minor, and joined Al Hwang’s professional modern dance company. After graduating from UCLA, I married Richard Cantine, a young American I met at the American University of Beirut. I also began my career as a classroom and dance educator. Our one son was born in 1969 and we felt our lives were complete. Although I truly enjoyed the role of motherhood, I was still able to pursue my full- time teaching career with LAUSD and continue dancing.
Even though I had taught every grade K-12, I preferred middle school grades. As Dance Drill Team Coach at Dana Middle School in San Pedro, I first saw Misty Copeland who was trying out for captain. I knew she would be the one in a million just from the way she stood, with the perfect poise of a dancer even though she had never studied dance. And she certainly has proved that and beyond! Because of the support my husband and I gave her from that time until she became a professional ballet dancer, she fondly refers to us as her godparents. We regard one another as family, and she has made a difference in the world of dance.
During my years of teaching in the classroom, serving as fine arts coordinator, and choreographing and directing school musicals, I was still able to perform professionally and in community theatre groups. Professionally, I tap danced with male partners at various local venues. In 2010, I was cast in the professional Singin’ in the Rain to several sold-out performances at the Norris Theatre. I was the oldest dancer, embraced by the younger performers, and loved every second of it. In community theatre, I performed with Primetime Players - a talented group of seniors 50 and over who presented plays and musicals every year at the Norris Theatre. I also was either dance captain, assistant choreographer, or choreographer in several of the musicals: Oklahoma, Guys and Dolls, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Kiss me Kate, No No Nanette, Once Upon a Mattress, and several more. I was also cast as Toni in Cactus Flower and soon learned that acting was a much different craft from dancing, but relished the opportunity of growth.
After retiring from middle school teaching at LAUSD, I became the Outreach Coordinator for the Carpenter Performing Arts Center. I was able to work with the Long Beach schools and CSULB and create dance lessons to enrich the learning of professional performances at the theatre.
After leaving that very fulfilling job, I became Outreach coordinator for Norris Center for the Performing Arts and Dance Peninsula Ballet. I was then asked to teach dance at Miraleste Intermedia School in the Palos Verdes Unified School District. I was also given the opportunity to become the BTSA Dance Mentor in the district. From those rewarding experiences, I started teaching dance to the adaptive PE classes. This was a life-changing experience! When parents asked me to begin an after-school dance program for their children with special needs, the Norris Center gave me weekly studio space and I called the program Ready, Willing, and Able (RWA). The program grew from six students and 3 mentors to over 33 mentors and 40 high school and college mentors and 3 classes per week. It has been such a blessing to me! I never thought I would be able to share dance this way and learn and feel so much. I am now Director Emerita, still teach some of the students privately, and have formed a Quotable Quartet as part of an extension of my second published book called Brush of Giftedness. Dance has also afforded me many blessings in professional arts organizations. I was able to serve as Membership Chair and President of California Dance Educators Association for over six years and work with the Arts Council in Sacramento. I have written dance standards for various school districts and am passionate that dance remain an integral part of the K-12 curriculum. I will always advocate for fine arts implementation in every grade.
Currently, I am teaching some Zoom classes, very small in-person classes to adults, performing with my Tap Happy senior adults, and with Anne Destabelle’s Pennyroyal Players who donate all proceeds to charities including RWA. I hope to keep dancin’ through life as long as I’m able
My second book Brush of Giftedness, a collection of my original poetry and painted interpretations of famous art by Heidi Dong, one of my students with autism, is now available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble for the introductory discounted price of $25.99! If you would prefer to purchase a book from me, I would be happy to sign it and deliver it to you sometime in May. Please contact me if you would like this option.
This collaborative book is another dream come true for me since I began this poetry unit in the classroom over 32 years ago. Heidi has been working on her illustrations for over a year. We hope this book will be educational, enlightening, and enriching plus raise further awareness to the giftedness in artists, those with special needs, and everyone...
A YouTube video of Heidi and three of my other students with special needs is below. The students dance solo or in groups to some of my poems featured in the book and to music (We could have used another month of rehearsal, but we were able to film early last month!)
As always, I thank you for your continual support, interest, and encouragement as I appreciate the giftedness in each of you. April is both autism awareness month and national poetry month, so I have attached an appropriate flyer with a QR code to purchase the book on Amazon. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or need further information.
About the Author Elizabeth Cantine
Elizabeth (Liz) Michele Cantine, a graduate from UCLA, has spent her career of over 50 years as a classroom and dance educator. She has written and presented many units integrating the fine arts into the K-12 curriculum. She was an LA Music Center Arts Education Bravo Award Finalist and has served as President of California Dance Educators Association. As Dance Drill Team Coach at Dana Middle School in San Pedro, California, she discovered and taught the awe-inspiring Misty Copeland, first African-American Principal Ballet Dancer at American Ballet Theatre. After retiring from Los Angeles Unified School District, Liz was the Outreach Coordinator for the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, Musical Theatre West, and the Norris Theatre. Later, Liz became the Dance and PE mentor in Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District. She also had the opportunity to teach dance in Adaptive PE at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. The students and parents motivated her to begin an afterschool dance program at Palos Verdes Performing Arts (PVPA) Conservatory for students with special needs.
Recognizing the incredible talent of these enthusiastic students, she called the program Ready, Willing and Able (RWA) – life changing for all! She continues to teach privately to some RWA students and group classes to fellow adult dancers. As a former professional dancer and choreographer, she performs with her adult Tap Happy troupe at local and senior venues. She also dances in Anne Destabelle’s Pennyroyal Players who donate all profits to charities including RWA. Recently, PVPA recognized Liz with their first In-House Celebrity Award for her community service. With thankful heart, her first published book Graceful Gratitude – A Book of Holiday Graces consists of her original poems for major holidays plus a week of daily graces. Now, she is very excited about her second book and the opportunity to share her poetry and to showcase Heidi’s artistic abilities in Brush of Giftedness.
Liz can be reached via email at dancinliz@aol.com.