This season, the Saint James dance program was fortunate to have the leadership of Nicole Ruark, an award-winning choreographer and instructor who is well-versed in a variety of styles including musical theater, ballet, jazz, tap, and contemporary.  She also worked with the cast of The Addams Family to choreograph the large dance numbers.

“It was a wonderful experience,” Ms. Ruark said of working on the musical. “There was a lot that was brand new to them, not just in a dance step but in working through a show, so we went from 0-to-60 really fast. But they jumped right on board and rose to the challenge.”

Ms. Ruark grew up focusing on ballet, attending the renowned Joffrey Ballet School in New York City on a full scholarship at age 13.  However, a broken foot forced her to change her career path and she discovered musical theater.

“I love what musical theater can do for an audience or for people in general,” she said. “As you saw in Addams Family – you had ballet, you had tap, you had salsa, there was a tango.  That is pure joy. As somebody who’s trained in many styles, you can use them all in musical theater.”

Ms. Ruark has performed and choreographed throughout the country as well as internationally. Her work as a professional performer includes favorite roles in Cats, A Chorus Line, Crazy for You, Guys and Dolls, and Sweet Charity.  

Ms. Ruark has staged ballets for numerous professional companies both in the U.S. and abroad, winning several prestigious awards along the way.  Two highlights of her career are having her piece performed at Lincoln Center, which was honored as the top contemporary ballet piece that year, as well as traveling to Russia to stage the international debut of Jane Martin’s “Talking With” featuring her choreography.

Ms. Ruark began talks over the summer with Mrs. Linda Stowe, SJS Fine Arts Department Chair, and Father Dunnan about building a dance program at Saint James.

“We discussed some of the goals Saint James has for building a well-rounded arts program, which encompasses dance, theatrical classes, and a very strong vocal program,” she said.  “I arranged what a week might look like if we were doing an intro to dance class where you would be exposed to an hour of a dance style.”

The dance students did ballet on Mondays, pilates on Tuesdays, yoga on Wednesdays, jazz on Thursdays, and modern on Fridays.  Ms. Ruark taught the Wednesday jazz class and brought in instructors for the other days, including Kelsey Rupp, who teaches at Hagerstown Community College and The Mid-Maryland Performing Arts Center (MMPAC).

When thinking about the future of dance at SJS, Ms. Ruark would love to have a longer dance class, or possibly a graded course for more experienced dancers.

“I’d like to be able to offer an upper level class for those students who feel the need to travel outside of Saint James to study,” she said. “I’d like to be able to have those arts programs on campus to fulfill those needs.”

Outside of her time at Saint James Ms. Ruark keeps very busy with several other roles. She serves as "Artist in Residence" at The Barbara Ingram School for the Fine Arts (a magnet school for the arts in Washington County, MD) where she is currently working on a production of Mamma Mia.  She oversees the musical theater program she created for MMPAC as well as Acting Up, a pre-professional performance company that provides acting training to teens.  This summer, she will work with the Broadway Theatre Project in Tampa, FL, where she works with Broadway actors.

Whether part of the SJS dance program or one of her many other roles, Ms. Ruark enjoys working with young people who are still discovering new things.  She feels the arts teach many skills that people can benefit from.

“You have to work with a lot of people, and they have to know they can count on you to do the job. That’s a skill you can learn in the arts that is transferrable,” she said.