Eran Bugge ’05 may be closing out her performing career as an accomplished dancer on a high note, but many more repertoires are in her future. Recently, she retired as principal dancer with Paul Taylor Dance Company. While a bittersweet swan song, her decades-long career is a testament to her experiences grounded at The Hartt School, and how it planted a strong foundation for her future career successes.
Bugge chose Hartt because of the dance program, as the program not only provides expert instruction, the coursework provides breath and depth and also real world applications. Students train in classical ballet, modern dance, and contemporary techniques with additional coursework in music, dance composition, pedagogy, performance techniques, kinesiology, repertory, technology in dance, and dance history. Bugge says, “a dancer's career is notoriously short, and I knew that learning to teach well would serve me in the future. What I found along the way was that learning to teach helped me grow as a dancer and an artist right from the beginning.”
In addition to its curriculum, Hartt made a tremendous impact in her career. She speaks highly of her teachers and mentors, who “not only exposed me to many styles of dance and helped me hone in on…[and provided] something that I not only loved but suited my way of moving…they gave me the confidence and courage to aim high.” Additionally, Bugge feels deeply connected to Hartt, as she has been invited as a master teacher and guest artist several times (she also was the first dancer to be honored with the Hartt School Alumni Award in 2012). To Bugge, teaching at Hartt furthers her connections for the school, but a new generation of dancers. In fact, as Bugge excitedly states, “several other Hartt grads have joined Paul Taylor Dance Company after me! This is so remarkable considering how small and exclusive the company is (Aileen Roehl, Lisa Borres and Austin Kelly!), and right towards the end of my career, we had Hartt grads dancing together spanning three decades of the dance department!”
As Bugge reflects on her early days at Hartt and was it has brought her, she firmly believes that it provided the catalyst for turning her passion into a profession. “Hartt gave me the training, the connections and the confidence to turn this thing I loved into a career. I was blessed to have a very long performing career with a major company (19 years!) but they also gave me the skills to supplement my time off with teaching over the years and now to transition into teaching and coaching for this next phase of my career."
Bugge also provides some powerful advice for the next generation. “Hartt is a wonderful place to not only build your skills and deepen your artistry, but also the base for you to start your networking.” Not only is Bugge a highly accomplished dancer, her experience and wisdom are both inherent and learned traits that will have her excel as a mentor and teacher in her next phase in her career. To future dancers considering Hartt, she says “take advantage of your professors and visiting guests and each other! These may very well be your future bosses, directors, collaborators. And cross genres while you're there! Meet the lighting designers, the singers, the writers, the visual artists. You can make something great together in the future. Hartt could ensure that there is ample opportunity for cross disciplinary collaborations.”