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Ms. Copley,
telling us to get it right and
FIGURE IT
OUT!
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Yes,
that's me in the red dress,
as the lead in
"All that Jazz"
(from the musicalChicago) ca.1982-83
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I
offer a special thank you to Ms. Pamela Copley, my middle school dance
teacher at Utterback Jr. High in Tucson, Arizona.
She taught me that, "dancers don't sweat, they glow!" We
were "glowing" a lot in her class...we always had to open the
windows because our adolescent "glow" was quite funky.
She took the time
to teach the finer points of musical theater to a few rag-tag kids in
South Tucson and as a result, her "DAZE" productions were
second to nothing on Broadway. We performed everything from Guys and
Dolls, The South Pacitic, Chicago, and A Chorus Line,
to The Wiz, George Benson's "On Broadway," and even
Kool & the Gang's "Celebrate" (on roller-skates with
gold lame' capes...I swear, she was brilliant). And academic
excellence was not an abstract concept to her: you couldn't perform
in her show if you had below a C in ANY of your classes. Teachers and
staff worked together and made sure students performed well in all areas
of the school. Ms. Copley also taught dance classes in the summer and
worked on projects at other schools all around the city. I have no idea
how she found time to get married, because she was always with us. She
plunked and pounded on that piano, showed us how to hit the high notes,
skreeched the records on the player, and yelled at us 'till we got it
right. She never let up--ever--because she always demanded that we give
our best. We sure did laugh a lot though--she was always cracking us up.
But when we "screwed up royally," she would yell, "Evans,
Pineda, Cassini, Kratina, Venezuela, McKeathan, everybody...c'mon,
FIGURE IT OUT!!!" And eventually, we did.
I was an "at-risk" youth. But in Ms. Copley's world, I was
a SUPERSTAR--we all were.
She literally saved my life.
The last time I
saw Ms. Copley, she had been diagnosed with brain cancer and was told she
had only a few months to live. When I visited her at Tucson High in the
late 90s, she said that even though she was sick, she couldn't
"go" yet...because her kids were still looking a mess, they
weren't nearly ready for their upcoming performance, and they needed
her at rehearsals to get them in shape. She was just so irritated with
this cancer thing. Remarkably, she lived far past what the diagnosis
allowed and though her kids are undoubtedly still looking a mess,
we're much better off for her efforts. Through her love of teaching,
she offered a slice of heaven to this world and really blessed those of
us who were fortunate enough to be graced with her presence. I teach in
hopes of coming close to offering my students what this amazing woman
gave to me: faith in myself and hope for humanity. And all that
jazz.
Rest in Peace, Ms. Copley.
And thank you.
...and thanks to Sandi Cassini for
the obituary.
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