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Dancing to the top: Courtney Herold-Prayer will pursue dance and education at LINES program at Dominican University of California

By Omie Drawhorn, Daily News staff writer

Posted on: Thursday, May 08, 2008

Courtney Herold-Prayer wears her heart on her sleeve when she's dancing, whether it's jazz or ballet.

"You can tell what mood I'm in when I'm dancing," said the 17-year-old Pullman High School senior.

Her mood might not always be good, but that all changes by the time Herold-Prayer walks out of dance class at the Northwest Dance Center.

"After dance class, everything is OK again," she said. "When I dance I get out all the tension; it's really relieving."

She feels bored, and as though she needs to be moving when she's not dancing, primarily ballet.

Herold-Prayer has been dancing since she started taking hip hop classes at age 4. She switched over to ballet when she was 8, and will attend Alonzo King's LINES program at Dominican University of California this fall.

King, a world renowned choreographer and artistic director of the LINES program, trains dancers at the prestigious institution while they pursue a bachelor of fine arts degree.

He founded the LINES Ballet Company in San Francisco and has worked with dance companies throughout the world.

King's LINES Ballet and Dominican University of California are partners in the four-year bachelor's degree program.

Herold-Prayer said King auditions dancers from across the nation and allows only 16 dancers into the program each year.

"I've thought a lot about choosing between education and dance," she said. "I didn't want to choose between them."

She said LINES gives her the opportunity to pursue both.

Herold-Prayer has been dancing at Northwest Dance Center in Pullman since October. She previously danced at Graham Academy in Pullman and the Ballet Academy of Arts in Spokane.

She danced at Jillana's summer program in New Mexico the summer before last, and at LINES' summer program last summer.

The first time Herold-Prayer auditioned for the LINES summer program, it was by chance.

She had never heard of LINES, but she decided to give it a shot since she was auditioning for other summer programs in Seattle at the same location.

"It was totally contemporary; I loved the audition," she said. "I had always danced strictly ballet and never modern, and the audition was more modern. I was so nervous."

She made it on the waiting list, and the next summer she was accepted.

While attending the summer program at LINES last summer, she inquired about the bachelor of fine arts program. But it was so competitive she didn't think she would ever get in.

She was shocked and excited when she was told she didn't need to audition; the instructors knew enough about her skills that they wanted her in the program.

Herold-Prayer felt like the environment of LINES was right for her.

"I really identified with their movement quality and their philosophy," she said. "It is more deep, more personal. I get to dance through how I'm feeling."

She said there is a different vibe with the way instructors gauge dancers. Instead of looking at whether a dancer is too big, small or too short or too tall, instructors look at who has a soul in their performance.

Northwest Dance Center owner Crystal Fullmer said although Herold-Prayer has only been dancing at her studio for a few months, it feels like she's been around for years.

"She's dedicated, hard working and she's had a lot of different teachers, so it's interesting to see her style meld with the other dancers," she said.

Fullmer said Herold-Prayer seems to soak up all the new information and technical aspects that she has been working on.

Herold-Prayer's last Northwest Dance Center performance will be 6 p.m. June 6 at the Gladish Auditorium in Pullman.

Omie Drawhorn can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 238, or by e-mail at odrawhorn@dnews.com.

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