Some people sing or pray to express their unfathomable love for God. Freshman Maran McLeod dances.
“[Dance] draws me toward God,” she said.
McLeod grew up in a strong Christian home in Los Angeles, Calif. with two brothers and both parents. As a young child, McLeod created small plays with her brothers and performed them for her parents. She said it was her love of the stage and need to perform that drew her to dance.
“For people who love to dance, it’s something you have the desire to do,” McLeod said.
At the age of 7, she started taking classes at the Burbank School of Ballet. McLeod became a part of the Burbank Youth Ballet Company when she was 15 years old and began teaching ballet classes to younger students. Her parents were both very involved with her dance career. Her mom helped with costumes, and her dad helped to write dialogue for the ballets her school would perform.
“I think they [my parents] are glad that I dance,” McLeod said. “They have always been encouraging but helped me be careful about how much time I put into it.”
McLeod focused her training mostly on classical ballet while in California and was first introduced to modern dance by Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance Corrine Imberski when she joined the Hillsdale College’s Tower Dancers.
“It’s been nice to introduce her to my particular modern dance vocabulary,” Imberski said. “She’s very hardworking. We love that as teachers. She’s very humble about her dance skills.”
Being in the first year of college can be stressful for many freshmen. They are homesick and do not know many people. Maran said she was blessed to meet senior Aubrie Marks, who acted at her mentor in the Tower Dancers and also as spiritual support.
“I love Aubrie because she has been so willing to reach out to me,” McLeod said. “She’s been a great support in my faith. She’s always positive, and she always leaves me with a sense that everything is going to be OK.”
Marks said she also had a mentor in the Tower Dancers when she was a freshman.
“My freshman year there was a senior in the Tower Dancers, Vita Reivydas (‘08), who was wonderful to me and brought me into the group,” Marks said. “I hope in some ways I have been that for Maran.”
McLeod will be performing in three numbers in next weekend’s Tower Dancer’s concert: Imberski’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and “Retrace Ecartér” and a number choreographed by junior Marianna Ernst. Marks will also perform in “Retrace Ecartér,” and Ernst’s piece as well as a ballet number choreographed by Lecturer in Theater Department Holly Hobbes.
“Because she has all that ballet training, she was a perfect fit for [Rhapsody],” Imberski said.
Imberski also said she really admired the way McLeod was comfortable playing a character.
“I first see her vitality and a certain amount of innocence toward the world,” Imberski said, “a strong technical base, and a nice fluidity.”
This sense of innocence was necessary in “Rhapsody in Blue,” Imberski said.
Marks also admires the way McLeod can be a character in a dance number.
“She has a lot of character, and she knows how to take on the character of the dance,” Marks said. “She’s such a joy and delight in dance. She brings back a spark of life for me. She also has wonderful technique, but she’s more than a technical dancer.”
McLeod also considers herself as more than just a technical dancer. Dance is a passion for her, but she also enjoys playing the piano and singing.
“I think my skill set is broader than just dance,” McLeod said. “College is a unique time where I can develop these skills. I can’t imagine my life without music.”
McLeod is deliberating between a major in American studies or history. She attended a private Christian school and was homeschooled for a few years as well. She said her experience with classical education drew her both to Hillsdale and also to the interdisciplinary nature of the American studies major, which incorporates literature, history, and philosophy courses.
McLeod said she may not pursue the dance minor at Hillsdale, but appreciates that is it an available option to her. McLeod loves dance because it acts as a release from daily stress.
“I think it [dance] is definitely a release from the stress of school work and a means of bonding with other students,” McLeod said. “It’s a means of expressing my love for God. It’s a unique combination of music and movement. It’s not just moving on the treadmill, it’s an art form. I’m just so grateful to God that He gave me this as an outlet.”
rturnbull@hillsdale.edu
