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An artistic path might seem preordained in the case of both Jerry Bywaters Cochran (B.S. '58, dance) and her daughter, Mary Cochran ('81, dance), members of a Dallas family with involvement in nearly every aspect of the arts. Jerry's father was a nationally recognized painter and museum director; her mother, a musician by training, was one of the founders of both the Dallas Civic Ballet and the Dance Council. Jerry knew she wanted to be a dancer at age 4, and studied with Edith James, an original Denishawn dancer. When she graduated from Juilliard, her aim was to go "out there," soak up all she could, and bring it back to her native Texas. "I am a regionalist, and an addict when it comes to the Southwest," she explained in a 1974 interview in Fort Worth's The Register of People, Places, and Things.

Jerry Bywaters Cochran in a photo from the 1960s.

After studying on a Fulbright in Paris and teaching in Germany (where she was dubbed "the Texas Whirlwind"), Jerry performed in New York, Paris, and Washington before returning to her hometown, where she founded and ran her own modern dance school for 10 years while performing with several regional companies. In 1968 she inaugurated the modern dance program at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth (the first university in the country to offer a fine arts degree in ballet). There, she developed both a B.F.A. and M.F.A. in modern dance, and remained in charge of that program for 17 years. Jerry founded and directed two modern dance companies, the Jerry Bywaters Cochran Modern Dance Ensemble and the T.C.U. Modern Dance Lab Company, in addition to choreographing and performing in liturgical dance in churches and synagogues throughout the United States.

Daughter Mary Cochran followed in her mother's footsteps, studying at the North Carolina School of the Arts before heading to Juilliard—but she had barely arrived when an offer to join Alwin Nikolais' company took her away. Three years later, Mary realized her dream of joining the Paul Taylor Dance Company, where she was a principal dancer from 1984-96 in addition to directing Taylor 2, Taylor's second company, during its 1998-99 season. She is certified to reconstruct and stage Taylor's works for dance departments throughout the country. Once again, Mary followed her mother's path into education, directing the dance program at Mills College in California before winding up at Columbia University's Barnard College, where she is Dance Department chair and associate professor of professional practice—taking over the position from another Juilliard alum, Janet Mansfield Soares (B.S. '61, dance), who retired last May.

Both Cochrans took time out of their busy schedules to sit down with Emily Regas, associate director of national advancement and alumni relations, and discuss the role Juilliard played in framing their context as dance educators and performers.

Can you recall a specific moment or experience at Juilliard that resulted in an important artistic or personal insight?

Jerry: I didn't know where to study in New York in 1954. My mother knew about Juilliard because it was a music school. They had just started a dance department headed by Martha Hill. At that time, the dance world was segregated into its ballet and modern dance factions. I wanted to do everything, and Martha Hill encouraged that.

Mary Cochran in Valeska's Vitriol, choreographed by Sara Hook. (Photo by Lois Greenfield, 2005)

What Juilliard teacher made the largest impact on you and what was that impact? Has it affected your teaching style?

Jerry: Martha Hill. She believed in letting you push yourself to the fullest. She also believed that dancers should study music, which is something as a teacher I think is extremely important. She was the most amazing person—she was always there to talk to or bounce ideas off of.

Mary: For me, too, Martha Hill. She was an energetic, optimistic person who was good at connecting people to each other and creating opportunity for people. The one thing Ms. Hill did was provide a secure place for artists to make a living and develop new work. She definitely led me to my current community partnerships—using the solidity of an educational environment to support new work.

How did you make the transition into being a dance educator?

Jerry: Martha Hill, Martha Graham, and Louis Horst were the three teachers who supported my dream to start a school for modern dance in the Southwest. I started off by forming a small dance school. At age 5 the students studied technique and improv, at 12 they were beginning to choreograph. By the time they were in high school, they were in my first company in Dallas, the Jerry Bywaters Cochran Modern Dance Ensemble.

When you were 18, Mary, you left Juilliard to join Alwin Nikolais' company, yet you have stated you would not encourage your own students to make a similar decision today. Why?

Mary: It is a different world today; in modern dance most everyone at least finishes their undergrad degree before going into the professional world. One of the reasons I advise my students to pursue undergraduate degrees is that it was very hard emotionally to grow up as a professional dancer. There is a level of personal growth that happens in the college setting. It seems wiser to go out in the professional world with a bit more emotional confidence in oneself, as it is a difficult field.

Do you believe it is important for effective arts educators to first have a career as a performer in their field?

Jerry: In order to educate and be a teacher you must be a dancer and choreographer. Performing provides you with so much more knowledge about the craft. We are an experience-driven art form, you teach from experience. At Juilliard, under Martha Hill the dance curriculum was a four-legged table consisting of modern, ballet, music, and choreography. These are essential elements for any performer, as well as for any teacher.

Mary: There is always an exception. This is why Ms. Hill's example is important. In dance we do everything. Everyone performs, produces, administrates, mentors. In order to keep furthering the art form in all levels, all of us need to be right on the edge of the art form and teaching from that. The best teachers are the ones engaged in creative research.

Jerry, what was your vision for the undergraduate and graduate modern dance majors at T.C.U.?

Jerry: The head of the dance department at T.C.U. was Fernando Schaeffenburg. Fernando had been in the Ballets Russes and A.B.T. as a soloist, so I was hired to be the modern dance influence. I first pushed for the studio to be moved from the old army barracks to the old gym, which gave us much more space, making our university more attractive to professional companies. I believe modern dancers should absorb as many techniques as possible. Students took modern and ballet every day, four years of choreography, repertory classes, music from different eras, and acting. They also studied production so they could learn how to lay a dance floor, light a piece, and produce their own concert. I founded T.C.U. Modern Dance Lab Company as a place where students could choreograph for a variety of venues. I also made my students watch a lot of videos. One was called The Incredible Machine, about the human body. I wanted the dancers to be inspired by their bodies—it was a precursor to human anatomy, which is offered in most universities today.

What kind of collaborations did you establish between your students and arts organizations in the area? Did they foster artistic growth for your students?

Jerry: I wanted companies all over the world to come to T.C.U. so my students could immerse themselves in different styles. I had the N.E.A. touring grant companies come in to teach master classes. Visiting companies included Alwin Nikolais, Cunningham Dance Company, Twyla Tharp Dance, Paul Taylor Dance Company, and the Dance Theater of Harlem.

Mary: What we are doing at Barnard is part of the artistic continuum. Partnering with cultural institutions and sharing resources is enhancement for both organizations.

Dance Theater Workshop's mission is to support their artists and I thought, "what can I do at Barnard to further their mission?" I hired as adjunct professors artists that D.T.W. has been helping for years to create new work on our students. They can work on a bigger scope here than they can in the real world. The students benefited by having an intense, semester-long relationship with an artist and then performing in a professional venue. I hope they will go out from Barnard and make this happen—they will be leaders of the future for their field.

Do you bring the history of your art form into your curriculum?

Jerry: I do. We need to appreciate our ancestors. We have it so hard in dance because it is an experiential art form. We have to breathe life into our history. I don't want students to see historic works done improperly. You need to know about your ancestors to discover yourself and come into your own. I feel the earlier you start to absorb dance, the more it will be in your bones.

Mary: Dance history is huge part of the program. I think art is making something from nothing while understanding all that has come before. I don't see a disconnect between history and the now. I encourage my entire faculty to reference anything in any class, to demonstrate the connection between the past and present and how it is moving us into the future.

Jerry, what is different between dance education today compared to when you were developing the modern dance program at T.C.U.?

Jerry: I worry that choreographers today don't know enough about music. Not just music from the past, but they don't know how to go about finding a good composer for themselves or how to develop music for their movement and concepts.

When I went to Juilliard, our teachers demanded performance quality in every technique class. That is not done so much today. A lot of times we are training technical machines rather than developing artists.

For someone intending to pursue a career in dance, what might they get out of training in a university setting that they wouldn't find in a conservatory?

Mary: I meet with a lot of prospective students and I say look at both options. You need a place that serves you. You have class all day and rehearsals all night no matter where you go. My students rise to the challenge of the institution. The whole point of school is to give them challenges and allow them to rise to them. If they do that, their education will serve them.

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