Fine line

Dance Magazine, Jan, 2008 by Christina H. Davis

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Elizabeth Parkinson and Scott Wise have both reached some of the highest highs any dancers can hope for on Broadway. After all, the pair met as cast members of the Broadway production of Fosse, a show made for dancers. After marrying in 1999, they both participated in the creation of Twyla Tharp's Broadway show Movin' Out--Wise as assistant choreographer/director and cast member, and Parkinson as the electrifying female lead, Brenda.

With those credits--including four Tony nominations and one win between the two of them--it would seem that opening a dance studio in a quaint New England town would be a breeze, right? Well, not exactly.

"Being a star on Broadway doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to be a good teacher," says Parkinson, adding that no matter how fabulous your credentials are, "a 5-year-old doesn't read your resume"

But Parkinson and Wise were prepared to put their stellar resumes aside when they opened Fine Line Theatre Arts in New Milford, CT, in the fall of 2006. In just over a year's time, the couple has seen the studio--which offers ballet, jazz, tap, modern, hip hop, voice, ballroom, acrobatics, and acting--grow to about 200 students.

Both Parkinson and Wise are involved in every aspect of running the studio, with Parkinson teaching about seven classes per week, and Wise, 20. The pair says their transition to teaching has had its share of lessons. Parkinson has previously taught at workshops, where she interacted with students for short periods. But having a steady stable of young dancers has presented new pressures. "When we started last year, I was very easy on my students," Parkinson says. "I was a little tentative about really diving in." After teaching a master class outside her studio, Parkinson realized there was an element of fear (perhaps of driving her students away by being too tough) that was holding her back. "I made the decision that this year, I'm going to push my students and I realized that they really want that," she says. "It was a great revelation for me."

The couple opened the studio in part because they had nearly done it all in the New York dance world. Wise says he was ready for a change, and that "Broadway had moved on." Many of the pair's friends have made the same jump, leaving New York to set up their own studios. However, they're never far from their roots, particularly Parkinson, who continues to perform, most recently in Martha Clarke's dance theater piece, Garden of Earthly Delights, at the American Dance Festival last summer.

But the lifestyle in Connecticut is a bit more conducive to caring for their 3-year-old son, James. "Now we have something we can call our own," Parkinson says of the studio. "It provides a real sense of stability."