By Donna Beth Weilenman
Staff Reporter

When Kimberly Powley was a little girl, she’d dance around the house to the music her mother would play. Her parents, Sam and Keith Powley, enrolled her in the usual children’s dance classes that introduced her to simple ballet and tap.

Little did they realize at the time their daughter would be so inspired by dance that, instead of attending school at home, Powley would be willing to commute daily across the bay to attend the San Francisco School of the Arts, the premier arts high school that has produced such notables as comedian Margaret Cho, actor Sam Rockwell and Salvador Santana, the musician son of Carlos Santana.

Now 17, Powley had to audition at 13 to get accepted at the school, and had to wait until notification of her success arrived in the mail. “I started to cry,” she said of her acceptance. Even then, her parents weren’t sure their daughter would be up to the rigorous schedule. She was awake by 5 a.m., and was on her way to San Francisco by 6:30 a.m.

“They thought it wouldn’t last. They thought I would do it a couple of weeks, then stop,” she said. Instead, she lasted until graduation. “I really got used to it.”

Once on the campus, she had three core classes each morning. After lunch came the classes in her discipline, dance.

Powley bypassed extracurricular activities, and never fretted that the specialized school that had no football team to cheer or homecoming events to attend. “I was so focused on my discipline,” she said.

She discovered she likes contemporary dance the best. It’s a lyrical blend of jazz and ballet, she said. “It’s soft and delicate, but it can have power,” she described.

“I started with jazz and ballet, and I thought I was a jazz dancer,” she said. But once she discovered contemporary dance, she realized the range of music and moves it incorporated. “There is so much more you can do.”

While attending SOTA, as the school is often called, she also studied ballet, modern dance and jazz, as well as blends of those dance forms.

Her senior year let her explore other dance disciplines as well. “At the end of the school year, the professional people come in and teach master classes,” she said.

Powley took master classes in Afro-Cuban, hip-hop, Chinese and African dances. “I loved taking other classes, to see dances from other parts of the world,” she said. The Chinese dances had specific hand movements. The Afro-Cuban focused on core muscles. “It’s different from typical ballet,” she said.

Another master class difference is its instruction style. Instead of teaching a strict choreography, the master classes encourage students to experiment. “When you take master classes, they teach you a movement, but tell you to try to do it your own way, absorb it and make it your own.”

“Because different master classes are in different dances, you’re not used to using your body in those different ways,” Powley said. Fortunately, she was able to count on her ballet training, which strengthens a dancer’s core muscles. “It helped,” she said.

Powley not only has been performing during her time at SOTA, she also choreographs. “My senior year, I choreographed three dance pieces,” she said. That included a 7-minute medley for her entire class to perform. It opened with classical music, then merged into a piece by Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi. She’s also choreographed a dance to OneRepublic’s song, “Secrets.”

“Dance is the best therapy out there. If you are having a bad day, the choreography lets you be free, and the endorphins make you happy,” she said.

And designing a dance has its own charms. “Choreography opens up your mind. There’s so much you can do with the music, and so many opportunities in music and dance.”

She also learned how much she loves dancing when she was injured during her sophomore year and had to sit out practice for six months. An accident happened during a rehearsal, and she tore her adductor magnus, a thigh muscle. “I’m still recovering,” she said.

But Powley was anxious to return to the dance floor. ‘I didn’t know how much I’d miss it!”

SOTA has given her a chance to teach, a direction she may pursue as a career. She said she enjoys watching a student take what she’s saying about dance and then using it as the person performs the dance. “It’s fascinating,” Powley said. “It’s a great feeling to help someone. I love teaching.”

SOTA also has helped her mature in ways she might not have grown had she studied in Benicia.

While attending school locally, Powley depended on her parents. Once the daily commute to San Francisco started, “I had to grow up immediately.” She learned discipline, independence and self-sufficiency. She learned to appreciate San Francisco’s diversity.

She likes attending school with students who are focused on something they love. Her favorite part is the school’s dance concert. “It brings the entire department together. You’re working and waiting all year for one performance.”

A dedicated student, Powley received the Bank of America Award, the Discipline Award in dance, and the Artistic Excellence Award. She also earned scholarships that will help as she leaves this week for the University Calgary, in Alberta, Canada. “My mom went there. They have a really great dance program.”

Powley won’t forget the foundation she received in San Francisco.

“SOTA is the best experience of my life. It’s a really small school, and SOTA’s a home. I loved going to school there.”