March 10, 2025
Read this week’s Backstage at the Egyptian edition to learn more about Artistic Director, Beth Fowler, of The Beth Fowler Dance Company. In this interview conducted by our Marketing Intern, Lia Martinez, Beth shares her experience of dancing and directing productions. Keep reading for a sneak peek into the new dance productions her and her staff plan to showcase in the upcoming months and how the connection between staff members at her company and the Egyptian Theatre create a family-like atmosphere.
Lia: How long have you been directing? Did you start out as a dancer yourself?
Beth: I started dancing professionally in a Ballet Company at age 13. I started teaching dance around that time also in my parents basement as people would reach out to me asking me to teach these private lessons.
When I was 15 years old, I opened up the “Beth Rood School of Dance” which became the “Beth Fowler School of Dance” after I married my high school sweetheart, Bob Fowler in 1989.
The School of Dance started in 1983 when I was just 15 years old. The Beth Fowler School of Dance is celebrating 41 years in business this season!
L: Are you directing the Wizard of Oz, Swan Lake, or both? Choreographically speaking, which act and/or scene is your favorite in each production?
B: I am the Artistic Director of the Beth Fowler Dance Company and direct all our stage productions. I have an amazing staff that helps with rehearsals and that have been with me since they were toddlers!
100% of our staff is our alumni. They are adults (most with children of their own now) and have a special loyalty to all our dance families as this is their dance home and always will be. This has given our studio such a warm family friendly atmosphere.
I love the beauty that Swan Lake brings to our audience to enjoy, and the opportunity it gives our dancers to perform this beautiful classic.
It is important that our dancers dance classical ballet for they training, but we also want them to be diverse in all styles of dance.
For this reason, our dancers also perform the Ballet “Wizard of Oz” which is a different style of Ballet. They also perform all other styles of dance in our annual June Show including Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary, Tap and Acrobatics.
My favorite scenes of our Wizard of Oz Ballet are the Flying Scenes.
We are partnering with Vertigo Flying Effects to produce flying monkeys, flying Glinda in her bubble, Flying Vultures in the “Lions and Tigers and Bears” Scene, and the Wicked Witch of the West flying on her broomstick.
I also love the MunchkinLand Scene! It is bright and colorful and gives our little munchkins lots of stage time!
L: Is there something new you’ve used with your knowledge of previously directing at the Egyptian Theatre to help direct this performance?
B: The beauty of having our Annual Nutcracker, 5 rotating March Ballets, and 5 rotating June shows, is that we can quickly get a new show on stage every 3 months (December, March and June) because the choreography, costumes, props and scenery sets are already established!
This gives our dancers so many opportunities to perform in provided costumes which helps their motivation to work hard in classes! Classes are so exciting and encourage dancers to set goals for themselves.
What I have learned with each show is that we can continue to make each year better and better! We look at what we did last time on video and come up with new ideas to make it even better!
L: For the future, are there other productions you are excited to direct?
B: We are talking about adding some new shows to our repertoire. We have talked about The Greatest Showman (which we started to rehearse in 2020 before COVID hit) High School Musical, Peter Pan and Hair Spray to name a few. But our competitive teams are always performing new dance pieces, which is always an additional thing to look forward to.
L: What motivates you to continue directing productions at the Egyptian Theatre?
B: The PEOPLE! The dance families, the alumni that come back to take the stage or watch their children take the stage, the people on the Egyptian Theatre staff also feel like family!
They know our shows well which makes the technology side of things go so smooth.
The shows at the Egyptian Theatre are events that bring people together…….people that have been dancing together or going to our shows over many decades!
It is like a reunion of very special people every time!
