Dancing on a Shoestring

In her 15-year career, Barbara Noel has worked in two worlds.

Several years ago, she taught dance at a Fountain Valley high school flush with money; many students drove luxury cars and had talent agents.

Now she gets virtually no money for the dance program she teaches; most students don’t own cars, and she knows of none with an agent.

It’s here, at Santa Ana High, where she is the happier, Noel says, and where she feels she can make the bigger difference.

At first family and friends questioned her switch.

“Nobody could understand it,” she said. “Why on earth would I choose to go to a school that had zero money to give the dance program? Why would I choose to teach at a school where many of the students had never been exposed to culture or been afforded certain opportunities?

“Well, that is precisely why I did want to teach here. So that I can help to show these students what is out there for them,” said Noel, Santa Ana Unified School District’s 1997-98 teacher of the year.

With enthusiasm and determination, Noel, set out to carve a special place for herself and her students at Santa Ana High.

“They hired me to teach P.E., but I never really had any intention of teaching P.E.,” said Noel, 40, who has taught modern dance at the school for eight years. “I was going to teach dance, and I kept pestering administrators until they agreed. And then, I had to convince them that the room they wanted me to share with some non-dance classes should be just for dance. I claimed that spot the first day I saw the room, and now it’s all ours.”

Still, there are challenges, such as a lack of funding.

So a few years ago, Noel began an annual dance festival, inviting other O.C. high school programs. Average attendance is 1,000; proceeds go to her program.

“That money--about $4,000--is what we use all year. . . . The kids don’t have new uniforms . . . and they do without. But all in all, I think we do a pretty good job with what we have, and we do occasionally have a candy sale if we need to raise a few extra dollars for something special.”

The school did pay for the dance studio’s sound system and some CDs.

Another challenge is trying to help students cope with problems outside school.

“I’ve had students tell me about living with domestic violence on a daily basis. I had one girl who told me that she watched her father shoot her mother. Another told me of drugs in his home. And I’ve had girls cry while telling me about their boyfriends hitting them.”

One afternoon, a student appeared distracted.

“I asked her what was wrong and she said, ‘Ms. Noel, my brother was shot last night.’ That’s when it brings it home to you what some of these kids are up against.

“But my students . . . handle their problems with such grace, and some of them have had to deal with things that most of us can’t even comprehend.”

On a recent morning, 25 juniors and seniors practiced a routine. The girls had all body types, and some appeared more into it than others, but all seemed confident.

“I promote being healthy, not being skinny,” Noel said. “I tell them that no matter what size they are, they are beautiful.”

Norma Ortega, 18, said she’s a different person because of Noel.

“When I enrolled in her class four years ago, I was chubby, and I did not want to wear a leotard,” Norma said. “But she kept emphasizing that all of us were special and that we all had beauty, and I started feeling that.

“Now I’m healthier, and I walk and dance and do all sorts of things. It was like magic, but I actually slimmed down and feel really good about myself too. I wasn’t even trying; it just happened. It was fun, and she said that’s how it should be.”

Norma works part time at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa and has set her sights on teaching dance in high school.

Noel’s mentor was her dance teacher from Millikin High School in Long Beach.

“I don’t think she ever knew that. And then, the most amazing thing happened a couple of years ago. I ran into her at a Greek festival, and she was dancing.

“It was one of those perfect moments in time when everything kind of comes full circle. I got my chance to tell her how much she had affected me. I’m a dance teacher today because of her. . . . She told me that she’d instinctively known that I was teaching dance before I even told her.”

Noel takes groups to see area productions, such as “Ragtime” and “Sweet Charity,” and sometimes arranges for students to perform at teacher conferences and other functions.

“We go up to the mountains for three days [on an annual retreat], and we hike, dance, sing, talk and share,” she said. “I once had a student who started crying in the parking lot just before we left on the retreat. I asked her what was wrong and she told me that she was excited because she’d never been anywhere before.”

Noel--who is married to Steve Marino, and has sons, Nico, 10, and Matthew, 6--said she danced around her house as a child.

“I really didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I took a little time off after high school and worked in a hospital,” she said.

“One day, I looked down the hall at work and there was a woman about 50 years old who was doing the same exact job I was doing, and it hit me that this was not what I wanted to be doing at 50. . . .

“I knew I loved dance, so I signed up for some college classes. I majored in dance and got my teaching credentials, graduating from Long Beach State. And then later on, I got my master’s in dance.”

Everything had fallen into place.

Noel said she zeroed in on teaching modern dance because “it has more of an abstract feel to it. A big part of it is expression and actually feeling the dance. That’s very important to me, and it’s what I want to get across to students.”

Noel teaches about 160 students in five classes of beginning and advanced dance and production, which includes lighting, choreography and the history of dance.

“I try to incorporate so many things into my classes,” she said. “Things like creativity, enthusiasm, fitness, nutrition, collaboration, and life skills.

“Sometimes, I’ll just start laughing out loud in class, and my students look at me like I’m nuts,” she said. “I’ll tell them that I still can’t believe I actually get paid to do something that I love so much.”

Coming Attractions:

Fullerton: A cast of more than 100 students from Fullerton Union High School will present “The Sound of Music” March 20-28 at Plummer Auditorium. Tickets are $8; matinee group rates are available. 201 E. Chapman Ave., Fullerton. (714) 671-1084.

Anaheim: “Songs of the Silver Screen,” a song and dance revue, will be presented by the Kennedy Singers from Kennedy High School on March 12-14 at 7:30 p.m. Cook Auditorium, Anaheim High School, 811 Lincoln Ave. Tickets: $6 in advance; $7 at the door. (714) 220-3032.

Costa Mesa: A jazz festival, which includes junior high and high school bands, will be part of the 1998 Youth Expo, April 17-19, at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. The 19th annual event is an educational fair focusing on the accomplishments of O.C. youth. (714) 708-1520.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Q&A; WITH BARBARA NOEL

Question: What is your favorite song?

Answer: I like women-empowering music. You know, Lilith Fair-type stuff. I’m listening to Paula Cole right now, and Dianne Reeves.

Q: Name one thing you feel makes a good teacher.

A: Caring about students. You can be the greatest teacher in the world, but if you don’t care about the kids, it means nothing.

Q: What do you think students say about you behind your back?

A: She’s a tough teacher, but she loves what she’s doing and wants us to love it too.

Q: What has been your proudest achievement as a teacher?

A: There was a girl in my class who always wore bangs down in her face, razor blade earrings and seemed to be hiding from the world. After she was in my class for a while, she began to stand taller, cut her hair and got the bangs out of her face, got rid of the razor blade earrings. She had gained a presence and a confidence. Watching that transformation was just incredible.