Nichols will give Fast Feet a rest

To the local dance community, 2003 seemed to promise high visibility and new acclaim for dancer-choreographer Jamie Nichols.

A recent winner of multiple Lester Horton dance awards, Nichols and her contemporary chamber-size company, Fast Feet, are performing two pieces Friday in the new Split series at the Alex Theatre in Glendale and will return to the Alex April 27 as part of a National Dance Week program.

She’s also dancing as a guest in an upcoming project by choreographer Rosanna Gamson, as well as teaching. At age 50, dance clearly is the center of her life.

But that may be about to end.

By the middle of the year Nichols intends to stop dancing, disband Fast Feet and concentrate on taking stock of what possibilities might exist for her other than continuing in the always uncertain arena of Southern California concert dance.

“I got too tied up in the process of running the company and preparing the next work for the next concert,” she said recently. “I just can’t do it anymore.”

Nichols talked about exploring “a new arena” in the future, a career less personally draining than running her own company. “I think I’m going to need something to do that I’m not so emotionally attached to,” she explained.

“But right now, I need to give myself some time.” So those who’ve admired the exciting fusion of structural sophistication and passion in Nichols’ choreography had better get it while they can.

-- Lewis Segal