By Jill Goetz
Jim Self teaches dance in Cornell's Department of Theatre Arts. So why has he been taking courses in anthropology, essay writing and astronomy?
Because he is also a student, about to earn his bachelor's degree through Cornell's College Scholars program. And like many students enrolled in the program, he has carved out an imaginative and interdisciplinary curriculum.
Self has taught modern dance and choreography at Cornell's Center for Theatre Arts since 1989 (the year the center opened). Since enrolling as a Cornell student in 1991, he has managed to fulfill the requirements for an undergraduate degree by balancing a full teaching load with daytime, evening and summer classes.
He devoted this past year to an honors thesis titled "Chez Dada, Chez Moi (The House of Dada Self)."
"It is an autobiographical novel describing and illustrating how I came to inhabit the 'House of Dada,'" he said of the project. "The novel is a late 20th-century reflection of self-fractured Dada ideals. The work does not specifically address the literary and artistic movement of Dadaism, but instead reflects upon its concepts and forms. I'm practicing Dada, not historicizing Dada." Self hopes to use the novel as material for future dance performances.
Not surprisingly, Self's life story is steeped in the arts. The Alabama native first danced professionally with Shirley Mordine's Chicago Dance Troupe and went on to choreograph several works before moving to New York City in the late 1970s. From there, he toured the United States and Europe with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.
His work has been commissioned by the Jacob's Pillow and American Dance Festivals, Dance Theater Workshop, Boston Ballet and Rome Opera -- the latter for the 1984 edition of The Civil Wars by Philip Glass and Robert Wilson. He is the recipient of several choreography fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and in 1986 he was the subject of an Alabama Public Television special, "Jim Self Comes Home."
While developing his own dance technique, Self was teaching it to others at American and European institutions before coming to Cornell. But that teaching background did not prepare him for the role of student.
"It was strange being older than the other students," said Self, 42. "At first, I was very quiet; I didn't want to appear to be dominating class discussions. But some of my teachers were particularly open to my presence and encouraged me to bring my personal experiences to the classroom situation."
After receiving his degree on May 26, Self will return to teaching at Cornell. If he's lucky, he'll encounter other nontraditional students like the one he used to be.