Dancevision alumna returns to Culver to give back, inspire next generation

Sammy Roemer ’25 stepped back onto the Dancevision studio floor as an instructor, asking dancers to grab a pen and paper and write down what was on their minds and a goal for the day, a practice she learned in a University of Texas dance class.

“Whatever you’re worrying about right now, throw it out the door. We have an hour and a half to dance and that’s what you can control right now,” she said.

Emily Fought, Dancevision director and senior instructor, has built a tradition of inviting graduates back to lead classes, offering current students a glimpse of possibilities beyond Culver, an elite leadership-oriented boarding school in northern Indiana.

Lucy Burk ’23 W’19, a junior at Elon, and Merrill Parker ’22, a senior at Villanova, also returned in recent years. Fought wants students to see that dance can extend beyond high school, whether as a college major, a career or a lifelong passion.

“When these kids are going off to college specifically for dance and they're going to different colleges, it's important for the girls to see that this is an option beyond Culver,” she said. “It's important for them to know that the work that they're doing at Culver is going to pay off if they want to go to the university route.”

Roemer, a freshman pursuing a bachelor of fine arts in dance at Texas, said her own decision to return was shaped by similar experiences as a student. She remembers Parker, who was a senior when Roemer was a freshman, returning and then Burk returning for two years. She said it made a lasting impression.

“It was just really cool to see that they were doing in college and how they could apply what they learned at Dancevision and at Culver in college and just put it all together and come back to such a special place,” Roemer said.

She was happy to provide the same experience.

“I was really excited about the opportunity to take what I learned at Texas, take what I learned here, put it together and then come back here,” she said.

She said during her first year at Texas she took ballet and contemporary dance classes, along with a production lab focused on lighting and other backstage roles required to put on a performance.

She said during her first year at Texas she took ballet and contemporary dance classes, along with a production lab focused on lighting and other backstage roles required to put on a performance.

She said when she was applying to colleges she felt as though she had a big advantage because of what she had learned through Dancevision and honors in Dance.

“Not a lot of people get the chance to take dance history, take dance composition and then have the opportunity to choreograph a solo and a group piece from scratch and design the lighting and the costumes and the props and everything else,” she said. “So I had that unique experience at Culver. I was able to talk about it with my fellow dancers at Texas and they're like, ‘I haven't had the opportunity to do that yet.’ I feel like I was one step ahead.”

During her visit, Roemer led a class, sharing warmups, technique and contemporary choreography drawn from her first year in college. Fought gives returning alumni wide latitude in how they structure their sessions.

“I just tell them to just show us what you've learned. Give us an idea of what is different or unique about where you're at now,” Fought said.

Fought also points to alumni who have built careers in dance. Carina Conti ’12 played Paula Abdul in the HBO series “Winning Time.” Dana Crigler ’93 is co-founder of the Namari Dance Center in Atlanta. Stephanie Scopelitis ’83 SS’79 built a career in New York as a modern dancer and choreographer and now works as an educational consultant.

Fought said Burk is exploring work on the fine arts administrative side, while Tammy Wang ’23 is studying film lighting at the University of Southern California. Fought said these examples show there are multiple career paths in dance beyond performance.

Sarah Christiansen ’27, who hopes to minor or double major in dance, said she enjoys the visits.

“For Sammy, it was really cool for her to come back and teach us some new combinations,” Christiansen said.

She also enjoyed the journaling. Christiansen said alumni visits help connect classroom learning to real-life pathways in the dance world.

“One of my favorite things about when someone comes back is when they share something that they've done in a specific course,” she said.

The opportunity also reassures students that their Culver training is preparing them well.

“Yes, that's exactly what I've heard,” Christiansen said. “Their experience specifically in our honors students has really well prepared them.”

Tess Roemer ’26, Sammy Roemer’s younger sister who just honored in dance, experienced the class from a different p                      erspective.

“I think it's a full circle moment, especially them being a part of Dancevision and us being able to have that experience together,” she said.

She plans to continue dancing in college at Texas Christian University and is looking at a career possibly in physical therapy working with dancers. She hopes to return to teach at class at Culver.

“I would love to come back and teach a class,” she said.

For students such as Christiansen, the message is clear: the path forward in dance is wide open, and alumna such as Burk and Roemer are proof.

“They're living examples of everything that I could become and everything I aspire to be,” she said.

For more information about Culver Academies, click here.