Goessel grad to perform at Kennedy Center
STAR-JOURNAL STAFF
Friday evening, a Goessel High School graduate will get the chance to perform at one of the world's most prestigious stages: the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
That performer is Katrina Toews, daughter of Jerry and Leann Toews.
Katrina will perform with the Sister's Trousers Dance Company, a seven-woman dance troupe based in Washington. She's been a member of that company for about a year, according to Leann Toews.
Katrina graduated from Bethel College in 1998 and then moved to Washington, where she earned her master's degree in dance from American University. For the past two years, she's been teaching at James Madison University.
Friday will be a full concert for Katrina's company, featuring seven pieces. Katrina will perform in four of them, Toews said.
Although Katrina teaches a variety of dance styles at James Madison, ranging from ballet to modern, Friday's performance will be strictly modern dance.
"Ballet's a thing of the past," Toews said.
Toews, her husband, and two sisters are going up for the performance. They're leaving Thursday and driving straight through — then leaving shortly after, she said.
But this isn't the first time they've made this drive to D.C.
Each year at James Madison, the dance faculty put on a concert for their students. The concert is usually during the first or second week of the school year, so this year it was in September.
Katrina performed in at least two numbers, one that she choreographed herself and one choreographed by another faculty member. The Toews family went up to see that concert.
"We've made numerous trips," Toews said.
Katrina's company performs in many cities around the Washington-New York-Baltimore area, Toews said. This is their last concert before Christmas.
Toews' daughter has been dancing since she was 5 years old, when she took dance classes at a Newton studio.
Katrina put her dancing on hold during high school, while she kept busy with sports. But once at Bethel, Katrina took up dance lessons again.
She's a professional dancer from Goessel — a distinction that probably no one else can claim.
"It's neat to have a Mennonite dancer," Toews said. "It's always neat to tell people that."
