by Amy J Barry

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Dance performance and dance instruction have
interfaced like an exquisitely choreographed ballet
throughout the long, accomplished career of Catherine
Fellows, who recently marked her 40th year as the
director of the dance education program at CCSU.
Continually taking dance to higher levels, Fellows not
only made the dance education major a reality and
secured dance education teacher licensure, but more
recently she initiated the construction of the new Dance
Education Center and established the Catherine J.
Fellows Dance Scholarship Fund with an initial gift of
$25,000.
Fellows explains, “The scholarship is not just to give
people once they’re here. I’m interested in providing
support to recruit new dance education majors who
demonstrate outstanding potential in their fields and
enhance the quality of the university dance education
program.”
Michael P. Alfano, dean of the School of Education
and Professional Studies describes Fellows’s tenure at
Central as “nothing short of remarkable.”
“In education we often speak about ‘transformational
leadership,’” Alfano says. “Catherine is one of those
very rare and exceptional educators who literally has
transformed an entire educational landscape as an
outcome of her work. She has been a tireless champion
of dance and dance education in Connecticut and
beyond for her entire career.”
In Her Words
It all began in the shoreline town of Stonington where
Fellows grew up.
“I loved swimming and became a competitive swimmer
at a very young age and was used as a demonstrator,
which gave me a taste of teaching,” Fellows recalls. “And,
as the oldest of five, you become a teacher really quickly
with a mother who is counting on you. I knew that I
would [eventually] put dancing and teaching together.”
Meanwhile, Fellows started attending American College
Dance Festival Association summer dance programs at
Connecticut College in New London as a teen.
When it came time to choose a college, Fellows found
CCSU to be the right school for someone with her
ambitions.
“CCSU was formerly known as a teacher’s college prior
to becoming Central Connecticut State College prior to
becoming a university,” Fellows says. “With my strong
desire to become a teacher and my weak pocketbook,
I totally trusted it was a good fit. I knew that it was not
only affordable but that it would also afford me a great
education, and indeed it did.”
Fellows started out in the Elementary Education
program, but she quickly learned that life behind a desk
was not for her.
“I already innately knew we have to stay moving to stay
healthy, to stay alive,” she says.
She changed her major to physical education because
the program offered two dance courses.
“Luckily I did that, because I then had the opportunity
to go into the sciences: anatomy, physiology, kinesiology
— all necessary for a dancer’s background.”
Catherine Fellows:
Champion of Dance at CCSU
Catherine J. Fellows with the new Dance Education Center at CCSU which has been named after her for all of
her hard work with dance education in Connecticut. Picture by John Atashian.
By Amy J. Barry
Arts and Entertainment

2. 3
Her dance teacher at Central connected Fellows with
dance instructors in New York City, where she went
“right up the family tree” working with dance pioneers
like Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham, and Twyla
Tharp, while creating and choreographing performances
as a student at Central.
After she graduated from Central, Fellows went to
Boston University to pursue a Master’s in Dance
Education. The following fall Fellows was hired to teach
dance at CCSU, and immediately she began writing and
offering new courses in the dance program.
“And then I realized, ‘What’s wrong with dance? Why
are we the ugly stepsister?’” she asks. “There’s the art
degree and music degree, and certification for those
[existed] forever in public schools, but where were the
dance teachers?”
Starting in 1989, Fellows partnered with several dance
professionals in the community to write a proposal
to the state legislature requesting a dance education
certification.
“It took 14 years to do, but we did it,” she says.
At the same time, Fellows played an instrumental role
in creating first a dance education minor at Central and
then the dance education major.
A proper dance space was next on Fellows’s wish list.
“You can’t have a Division I football team running
around a Little League field,” Fellows says. “So we had
a big push, a lot of deliberate, dynamic work to create a
Dance Education Center.”
The former Pump House, one of the oldest structures
on campus, was renovated in recent years to house the
center. Fellows is thrilled with the results.
“It’s a beautiful space. We have high ceilings, lots of
beautiful light,” she notes.
She stresses that she has always brought renowned
professional dancers to campus not just to perform but
also to work with students.
“It’s so great for our students to be on the same stage
as the Jennifer Muller dance company. It makes them
realize that there are no limitations except what you put
on yourself.”
Bigger Picture
Fellows’ philosophy of art and education is
characteristically direct.
“Art is a necessity, not a luxury. Period. And all people
should be afforded the opportunity for art,” she says.
That’s why Fellows strives to make diverse, affordable,
professional dance experiences available to families in
New Britain and the Greater Hartford area.
She is also pleased that the definition of dance has
become wider and more inclusive in more recent years.
“When you merge those kids standing in the street
dancing — and they’re just fabulous — with classically
trained dancers, it makes for amazing art,” she says,
“because you’re getting to share so many different
perspectives, cultures, and different ways of thinking
and upbringing.”
Fellows lives in Bloomfield with her husband, Jaimoe
Johnson (yes, the legendary drummer and founding
member of the Allman Brothers Band). From 1993 to
2000 Fellows was bandleader and drummer for Angel
Fire, a popular Connecticut blues band that she created.
Their daughter, Ciajai Fellows Johnson, is a professional
dancer and visual artist.
Over the years Fellows has stacked up a pile of
proclamations and awards, many with the National
Dance Association. This past spring, The Greater New
Britain Arts Alliance presented Fellows with its Lifetime
Contribution to the Arts Award “in special recognition
of her exceptional accomplishments as a performer,
instructor, and administrator.”
“It’s a humbling experience for me still,” she says. “I
have a lot of awards, but each one is extraordinarily
meaningful.”
And even after 40 years as an educator, Fellows remains
committed to the continued evolution of the dance
program.
“If people don’t know what’s going on here now, they
definitely won’t know after I’m dead and gone,” she says,
“so I want to encourage the continuation of the dance
program and make sure I’m cultivating and shaping
people that will be capable of continuing the work…but,
who knows? I might be here for another 20 years.”
The unveiling of a picture of Catherine Fellows,
performing in “Peace Belt”, in the new Dance
Education Center. Picture by John Atashian.