DeAnna Pellecchia

Teaching dance, founding a dance company, dancing with horses… These are just some of the career highlights of three successful Roger Williams dance alumnae—Cathy Nicoli (‘94), Jenny Rocha (‘96) and DeAnna Pellecchia (‘99).

Throughout their diverse careers, each of these dancers has created her own unique path as a dance professional. But when the dancers returned to RWU as visiting guests artists last fall, they all reflected on their common denominator—the RWU dance department’s crucial role in preparing them for careers in dance.

“This program really turns out artists,” Ms. Pellecchia said. “There is a real emphasis on supporting individuals.”

For Ms. Nicoli, her pivotal moment as a dancer occurred her senior year when she earned the chance to perform solo at Washington’s Kennedy Center in the prestigious National College Dance Festival.

Cathy Nicoli
Photo Credit: Scott Lapham

“It was one of the first times I felt acknowledged in a large sphere,” said Ms. Nicoli, now a member of the dance faculty at Hampshire College. “It was a very good learning experience.”

After graduating from RWU, Ms. Nicoli danced for Elephant JANE Dance and Groundwerx Dance Theatre in Rhode Island, earned an M.F.A. in dance from Smith College and danced in Ben Folds Five’s “Underground” MTV music video.

Ms. Rocha took a different path—in 1998, she co-founded Rocha Dance Theatre in New York City with fellow RWU alumna Christine Poland (‘96), serving as artistic director and choreographer. She has also choreographed several off-off-Broadway productions.

To RWU dancers who aspire to dance in New York, Ms. Rocha advises: Ask a lot of questions, audition for everything and keep performing. “The more I perform, the more comfortable I am, the more I experiment,” she said. “It took me years to figure out my style.”

As for Ms. Pellecchia, she’s built her career around an eclectic, yet relatable style of dance that’s inspired by visual and martial arts and performance theater. She has walked on 9-foot stilts, contorted in a water-filled copper well and tangoed with horses on Martha’s Vineyard.

Jenny Rocha

“People have a very hard time relating to dance,” said Ms. Pellecchia, who currently serves on Boston University’s dance faculty. “My mission is to create dance works that are accessible to audiences.”

Last December, the three dancers joined other alumni in performing a dance tribute to Kelli Wicke Davis, soon-to-be-retired founder of the University’s dance department. The dancers credit Professor Davis and the rest of the Roger Williams dance faculty with igniting their pursuit to find their unique paths as artists.

“The professors supported my individualism, which is extremely important in the creation of an artist,” Ms. Nicoli said. “I was learning technique, but learning to be real and be me on stage.”