Patterson wins scholarship
KEENE, N.H. — Presque Isle is considered a pretty remote part of Maine, and it’s certainly remote from Keene State College.
But it’s not as remote as the possibility of a dancer with little technical training winning the Theatre and Dance Department’s prestigious Talent Scholarship, though that’s just what Hanna Patterson, an incoming freshman from Presque Isle, did this summer.
To apply for the scholarship, students meet with department staff for a 20-minute audition and conversation. Usually, students audition with dances or scenes they have performed in the past year under teacher direction — pieces that the teacher has choreographed or directed and that the student has performed a number of times for an audience.
Patterson didn’t go that route.
“She said she was so overwhelmed with gratitude for the opportunity to be part of the KSC community and be able to pursue dance,” said Professor of Theatre and Dance Elisabeth Roos, “that she choreographed her audition piece especially for us to share her feelings.
“We saw so much raw talent in her that there was no question that she was our scholarship winner,” Roos recalled.
For a dancer, Presque Isle isn’t exactly the land of opportunity. Patterson couldn’t take dance lessons until she was 12, and there was only one small studio within a 100-mile radius of her home. She’s never had a formal technique class. Much of her technique comes from what she’s made up or learned from YouTube videos. But her love of her art has pushed her to succeed, despite the odds against her.
“I have so much inside of me that I can’t communicate in words. I have to dance it out,” she explained.
