Nikki Swoboda successful beyond her years - Mankato Free Press

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MSU grad student an exceptional student and teacher

By Robb Murray Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO â€" Nearly 30 students pack themselves into a dance studio in Highland Center at Minnesota State University; some are in tights, some are in workout clothes, some have clearly had some dance training and others clearly have not.

At the head of the class is Nikki Swoboda, a curly-haired ball of energy that keeps people in line, keeps thing moving and, along with a well-chosen John Legend or Ben Harper tune, keeps the room in a constant groove.

This is the jazz dance class, and whether they know it or not, these students are learning from someone who has packed more into her college years than many people pack into their lives. But more on her achievements in a moment. First, dance.

“You guys are already so much stronger in a week, it’s ridiculous!” she shouts in an encouraging tone.

She tells them to stretch and she walks around the room checking form and position. When she spots someone who needs help, she presses her knee into his back and “helps”  him get the most out of that stretch.

A minute later she’s back at the head of the class telling the students to focus on her toes.

“All of my cute little toes face the mirror,” she says, explaining how their toes should look as well.

She leads them through dance steps where they have to coordinate arm and hand movements with legs and feet, reversing sequences, adding a twist here or an extra step there. One move makes them look a little like they’re imitating chickens. Another lets them get a little funky, and they strut across the room in twos like a dancing promenade across the wood floor.

It sounds easy, and for some, it is. But for most the idea of coordinating body parts into one cohesive, fluid, rhythmic, sensual entity is a challenge, and that fact is visible on their faces. Getting this all to work takes effort, practice and talent.

For Swoboda, though, it’s a little bit like a metaphor for what she’s accomplished during the last 10 years.

She’s a graduate student who will earn her Master of Fine Arts soon. Since her undergraduate days at the University of Minnesota Duluth, she has dozens of choreography credits under her belt.

She’s appeared in a handful of stage productions, including her most recent stints in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “Rabbit Hole” and “Cats.” She’s directed a handful of plays and produced three original works, including two children’s plays that have toured the region. This spring, “Virgin Territory,” her thesis work, is scheduled for performances.

She’s published a children’s book (you can find “Ever Met the Hooferjackal” at Amazon.com), taught dance at an elite arts high school in New England, worked as a nanny and, of course, teaches dance at MSU.

Swoboda was born and raised in Marshall. Her mother put her in dance classes when Swoboda was young. While there, she was exposed to a remarkably wide array of dance experiences, which included trips to Russia, Disney World, New Orleans and other places where they were able to learn from better dancers.

“It was a wonderful dance studio,” she said. “They understood they didn’t know everything, so they showed us different perspectives.”

When the time came for high school, Swoboda wanted a different, more arts-focused experience. So she applied to the Perpich School for the Arts in Minneapolis.

She remembers that, for her audition, she had to create a monologue.

“It was something horribly angsty,” she said, “as any 16-year-old from a small town would do.”

That school was a major turning point for Swoboda, and she says the school “made it easier for me to be who I was.”

From there she attended UMD, where she immersed herself in choreography. She picked up work both on and off campus, and by now has choreographed more than 60 musicals.

After UMD she took a job at Walnut Hall School for the Arts in Boston where she taught dance to highly motivated high schoolers.

But she realized that, to move up in the world, and to get back to working more directly with theater, she needed a master’s degree. And after speaking with her UMD adviser, she applied for admission to MSU.

“This is exactly where I’m supposed to be,” she said.

She teaches two classes now.

“As far as I know, this is the first time a grad student has taught two classes in one semester,” said Mike Lagerquist, public relations specialist for MSU’s Department of Theatre and Dance. “Sadly, it means I see less of her.”

Students, however, see more.

One of them is Aaron Alan, a junior from Austin.

He said he loves taking classes from Swoboda because they’re both fun and challenging.

“The wonderful thing about Nikki, she will push you to be the best you can be, and she’s not afraid to expect the best from you,” he said. “I came from a place where roles were kind of handed to me. She’s taught me how to be humble and gave me a lot of support and has made me a much, much better dancer.”

This spring Swoboda will put her thesis work on display for all to see. “Virgin Territory,” which the theater department describes as “taking a hard look at the ‘ideals’ of virginity and how those are perceived in society.”

 It’s a collaborative effort, she said, and she’s been employing one of her favorite mottos: The best idea in the room wins.

She’s the director, of course, and has final say. But she’s taking the ideas of all involved and trying to make the work better through the collaborative process â€" “Seven people working on something has to be better than one person and a laptop,” she says.

After “Virgin,” it’s time to head back out to the real world.

She’s realistic. She knows it isn’t exactly the best time, economy wise, to be job hunting. But she’s hopeful that, with her diverse background and experience as a writer/director/actor/choreographer/teacher, she’s a little more marketable than some of her peers.

“I like to think that I’m going to land on my feet,” she said, “because I always do.”

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