Job Spotlight with Lis Roop, Manager of the CSU Dance Conservatory
Lis Roop likes to refer to herself as a jack of all trades. After all, her jobs through the years have included lifeguard, human factors engineer, newspaper editor, goat herder, soapmaker, homeschooling mom and court mediator, the latter in civil and domestic divorce cases.
And how many of you out there have constructed an underground solar home in the mountains and lived off the grid for five years, using oil lamps for lighting and propane for cooking? Her family did and loved it.
That would appear to make Roop's current job as manager of the Columbus State University Dance Conservatory a piece of cake. The organization is the only such school in the area and works in partnership with the Columbus Ballet to train aspiring dancers for scholarships and work in the field.
Roop, 54, has been in the position about a year, with her work space just outside the studios at the Rankin Arts Center, 1004 Broadway, in Columbus. That's where we visited with her recently to discuss her job, the conservatory and its mission in the community. (Facebook page)
Tell us about the Dance Conservatory.
We're part of Continuing Education at CSU. They've got a lot of programs and we're one of them.
We partner with Columbus Ballet, which is a nonprofit and it is the performance arm of what we do. So all of our shows are done under the auspices of the Columbus Ballet. That would be "The Nutcracker" in December. We just did a percussion ballet with the CSU Percussion Ensemble. That was really cool. We also have "Peter and the Wolf" coming up in January and we're going to do a full "Coppélia," which is a comedic ballet in late April.
"The Nutcracker" is an obvious classic. Is it well attended?
Oh yes. Ticket sales were really great this year. Last year was a record year for "Nutcracker" sales and this year we're doing better than that. So we're just really pleased.
Why are things going so well?
We have a fabulous new director (Lisa Carter). She's originally from South Africa and came here by way of Nebraska, and she's got lots of ideas and she's very dynamic. That's why we're doing four shows this year instead of the one that's typically done. She's just got us go, go, go.
How long did it take to get "The Nutcracker" ready?
I've been working on this one since August. We have our auditions at the beginning of August and then we start rehearsals right away.
Your role at the conservatory is to pull all of this together?
I'm the conservatory manager. I do everything but dance. I do all the registration, all the account and the payment plans. I design a lot of our ads. It's fun. It's non-stop, and I get to do stuff that I don't expect to do. I also do a lot of our photography.
How did you get into this line of work?
I got a job over at Continuing Education as the front desk supervisor on the main campus. I did that for several months and they needed help over here, so I moved over here. It's a lot more exciting and a lot of differences day to day.
What's a typical day like for you?
Right now, I'm closing out all of our payment plans. We do charge tuition to do the dance classes. We have little kids right now from about age 3. We've got (the programs): Move a little, move along. We've got creative movement. We've got pre-ballet. Those are all for the little kids. They typically take one class a week.
Starting with level one, you pretty much take as many classes as is your level. Level one usually takes one, maybe two classes. Level two is two classes, three is three classes, on up. We have up to level six here, and a lot of those girls are taking six, seven or eight classes. We also offer acro (acrobatics), contemporary and jazz.
Why do parents put their children into these classes? What's the goal?
We're the only classical ballet school in the area, and we do not go on monthly dance competitions and such like that. However, we do have a training program for YAGP, which is Youth America Grand Prix, which is the national competition where serious ballet dancers go and are evaluated. They have to go and take their solo dance and will be evaluated and will get offers of scholarships to pay for their training. They can be picked up by companies. They can be picked up by national level schools and that kind of thing. We have girls who are training to go to the competition in either January or February.
Some students eventually want to work in the ballet world?
A lot of girls have that dream, that goal.
They would go to New York or another major city to do that?
There's also the Birmingham Ballet, there's the Atlanta Ballet. They don't necessarily have to go far. There's a Ballet Magnificat! in Mississippi. We had a dancer who went to school here, and then she went to Ballet Magnificat! for six years and she danced with them all over the world. Now she's back here teaching with us.
For our summer program this year, we put on two weeks of summer intensives, which the girls are in training from 9 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon.
So the conservatory pays you to keep track of all the money and other things?
(Laughs) All of the money is in the computer. I keep track of everything in the database. That's all set up for me, and I've got two student workers who help out also. I also send out the communication emails to keep everybody up to date as to what they need to be doing, and any changes. I had to let everybody know to come to class Wednesday, Veterans Day, because everybody assumed they wouldn't have to come. I just do all of the behind the scenes stuff. And I do a lot of problem solving with people. That's something I enjoy doing.
Are you desk bound or running around?
Both. There's a lot that I do at the desk. I'm also in charge of keeping everything in good shape. I have to check the studios to make sure they're at the right temperatures. This is an old, old building, so the air conditioning is pretty wonky. I'm in there everyday checking, because we need to keep our studios at 75 degrees. That sounds kind of warm ... because you're going to work up a sweat. But ballerinas are loose and flexible. They're all stretched out, yet they have to be strong. They're prone to cramping and therefore pulling muscles and injuries such as that. So they've got to have a warm studio, right about 75 degrees. And whenever there's anything wrong, I put in a request with plant ops to come over and fix everything.
How many dancers come through here?
We have about 170 girls enrolled right now, and they take anywhere from one to eight classes. Some girls we see every single day, and they're very serious.
What's the toughest or most challenging part of your job?
Gee, I didn't think of that. I can't even think of the hardest part.
What's the most rewarding part of your job? Seeing someone do well?
It was really cool this year having all of the little girls who I got used to them being at level one, level two and level three, and this year they're all up a level. That's really exciting.
So Lisa relies on you quite a bit?
Definitely.
That means sitting in on meetings?
Some. A lot of times I'm returning her phone calls. When we have new students coming in, if they're 7 and up they need to be evaluated, I'll set up what level to put them in, because our levels don't necessarily correspond with other schools. I talk to them and find out how much experience they have, and if it's an easy decision I schedule them to come in for a level one class, and they try us out while we're evaluating them. It doesn't put the kids on the spot so much, and they've got a whole hour with us and they decide if it will be a fun place to go. We're always adding more kids in the program.
Is it your goal to make sure things are structured and nothing ever derails?
Yeah, it would be nice if nothing ever derailed. (laughs) That is my goal.
What's an example of something you sometimes have to deal with?
If a teacher has some kind of an emergency I will have to get a substitute. I also handle the payroll of our teachers. I do their timesheets and get them sent in. I do everything but dance, that's how I describe my job here.
How many teachers are there?
We have nine teachers (who are independent contractors), plus the director.
You appear to have your hands in several things you enjoy?
I also work as a photographer, and I also mediate for the court system, civil and domestic, meaning divorce cases. I've been second shooter on a lot of weddings lately, and I've been doing some commercial work. I'm one of Kenny Gray's students here at the Rankin Arts Photography Center. I'm working on my digital photography certificate.
Are you where you want to be or would you like to do even more?
This is good. I'm kind of a jack of all trades. As you saw, I have a degree in psychology and then went into engineering. I've just been all over the place.
BIO
Name: Lis Roop
Age: 54
Hometown: An “Army brat” who was born at Fort McClellan, Ala., but less than a year old when her family moved. She’s been traveling since then
Current residence: Just over the Harris County line
Education: 1978 graduate of J.W. Robinson Second School in Fairfax, Va.; earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Framingham State University in 1985; earned master’s degree in industrial engineering from Virginia Tech in 1991
Previous jobs: Lifeguard, human factors engineer, newspaper editor, goat herder, soapmaker, homeschooling mom and court mediator (in civil and domestic/divorce cases)
Family: Husband, J. Dana Eckart, a computer science professor at Columbus State University, and four sons [--] Mike in Virginia, Keith in Wisconsin, Joel at CSU, and Finn at Georgia Military College
Leisure time: Has a passion for photography and is currently pursuing a certificate in digital photography
This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Job Spotlight with Lis Roop, Manager of the CSU Dance Conservatory ."