Meet Cole McMechen, currently a sophomore enrolled in CU’s Dance and Theatre department where he is receiving his BA in dance, he is also picking up his BA in Integrative Physiology. Cole is a spring 2016 transfer student, after receiving over $64,000 in scholarship money he spent his first two years of higher education as a dance major at Point Park University in Pittsburgh before returning to his home state of Colorado. Currently, Cole is the owner and creator of Sonder Dance Company, a competitive dance program located in Denver.
What is some basic information about you?
I am 21, an Aries. Colorado is my hometown that I love dearly, I will always call it home. I should be a Junior but due to how my credits transferred I am a second semester Sophomore. I am loving CU so far and can’t wait for next semester already!
What is your favorite thing to do in Boulder when you don’t have classes?
Well when it’s snowing I love to snowboard and ski, but as a person who owns and operates my own business, when I’m not in classes you can find me teaching at my studio or dancing on campus somewhere. Places I love to enjoy when I am not on campus is the Dushanbe Tea House, and of course exploring Boulder an discovering small hidden coffee shops around town.
Tell us about the company you own? How do you manage owning your own company and going to school?
My studio is brand new to the Denver dance world. As an outsider you can look at my studio as a facility that trains young dancers at a professional and competitive level. Being able to manage my schooling and a studio is a lot of work, I very heavily rely on my phone, planner, and dry erase board in my apartment haha! It can be stressful and overwhelming at times, but I love both my school and work dearly so balancing them both isn’t as hard as it could be if I didn’t love what I do everyday.
Do you feel like your schooling is playing a big role in your work with your company?
Yes! The dance department on campus has been such a huge, new experience for me and I am learning so much that won’t just help me to be my best self in the dance world, but also be a successful teacher and studio owner! Through my nutrition and dance injury prevention classes I am learning so much that I can teach my students about how to stay healthy and nourished and avoid hurting themselves. The competition world is always pushing young dancers to force technique and flexibility in ways that can be detrimental to their health, that’s not what I want to teach my students. I also am taking the information I am learning in my classes here at CU and exposing my students to new forms of movement and art through dance technique and choreography.
Besides the Dance and IPHY programs here at CU, what else are you involved in on campus?
As of now, I am not involved with much on campus due to the short time I have been here, and my busy schedule doesn’t leave me with much free time, but I am very involved within the dance community and will be in many shows at CU and also around the Denver area.
You’ve come to CU as a transfer student, what made you decide to come to Boulder, and what about CU is different from your last university?
I first came back to Colorado to work at a dance studio as a Director, but that studio completely tanked and it fell apart so that left me with nothing to do. Then I was able to discover CU and fell in love with the campus! I was very intrigued by the atmosphere within the dance department so I applied, and now I’m here and I am so happy. The biggest difference between CU and Point Park University is that PPU was a private university which was located downtown pittsburgh and due to the unique size of Pittsburgh, PPU was a pretty small university with only about 4,000 students, but their dance department was huge and very well known as a conservatory program. Transferring to CU was a HUGE difference when it came to student body size and the size of campus. As for the dance department at CU is it’s not conservatory but more of a dance family with great, diverse dance training and many student body performances. CU has already offered so many great opportunities for it’s dancers that I have been given access to, both within CU and around the US.
What is the greatest lesson you have learned in your first few weeks as a Buff?
To really manage your time with walking from class to class.. at my last university everything was so close, and now on a real campus it’s a little overwhelming! I also have learned to really show my CU pride all the time, and in addition to showing my pride as a buff show my pride as an individual on such a large campus.
What can we expect to see from you in the near future?
This summer I will be at Perry-Mansfiled dancing with Stacey Tookey and her company “Still Motion” for a Summer Intensive training. I am also a guest choreographer and dancer all around the Denver-Metro area, you can follow me on all social medias to keep up with my performances and masterclasses :)