Eve-Lyne Thomas has spent the last 29 years dancing with students at Bakersfield College. The dance instructor recently found out the amount of time she spends at BC will be reduced to one class in the fall semester.
“The thing that I’m going to miss the most is seeing these beginner-adult students who’ve never stepped into a pair of dance shoes . and seeing the end result,” said Thomas who gave examples of her ballet students, who must choreograph a one-minute solo for themselves by the end of the semester, and her jazz dancers, who perform a routine in the Free Speech Area toward the end of the semester.
“It blows me away. I’m sitting there, and they’re actually doing this whole thing all by themselves. Technically they sometimes don’t look like ballet dancers – but who cares. The accomplishment is a reward in itself for me. And I know that they take great pride.
“They feel good about themselves. They develop a good self-esteem.”
Originally from Kigali, Rwanda, then a part of the former Belgium Congo, she began studying ballet at the age of 7. Thomas moved to America when her father bought a Canada Dry Bottling Company in Fresno when she was 9.
After moving to the States, Thomas began instructing ballet when she was 12, giving private lessons in her home. Thomas acquired her BFA from Cal Arts.
Thomas recalls that she got her job in a slightly unorthodox way. “I simply marched over, unannounced, to the dean’s office at Bakersfield College three days after I arrived in Bakersfield,” said Thomas while laughing. “I applied for a dance teaching position, and this was 29 years ago.”
Since settling in at BC, Thomas has made her classroom a second-home.
Thomas described her dance room as “BC’s little secret.” The room overlooks the swimming pool and has 18 mirrors along the three windowless walls.
“I have several homes. I have my home, my dance studio and I have the dance room, Gym 202.”
Thomas will miss seeing dancers develop in the den she delights in.
“Being that I work with beginners a lot I love the process. I like to challenge my students and see how far I can take them because I know that if I can make them believe in themselves, I know they can go far.”
Although Thomas enjoys working with beginners she also enjoys working with trained dancers, although it doesn’t happen often. “It’s a rarity in Bakersfield to have a trained dancer because if they’re trained they’re going to get out of here and go to L.A. and dance professionally,” said Thomas.
Although L.A. is where many dancers take their talent, Thomas wants to stay in Kern County.
“I love Bakersfield, but Bakersfield doesn’t like me – I’ve had a chronic cough for almost two years,” said Thomas. “So I’m ready to move on someday because of the air. Tehachapi is sounding good to me.”
Although she is an instructor, Thomas has another tie to BC. She met her current husband, Larry Thomas, while involved with the BC theater department.
“We met in a musical; it was called “The Soldier’s Tale,” where he was the lead role. I was his choreographer, and we became best friends for six years before we got married,” said Thomas. “I loved his energy. I loved his voice, and I loved the fact that he was so genuine. We had so much in common.”
When not spending time with her husband or at BC, Thomas is often at her private dance studio on Truxtun Avenue where she will be spending her time after her classes are cut back. She plans to work in the mornings and early afternoons.
However, even her dance studio can’t replace Gym 202.
“I already miss it in my head – I really don’t want to go,” said Thomas. “Even keeping that one ballet class would be a joy.”