|
 The
60-Years-and-Up Club: Nancy Bradford Lonero
By Anne
L. Silveri
61
years and counting
This is
the second article in a three-part series that celebrates a
unique breed of dance teacher: those who have had the
dedication, determination, and stamina—and most of all, love
for their art form and their students—to teach dance for 60
years or more.
Celebrating
61 years of teaching this year is Nancy Bradford Lonero, who
opened the Nancy Bradford Dance Studio in 1946 in West
Bridgewater, MA. She got an early start in dance, beginning
classes at age 3. “I liked dancing right away,” says Lonero.
“Alice Thibeau was my first teacher; I stayed with her until
she got married and retired.”
Lonero has
fond memories of being the youngest one in Thibeau’s class and
of wearing a Mickey Mouse mask. But in terms of inspiration,
Lonero names teacher Al Saenger. She studied ballet, tap, and
ballroom with him,
until he enlisted during World War II and she lost touch with
him. “He was a marvelous teacher,” says Lonero.
The young
dancer’s entrepreneurial instinct was apparent from the
get-go. During her teen years she began teaching in her family
home and sometimes took her lessons (tap and a bit of ballet,
at a quarter per lesson) on the road, to her students’ homes.
Despite her interest in dance, she intended to become a
history or English teacher, attending Bridgewater [MA] State
College on scholarship. After a year of teaching at Mildred
Holmes’ studio while going to college, Lonero realized that
dance was her calling. “I have never regretted that decision,”
she says.
The budding
teacher’s father built a dance studio on the family’s
property, and Lonero doubled her prices to 50 cents per
lesson. The school was a family affair, with her mother making
the costumes and her father building the scenery for the rec itals.
She quickly branched out to several locations; from the late
1960s through the early 1980s Lonero operated four studios
simultaneously in various nearby towns.
Eventually
running so many schools “was just too much,” says Lonero, and
she closed all but one. But her school continues to draw
students from several areas. Today her daughter, Terri Trunfio,
runs the studio, although Lonero still enjoys teaching,
especially tap and ballet. She describes her sunny studio for
the past three years as a cozy place with two classrooms and
lots of dance photos and a few Degas prints on the walls. “It
feels like home,” she says. She enjoys seeing and teaching the
grandchildren of former students, plus one of her own—Trunfio’s
son, 5-year-old Nicholas, studies tap with his grandmother.
Lonero has
seen much change in the attitudes of children and parents
since she entered the dance business. “I think today the
children have too much going on their lives,” she says. “They
are spread out too much and are not as dedicated as they used
to be.” She finds that trying to cram too much into too little
time doesn’t work well with the demands of dance training.
Still, she believes that dance education has come a long way.
“The standard of dance today is much higher than when I
started in the ’40s,” she says. “Dance teachers need to keep
up on the latest techniques. They should train all the time.
Everything is changing and evolving.”
Lonero
cites being part of several dance associations as crucial to
her success. She joined Dance Masters of America in 1964; a
past president of Dance Teachers Club of Boston, she still
serves on its board. In her experience, both of these or ganizations
provide helpful material and incentives to improve teachers’
skills. She’s also a delegate to National Dance Council of
America and UNITY (Uniting America’s Dance Organizations),
Inc., a group of teachers from both academia and the private
sector who meet annually to discuss issues related to dance
education.
Lonero’s
advice for new teachers? “Don’t be too disillusioned by the
children these days; you may get some dedicated students and
you may not.” She suggests establishing rules about dress
code, tardiness, and absenteeism right away—and adhering to
them. “Make no exceptions,” she says. “These are all things
that can fall by the wayside unless you stick by them all the
time.” She also encourages teachers to ask their students to
give 100 percent in class. As for dealing with parents,
Lonero’s advice is simple and sound. “Parents should be dealt
with on a one-to- one basis. Every parent is different,” she
says. “Get to know [them].”
This spring
marks this longtime dance teacher’s 61st recital, at Rockland
[MA] High School. It’s one more step in a long career that
proves she has been doing something right. As testimony to her
longevity, her very first student, who is now a
great-grandmother, still studies with her, and she’s seen
generations of students pass through her studio. Endurance and
a steadfast love of teaching are the keys to that longevity.
Says Lonero, “I try to instill a love of dance in all my
students.”
Photo
captions (from top to bottom):
Nancy
Bradford Lonero (center) and family in August 2006. At left,
son Robert Post with his wife, Diane, and their son, Max; at
right, daughter Terri Trunfio with her husband, John, and
their son, Nicholas.
Lonero
(top row, far left) and Trunfio (top row, far right) with
students at their performance at Disney World in June 2006.
By age
7, Lonero was a four-year dance veteran.
Lonero
(right) with her daughter, Terri Trunfio, in 1990, at the
Nancy Bradford Dance Studio’s 45th Annual Dance Revue.
Photos
courtesy Nancy Bradford Lonero
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