Meet A Deac
Happy Monday, Deac families. Are you ready for another Meet A Deac? Today we are going to hear from one of our faculty members in the department of Theatre and Dance, Nina Maria Lucas Rice. 
Nina, welcome! Let’s start at the beginning – with your name (as it has changed from when I first met you). I am known as Nina Lucas on campus, but I got married three years ago and added my husband’s last name Rice, so I am Nina Maria Lucas Rice.
Please tell me your job title and how long you have worked at Wake Forest. My title is Professor of Dance and the Chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance. I have been a member of the faculty since 1996 — so 26 years! – and have served as the Director of Dance for 20 years. I also serve as the Artistic Director of the Dance Company.
Tell me a little about your educational and professional artistic background. I received my BFA in Dance Performance from The Ohio State University (OSU) and after pursuing a performing career, I went back to school to receive my MFA from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). I served as a choreographer for summer intensive programs at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts for 10 years, and for the American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive for 4 years. I performed as a soloist for Duane Cyrus/Cyrus Arts Productions of The Vital Grace 2011. In 2010, I produced and directed a concert, Nina Lucas and Friends, showcasing my work and work by my colleagues. My last performance as a dancer was in 2013.
How would you describe your job in layperson’s terms? I am an administrator, teacher, mentor and director/choreographer. My teaching load includes lecture-based courses in History of Dance (DCE 202); Dance Composition (DCE 123); Movement for Men (DCE 130); Individual Study (DCE 294). FYS courses in Jazz Dance: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow; and African American Choreographers; a cross listed course Multi-Ethnic Dance (DCE 236). 
I specialize and teach Jazz and Modern dance techniques and teach all levels (beginner, intermediate, and advanced); classes are Modern Dance Technique (DCE 120/221/222) and Jazz Dance Technique (DCE 126/226/227). I manage the WFU dance company and produce the Fall Faculty Guest Artist Concert which includes producing and overseeing courses in Performance/Choreography (DCE 128/129) Performance and Senior Project (DCE 200). 
How would you describe your research to someone who knows nothing about your field? My scholarly and creative work includes performance and choreography. I have created over 20+ modern and jazz works for the Wake Forest University Dance Company and served as the choreographer for the Wake Forest University Theatre productions of musicals and plays including She Loves Me, Honk, Jr., Hairspray, The Gondoliers, Kiss Me Kate, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Secret Garden, and West Side Story to name a few. 
My scholarly research includes compiling biographies of 20th century jazz choreographers with an emphasis on Black choreographers of this period. From this research, I have designed two new First Year Seminars: African American Choreographers in the 20th Century, and Jazz Dance: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. I have presented papers at various academic conferences on African American choreographers such as Pearl Primus, Talley Beatty and Donald McKayle, and on the topic of Dancing Against Southern Injustice. I have a chapter published on Dancing as Protest: Three African American Choreographers 1940-1960 in the book Trauma and Resilience in American Indian and African American Southern History, edited by Wake Forest faculty members Ulrike Wiethaus and Anthony Parent, Jr.
What excites you most about your field or your research, and how does that translate into your classes or lab? Whether it be in the dance studio, lecture hall, or in a casual setting, teaching is the most rewarding. I love sharing and fostering the art of dance – or any artistic experience with students – in the hopes of inspiring them on some level. I think my passion for the art transfers in the classroom.
What would you say to a student considering a major in your department? Do it!!! The beauty of the arts at Wake Forest is that you can be involved as little or as much as you like without majoring/minoring, so I encourage students to take part in the arts. The skills you experience in the arts transfer across to all disciplines, and can only make you better at whatever you do.
What is your favorite class to teach, and why? I’ll share two: Jazz Dance Technique, because I love the physicality, music and energy in the room with other dancers, and Histories of Dance, because I love sharing the beauty of our art form and its rich histories. 
What do you like best about working at Wake? Working with our students.
And now we’ve come to my favorite part – the bonus questions!
Book(s) you are reading now: Books vary from histories, self-help, spiritual guidance to biographies of influential people.
Favorite movies/TV shows/Netflix, etc.: I love action movies, drama, comedy. Recently I’ve watched the HBO series Game of Thrones, Netflix’s series Stranger Things and Paramount’s series Yellowstone. 
What do you enjoy doing when not at work? I like to be active and usually I am working out, doing weight training and taking a CrossFit class. I love the water or being at the beach. 
Something most people don’t know about you: I was a lifeguard during my high school years.
What questions haven’t I asked that you’d like to answer? “What’s your favorite indulgence?” Chocolate! “What kind of music do you prefer?” R&B, techno, and smooth jazz. “Are you an introvert or extrovert?” Introvert. 
Nina, thanks so much for being our Meet A Deac this week, and for all you do for our students, faculty, and staff in making the arts so accessible to all!
Reminder: you can read past Meet A Deacs here.