Mount

Hannah Mount
September 6, 2016
Molloy Jazz VI
The Quintuple Threat
I consider myself one of the luckiest musical theatre students; I get to live with a working
director, choreographer, and dance teacher, my mother. My mom is Dedra Daniels Mount and
she is one of the most well-known theatre professionals in Columbia, South Carolina. Having
been trained in dance, theatre, and voice since she was around four years old, there are very few
lives she hasnt touched with her work in the local theatre community, not to mention the
extreme influence she has had over me.
As a child Dedra started her artistic studies with ballet, tap, and baton. After a while she
added jazz, acting, voice to her list of skills and began competing in pageants. They didnt teach
musical theatre dance at her studio so she expanded her extracurricular activities to include
performing in community theatre and continued throughout high school, college and well into
her adult life. She explained to me that when she was little there werent many kids in her
neighborhood that took dance classes, there was maybe one other little girl, and so Dedra took it
upon herself to teach the other kids how to dance. She figured if she was interested in dance then
every other kid must be too. She would organize little shows for the parents and parades in the
summer time so she could put her baton skills to use as a majorette. It wasnt her goal to become
a choreographer, it started as her hobby and she ran with it.
Dedra first choreographed for herself in the 4th or 5th grade for the womens group at her
church, she recalled having created a tap routine to Mame to entertain the group. She started
choreographing for others in high school when she joined the many glee clubs and studied in the

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dance department. Through community theatre performances, high school musicals, and her
dance school, she met a man named Bob Barrett. He was the one who pulled Dedra into the
world of teaching, Barrett was starting up his own dance school and needed someone to teach
ballet and he turned to my mother even though it was her least favorite style. Eventually he
expanded the studio and Dedra began to teach more than just ballet, she gathered her own
following of students and 18 years ago she opened her own dance company, The Broadway
Bound Musical Theatre Company for Young People (Broadway Bound for short).
Broadway Bound is a competitive song and dance company and just a few years ago it
branched out and now has its own acting team as well, I was fortunate enough to be a member of
this organization for 15 years. The company originated at Town Theatre in Columbia, SC but
after 6 years Dedra separated from the theatre and took the company with her. She moved to
Workshop Theatre of Columbia (just a few blocks from Town Theatre) and after another 8 years
she left and started renting her own studio in the heart of downtown Columbia. She has taken her
company to numerous competitions on the east coast: Access Broadway, Encore Dance
Competition for the Stars, Bravo!, Applause, and many more. Unlike most dance companies in
the south, everyone who auditions and is accepted into the school goes to the competitions, so
from first years to seasoned vets of 15 years, everyone gets the same opportunities. Dedra
believes it is important for her students to have the same experience, if they work hard all year
they should be given opportunities to showcase their skills.
Dedras company is extremely diverse with dancers ranging from 4 to 50 years old and
on varying skill levels from beginner to more advanced dancers. As a company director and one
of only two dance instructors at the studio (the other being my older sister) she has dealt with and
continues to deal with many different lighting, costume, set, and prop designers. She recently

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started up her own theatre company, The Broadway Bound Vista Theatre Project, and has many
of the parents and adults involved donate their time and resources to help her design the shows.
Similarly, the dance company functions on volunteers, its all very do-it-yourself. I have watched
and helped my mother make props, costumes, set pieces and design lighting for productions and
dance routines. Dedra is a regular renaissance woman and very much of the mindset that while it
may be overwhelming, the finished product is much more satisfying when she has done it
herself. Often times she has to do things herself because of the unusual venues she works in, i.e.
parking lots, on the backs of trucks, semi-round theatres, cafe-toriums, and numerous
competition stages. I have seen her put together completely polished performances in incredibly
bizarre places and it is an amazing skill to have.
Part of Dedras ability to put together inventive productions through unusual means
comes from her equally unusual pools of inspiration. When asked where her inspiration comes
from she began listing all sorts of things: synchronized swimming, gymnastics, the Rockettes, ice
dancing, ice skating, Dancing With The Stars, music, costumes, propsliterally everything she
sees and hears inspires her. Her favorite thing to choreograph with are unusual props, she is wellknown for her stair-ography, chair-ography, cup-ography, and stool-ography. Dedra has made
quite a name for herself in the community with her ability to make massive production numbers
with stools and cups. She views it as a creative challenge to take any normal object and make it
artistic. When it comes to music, the song must stand out somehow and inspire a concept.
Dedras main goal with any piece she does whether its in a show or for her dance company, is
that it must tell a story. If there are lyrics to the song (which more often than not there are), she
choreographs specifically to the words; they bring her the greatest inspiration. She finds it
impossible to ignore the words for doing so would render the performance pointless.

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My mother had three girls: my older sister Leighton, my younger sister Mattie and

myself. We were each gifted in different areas, are completely different body types but we each
have a passion for musical theatre. Therefore, my first question for my mother was if someone
had some natural ability and a willingness to learn, could they dance despite whatever size they
may be? Her answer was of course they could! She then began to regale me with tales of various
unconventional dancers she had taught and worked with and she has covered the spectrum
completely. Of course she also said that as a choreographer you want perfection in your dancers,
strength, flexibility, balance, rhythm, and, most importantly to her, expression. But size really
doesnt have a massive impact on any of those skills.
We then discussed why she became a choreographer versus a performer since she worked
in the local theatre community until her late 30s (shes now 53). Dedra explained that more of
the creativity comes from the choreographer and a dancer is more often bound by the message
and moves the choreographer wishes to showcase. Although her biggest deciding factor in career
path was that you dont age out of choreographing. Therefore her advice to aspiring
choreographers is that its a smarter move than wanting to be a dancer because you can
continue to do it as long as you continue to create and to take your inspiration from life. Her
biggest inspiration was Gene Kelly because of his work taking every day life and elevating those
actions into dance, Dedra loves to do that as well. But her greater advice came when discussing
mistakes she had made in her career, dont let divas control your work. Whether it was a
parent, a student, or an actor, she would never concede complete control to the dancer because
she knows shes always working in their best interest. She explained that she had worked with
dancers and performers who liked to overestimate their abilities and requested that certain steps
be added to routines when they could not possibly be executed properly. Dedra learned after one

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incident of conceding control that it would save her and the dancer a lot of embarrassment if she
would put her creative foot down.
Ive grown up my entire life in an artistic household with a woman I never fully
appreciated until I really talked to her about what she did with her life. Ive heard plenty of
stories about her exploits in the theatre and dance and sometimes it seems quite surreal. I see my
mother in a new light; she is so committed to her students and her craft even though she works
on a local level. Dedra gives everything she does Broadway level effort. She treats every project
she takes on as if it could win her a Tony Award. It is an enviable quality to have and one that I
would like to adopt myself. I want to and will try to start treating everything I do with my
maximum effort, because even if I never get to Broadway, I want to know that I have always
done work I was proud of just like my mother. Being a triple threat is impressive and expected
nowadays, but the real talent lies in being a dancer, singer, actor, mother and teacher. Dedra
Daniels Mount is a true quintuple threat.

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Questions
1. If a person was motivated and had the ability to move, would size prohibit them
from dancing?
2. If you could choose between being a dancer or a choreographer, what would you
pick and why?
3. What is your idea of the ideal dancer?
4. What advice would you give someone who wants to become a choreographer?
5. Music vs spoken work, have you ever choreographed to spoken word material,
how does it compare to music?
6. What have you learned from mistakes you have made on the job?
7. What is your biggest weakness as a dance instructor/choreographer?
8. What has dance taught you?