News Archives - 2007

Many recent graduates' plans are up in the air. For Theatre Arts major James Lekatz, being "up in the air" is exactly where he wants to be.

"Being in the air is a totally different feeling," he says. "It's to defy gravity."

The Theatre Arts major from Virginia, Minn. is speaking of aerial choreography, which he first experienced while working on the Augsburg Theatre Arts production of "Machinal" his freshman year. Adjunct instructor David DeBlieck '88, who is also artistic director of Wicked Sister Dance Theatre, choreographed the production. Lekatz continued to hone his skills by taking Darcey Engen's movement course and aerial choreography courses on fabric and dance trapeze from DeBlieck at Patrick's Cabaret.

Lekatz will head to London in October to begin training at the London International School of Performing Arts (LISPA). He was one of 80 applicants accepted from around the globe. The school, founded in 2003, is based on the teachings of Jacques Lecoq, which focus on movement and how the body conveys emotions. This varies from American theatre training, which focuses on the psychological, Lekatz explains. Currently studying at LISPA is Theatre Arts alum Andy Langenfeld '02, who will be in his second year while Lekatz is in his first.

At the end of the two-year program, Lekatz will receive a certificate. He hopes to one day perform with Cirque du Soleil.

"Between now and October, I have to find an apartment and a job [in London] and learn to navigate the Tube [London's underground metro system]," Lekatz says. For someone who has learned to feel at home in the air, the underground shouldn't be a problem.