In the eyes of Butler University Ballet Chair Larry Attaway, there likely won’t be another Jeremy Gruner in, well, forever.
“There’s never been another one like him before, at least in my time here,” says Attaway.
And that’s because Gruner, who is working on a Master of Music Composition, is also a sophomore-level non-degree student in Butler’s dance program. And Gruner is about to pull off a rare feat: He has written a 15-minute musical composition for this year’s Midwinter Dance Festival that he will also dance in.
The piece, titled Prophetstown, is about Tecumseh, the Native American Shawnee warrior and chief, and Tenskwatawa, his younger brother. Collaborating with Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance Fernando Carrillo, who choreographed the piece, Gruner wrote a composition he describes as “rhythmically consistent and drum-heavy, with distinctive fast and slow sections.”
To get the music right, Carrillo says, he talked to Gruner about the style of music he likes and sent samples of music that inspire him to dance or choreograph.
“We talked about tempo, dynamic, and the structure of the dance piece,” Carrillo says. “Jeremy, being a dancer, understood what I wanted and has delivered a great piece of music that has made my choreography flow with ease.”
Carillo says he’s worked with composers who have a background in dance, which helps the choreographer during collaborations. But, Carillo says, it was a very rare experience to have a composer like Gruner who will actually dance in the performance.
Gruner, who is originally from Mahomet, Illinois, was more of a musician—he plays trumpet—than a dancer when he came to Butler. He danced briefly in high school musical theater, and as an undergraduate at Illinois Wesleyan University he collaborated with a faculty member to create music for a dance she choreographed.
But when he started looking at graduate schools, he wanted one that had strong music and dance programs, and also supported collaboration between departments.
“Butler was by far the most pro-collaboration,” Gruner says. “That’s why I came here.”
He started at Butler by concentrating in both music composition and trumpet performance. He also enrolled in a 7:30 AM dance class with Liberty Harris, who is the rehearsal director of the Indianapolis company Dance Kaleidoscope and teaches dance for non-major Butler students. That was his first true ballet class.
On the first day, he was “completely clueless.” The terminology and steps were new to him. But he wanted to keep going, and Harris encouraged him.
“I don’t know if it’s because it was so much of a struggle, but when I would accomplish something—when I would get even a little step further—I would feel such a sense of satisfaction that I never really got out of playing trumpet,” Gruner says. “So I started to work more on dance and less on trumpet.”
Gruner dropped the trumpet after his first semester and prepared to audition for the dance program. He’s now doing the full technique course rotation of an undergraduate sophomore dance major while he finishes his master’s with Professor of Music Composition Michael Schelle.
In place of the traditional graduate thesis recital expected of Music Composition students, Gruner will present an hour-long dance show comprised of music he has written in collaboration with Butler Ballet faculty, alumni, and current student choreographers. He will present that performance at Butler’s Schrott Center for the Arts on Saturday, March 30 at 7:30 PM.
Gruner says studying music and dance simultaneously, along with teaching and holding two part-time jobs, is a lot of work. But he’s up to the challenge.
“Dancing to music is completely different than writing it,” Gruner says, “so it’s been interesting to separate myself from Composer Jeremy when I’m trying to be Dancer Jeremy. With just about everything, I either go full force at it or I don’t even bother.”
You can see Gruner piece in Program A of the Dance Department’s Midwinter Dance Festival, February 13-17 at the Schrott Center for the Arts. Tickets for all shows are $15 for adults, $10 for 55-and-older, and $7 for children. For tickets and information, visit the Butler Art’s Center site.