Winston-Salem State University News May 26, 2021 WSSU aquatics director creates new water ballet class Sometimes to move forward, you need to look back, or at least that's according to the old adage. It certainly rings true for Laura Garner, aquatics director at Winston-Salem State University. She was looking to expand the offerings of the WSSU swimming program. She wanted to find something different and fun and exciting to today's students. "I didn't want to focus on swimming laps or beginning swimming. I wanted people to see swimming in a different light, our pools in a different light," said Garner, who has been teaching aquatics for 40 years. She thought back to her childhood and summers at the pool and came up with the answer. "When I was a young girl going to the pool, they would have a water ballet they would put on at the end of the year. I loved it and I wanted to share that with the students at Winston-Salem State University," said Garner. "This could be considered a type of athletic event, but it's also something that's out of the norm." That's right. Water ballet, also known as synchronized swimming. Its popularity rises every four years in the United States with the Olympics, but then basically disappears from consciousness. When classes began in February there was a solid turnout for the first time around, about a dozen students with a mixed bag of swimming skills but loaded with excitement. Garner made another step back in time ... a really big step back ... to make sure that excitement didn't wane. "I began just talking to the class about water ballet. Then I showed them The Million Dollar Mermaid with Esther Williams," said Garner, referring to the 1952 Oscar-nominated film starring Williams, one of the world's top competitive swimmers of the time. The movie contains many scenes of synchronized swimming. "The reason I started with that, I wanted everybody to know she is the godmother of synchronized swimming." The class was so captivated by the movie, they all purchased black bathing suits similar to the one Williams wore in the production despite Garner's urging not to. "I was very surprised at the interest level, the teamwork that came into play, how the leadership worked. It was incredible. It was the best class I had ever taught at Winston-Salem State," said Garner. "They were so engaged, and they had to bring their creativity with them." One of the first things Garner did was convince her class that swimming ability, or lack thereof, would not be a hindrance in the class. Sandra M. Phoenix HBCU Library Alliance Executive Director Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library 111 James P. Brawley Drive SW Atlanta GA 30314 404-978-2118 (office) 404-702-5854 (cell) http://www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> Honor the ancestors, honor the children and those yet to come. Building Capacity for Humanities Special Collections at HBCUs - Become an ally and partner with us to protect, preserve and share a more authentic record of American history. Follow this link http://hbculibraries.org/humanities-2019.html for more information. Follow this link http://hbculibraries.org/ and click on the Donate Now button to invest in this project. Your support is appreciated. Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ and Twitter at https://twitter.com/HBCULibAlliance Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/