Contemporary English faculty would likely not reel in horror from the image of a mid-century literature professor at rest: suited and seated, book in and sherry at hand, Mozart on the gramophone (except for the suit and possibly the sherry/Mozart). After all, they pursued the profession because they loved reading and writing.But unlike predecessors who may have been loath to leave their libraries, our current English professors are also athletes and singers, woodwind and canoe enthusiasts, social activists and gardeners. In March, the Twin Cities Star Tribune ran a feature about local ice dancers, and there was Professor of English Josephine Lee, striking an elegant horizontal pose in the arms of her skating partner Jim Kamin. Turns out she and Kamin are among the top adult amateur ice dancers in the U.S.
Meanwhile, Professor Charles Sugnet's planned retirement in spring 2015 recalled his ongoing, decade-plus tenure as a co-host of the KFAI radio show "African Rhythms" (Thursdays, noon-2 pm; 90.3 FM in Minneapolis and 106.7 FM in St. Paul).
As a teenager in Buffalo, NY, Sugnet snuck into jazz and blues clubs, igniting an interest in African American culture that only grew during the civil rights battles he participated in as a graduate student in Virgina in the 1960s. But whatever he explored in his off time, Sugnet the professor was a scholar of English language fiction--that is, until changes in English studies, and a trip to Africa, dramatically shifted his research focus, and led to the radio gig. Professor Lee began skating competitively in college, after bowing out of gymnastics (she was on the varsity team at MIT). For each, the respective activity is a passionate pursuit, one that provides both a balance to and an enhancement of their work as writers and teachers.
"It's great to have some regular exercise, especially since most of my work involves sitting," Lee reveals bluntly. The scholar of Asian American drama continues: "Skating does involve putting yourself out there as a performer. Being reminded of how risky this feels is important to my teaching and to my understanding of theater and performance more generally."
Lee initially skated freestyle, "because I loved to jump." But an early coach told her ice dancing would improve the quality of her edges. A chronic condition put an end to her husband's ice-dancing days. Then Lee invited Kamin, a public defender, to partner with her. They won the Silver Level Dance at the 2010 U.S. Adult Nationals in Bloomington. They moved up to the Pre-Gold Level and won it in 2012 and '13. This year, at the U.S. Adult Nationals in Massachusetts, they took third in Adult Championship Dance, the top level for adult amateurs.
"Championship Dance will remain a tough level for us to win," Lee observes. "'Adult' skating is 21 and older, so there are often much younger and more experienced skaters. But of course it's not really about winning. The competition is in so many ways only an excuse to skate harder. Ice dancing looks deceptively easy when it's done well, but it's quite challenging to get all the pieces--speed, flow, edge quality, unison, body line, and so on--in place, and to skate to the music. The fun is in seeing how far we can get."
As a graduate student, Professor Sugnet ended up as an academic adviser to some African-American students seeking to know more about their African heritage. "I started reading African literature in response to this pedagogical emergency," he reports, "and I kept up that interest without thinking it would ever become my academic specialty." But, with the entry into the academy of "Third World" literature and postcolonial studies in the 1980s, Sugnet saw a way to refocus his research on African literature and film. Then came an eye-opening trip to Senegal in 1988--the discovery being not African life, but how his own assumptions as a Westerner blinded him to its complexities. Challenged, he spent much of a decade in Dakar and elsewhere, learning Wolof and trying to work in collaboration with "knowers" from Senegal and other parts of Africa (including novelist and recent English visiting scholar Nuruddin Farah).
With each trip to Africa, he brought back records, CDs, and tapes of music, from Fela Kuti to Baaba Maal. In Minneapolis, Sugnet met Mali immigrant Salif Keita (with him at right at KFAI), who hosted an African music show on Thursdays at KFAI. Sugnet remembers: "Salif started coming over to my house on Wednesdays, because I had all this music"; and it wasn't long before Keita invited him on the show. Eventually, Sugnet trained for and earned a broadcasting license.For a decorated teacher (both CLA and University awards), it was a natural fit: On the mic, Sugnet shares stories, translates lyrics, and provides context to the music. "I want to give at least a minimal awareness of the places and situations," he has said, "which I hope is cumulative in making these real places, rather than somewhere where everybody lives in a grass hut outside of time. Africa is extremely modern."
Indeed, the tracks played by Sugnet and his fellow hosts (also including Brad Wrolstad and George Ndege) include electronic music and hip hop. The intent is to communicate the diversity of African music: traditional to edgy, acoustic to digital, Kenyan to Minnesotan. The point is to celebrate--and to educate: "You can tell from listening to the radio show that I love the music," comments Sugnet. "But when it comes to Africa there is just an endless stream of misconceptions."
These days, Sugnet is shifting down from weekly to monthly participation on "African Rhythms." But you can still see him regularly at African music shows around the Twin Cities. He's the tall pale guy with the shock of white hair and delighted grin: the fan whose detailed knowledge of the music hasn't dulled his clear enjoyment of its performance.
It's the same look you can glimpse on Professor Lee's face as she finishes a routine. "The sensation of skating across the ice with speed and power--and on good edges--is sublime," she declares. "I also like that ice dancing can be a lifelong activity; I admire how many of my fellow skaters, many of them well into retirement age, manage to keep it an important part of their lives and how energetic and vital they are as a result.
"I like to think that ice dancing keeps me honest," she concludes finally, "since you can neither fake nor buy beautiful edges."
As Sugnet knows, that's a truth beyond the ice rink.
