By Doug Carroll
Communications Staff
The silver-spoon life of private dance lessons and elite academies doesn’t describe Antoinette Proctor.
Adopted as an infant into a large family in Avondale, Proctor taught herself to dance by watching TV, mimicking what she saw. Eventually, she was dancing for her church, Cornerstone Christian Center, and by the age of 13 she was choreographing her own pieces.
Proctor transferred to GCU from Glendale Community College at the start of the second semester, and she has wasted no time making her mark in Susannah Keita’s dance program. She will perform an original piece, “Redemption,” in this weekend’s “Roots of Paradise” spring concert at Ethington Theatre on campus.
She is a double major in dance and Christian studies, and her goal is to someday open a Christian dance company of her own.
“I tell people that, and they say, ‘Those (majors) don’t have anything to do with each other,’” Proctor says, smiling. “I would partner with missionaries. I love to serve and worship, and my company would do that.”
Already she is a veteran of several mission trips through her church, where her father, James Proctor, is the missions director. She describes her adoption as a “divine appointment,” calls her parents “the best examples of an earthly father and mother” and says she keenly feels God’s calling on her life.
“God told me He wanted me to worship, teach and serve,” Antoinette says. “About three years ago, I said I’d do it. Being only a dancer isn’t enough.”
Her depth of expression comes out in “Redemption,” she says, describing the piece as “edgy.”
“I’ve always wanted to do a piece like this,” she says. “In the last six months, God’s been showing me how much He’s been keeping me. I draw off of things going on inside me and with my family. What’s in the piece came through God’s revelation and the unfolding of my life.”
Although Proctor won’t start her Christian studies classes until the fall, she can’t wait. She’s serious about maximizing her time at GCU.
“I love school and I love to work hard,” she says. “I don’t like to waste time. If I’m going to be here, I’m going to learn.”
Keita calls Proctor “a great blessing” to her first-year program.
“For someone with her God-given gifts,” Keita says, “she seems to understand her responsibility to share and engage in acts of service. She has an uncommon sense of self-assuredness that spills over to those around her.”
Proctor also will perform a song-and-dance piece, “Love Drum Talk,” that was choreographed by Zari Le’on during Le’on’s recent stint as an artist in residence on campus.
Performances of “Roots of Paradise” will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Ethington Theatre. Admission is free. To RSVP, call 639.8880 or email [email protected].
Reach Doug Carroll at 639.8011 or [email protected].
