Darlene Handler Oral History, 2012

Interview with Darlene Handler conducted by Michelle O'Bryan Hamel. Darlene began dancing at age three with Florence Kessler (Ruston). Before she was a teenager she was inspired by Modern Dance classes with Friedann Parker, so she turned in her pointe & tap shoes for the freedom and creativity of modern dance. She continued her modern dance training with Vera Sears at the Lamont School of Music and at the University of Colorado. Always interested in teaching, she started a studio in her home. This quickly grew to hundreds of students and led her to join with Katherine Marcus Detre and Gloria Kubel (Winber) to found the dance school Three Arts, Inc. in Denver. Darlene developed a special teaching style that involved children, seniors and inter-generational classes that incorporated music and art as well as dance. Her unique teaching style put her in demand to conduct master classes and workshops locally and nationally. She assisted Joan Brown with two Artist-in-Schools residencies in Ohio. Darlene won Greenwood Village Mayor’s Award and the Colorado Dance Alliance Award for Service to the Field. Darlene passed in fall 2018.