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College instructor’s ties to Swayze
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| Patrick Swayze strikes a pose in this San Jacinto College yearbook photo. |
By YVETTE OROZCO
When Patrick Swayze died this week, newspapers and other media outlets recalled an actor of numerous films who had bravely and publicly battled cancer.
But Patti Underkircher had a more personal recollection.
When Swayze, a Houston native, attended San Jacinto College Central Campus from 1971 to 1972, he managed to shine even then.
“We were enrolled in our modern and jazz classes,” said Underkircher, a Pasadena native and now a yoga and fitness instructor at San Jacinto College.
At the time, the campus had a competitive gymnastics team and its coach required students to enroll in dance classes for flexibility.
“Mr. Swayze was in our dance classes and got to partner with him and dance with him,” said Underkircher. “I’m a native Texan, he was a native Texan and we all got along really well because we were very laid back.”
Swazye, whose mother, Patsy Swayze, was a successful Houston choreographer and dancer, had already surpassed his fellow gymnasts.
“He had this incredible dance background, so he was the standout of all these guys,” said Underkircher. “They were all very athletic and very good movers, but he was this guy with this tremendous background.”
That background had led Swayze to pursue dance at a time when male dancers were still a rarity, at least at San Jacinto.
“It was wonderful to get to dance with these guys because in that time, there were not that many male dancers,” said Underkircher. “It was a little unusual for us.”
The classes would visit area high schools to perform and to recruit for the San Jacinto dance and gymnastics programs.
“We did a lot of performances that were informal and also performed formally at Slocum Auditorium in the spring,” Underkirtner recalled. “It was just a whole year of getting to work with these guys and perform with them – it was great.”
At the end of the school year, the classmates moved on. Underkircher went on to study with Swayze’s mother and then on to university.
But Swayze went to New York to find fame.
“It was a big leap for sure,” she said. “It was like ‘Wow, what a risk-taker’ because I went to university that had a dance program and stayed in the educational safety, but he went out and really put himself on the line professionally. It was a big step. At that time it was so unusual to do that and I think we were all just so proud that somebody from here had done that.”
Keanu Reeves, Swayze’s co-star in the 1991 film, “Point Break,” remembered a person “generous to everyone around him, he just lit up a room.”
Another co-star, Leslie Ann Down, from 1984’s TV miniseries “North and South” recalled Swayze as “a very humble guy.”
Both films caught Swayze before and after meteoric fame, and Underkircher can attest to both of those assessments.
“He was very kind and courteous. He wasn’t a macho guy of any sort, he was very easy to approach and was very respectful to everyone – the teacher and the students. He was a very sweet guy, well-grounded and very easy to approach – just very genuine.”
Swayze has provided a kind of inspiration for Underkircher’s own students’ aspirations.
“It (fame) is possible and he was an example of that,” she said.
But Patti Underkircher had a more personal recollection.
When Swayze, a Houston native, attended San Jacinto College Central Campus from 1971 to 1972, he managed to shine even then.
“We were enrolled in our modern and jazz classes,” said Underkircher, a Pasadena native and now a yoga and fitness instructor at San Jacinto College.
At the time, the campus had a competitive gymnastics team and its coach required students to enroll in dance classes for flexibility.
“Mr. Swayze was in our dance classes and got to partner with him and dance with him,” said Underkircher. “I’m a native Texan, he was a native Texan and we all got along really well because we were very laid back.”
Swazye, whose mother, Patsy Swayze, was a successful Houston choreographer and dancer, had already surpassed his fellow gymnasts.
“He had this incredible dance background, so he was the standout of all these guys,” said Underkircher. “They were all very athletic and very good movers, but he was this guy with this tremendous background.”
That background had led Swayze to pursue dance at a time when male dancers were still a rarity, at least at San Jacinto.
“It was wonderful to get to dance with these guys because in that time, there were not that many male dancers,” said Underkircher. “It was a little unusual for us.”
The classes would visit area high schools to perform and to recruit for the San Jacinto dance and gymnastics programs.
“We did a lot of performances that were informal and also performed formally at Slocum Auditorium in the spring,” Underkirtner recalled. “It was just a whole year of getting to work with these guys and perform with them – it was great.”
At the end of the school year, the classmates moved on. Underkircher went on to study with Swayze’s mother and then on to university.
But Swayze went to New York to find fame.
“It was a big leap for sure,” she said. “It was like ‘Wow, what a risk-taker’ because I went to university that had a dance program and stayed in the educational safety, but he went out and really put himself on the line professionally. It was a big step. At that time it was so unusual to do that and I think we were all just so proud that somebody from here had done that.”
Keanu Reeves, Swayze’s co-star in the 1991 film, “Point Break,” remembered a person “generous to everyone around him, he just lit up a room.”
Another co-star, Leslie Ann Down, from 1984’s TV miniseries “North and South” recalled Swayze as “a very humble guy.”
Both films caught Swayze before and after meteoric fame, and Underkircher can attest to both of those assessments.
“He was very kind and courteous. He wasn’t a macho guy of any sort, he was very easy to approach and was very respectful to everyone – the teacher and the students. He was a very sweet guy, well-grounded and very easy to approach – just very genuine.”
Swayze has provided a kind of inspiration for Underkircher’s own students’ aspirations.
“It (fame) is possible and he was an example of that,” she said.
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