School's leader found his calling

GREENVILLE — Variety long has been the spice of Bruce Halverson's life. He's served on the faculties of seven colleges, as the director of three theaters and as the president of a college.

For 10 years, he worked in the quiet confines of the National Institute for the Deaf, where he started and directed a performing arts program. Since 1966, he has been part of a band that will soon be inducted into the South Dakota Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.

Those wide-ranging experiences seemed to converge a year ago, when the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities picked Halverson as its new president, only the second one in the school's history.

Halverson, director at the Black Hills, S.D., Playhouse at the time, thought the challenge of leading a very different school in a very different part of the country sounded interesting. He hasn't been disappointed.

"There's no other school like it," said Halverson, who bears a strong resemblance to actor Donald Sutherland. "A school with no tuition, where you get students from all economic backgrounds, in a cultural environment where it's OK to study."

The Governor's School is a public residential high school for emerging artists. The school gives artistically talented high school students from across the state the opportunity to study a particular art (creative writing, dance, drama, music and visual arts) in a nine-month residential high school.

Enrollment is determined by audition. Dancers may attend the school as early as the freshman year. All other art areas are two-year programs.

"It's sensational. It's ideal. I'm still fascinated by it," Halverson said.

He also is energized. At 64, after four decades of teaching, he finds himself in a setting most instructors can only dream about.

"Our students make the choice to be here. They don't want to waste the opportunity," Halverson said. "Discipline is not a problem."

In fact, a more frequent problem for Halverson's staff is that students spend too much time on their field of art. On a campus where music, visual arts, drama, creative writing and dance are taught besides the traditional subjects, students are often drawn to their arts.

"If they love their art, they want to do it seven days a week," Halverson said.

Halverson understands that well. He's been that way since his college days at Augustana in Rapid City, S.D., where the theater director at the small school persuaded him to help.

His interest in a legal career began to fade quickly.

"I soon learned that there is no unimportant person in theater. If the curtain-puller doesn't pull the curtain at the right time, everybody knows it. Everyone in the project is working on a common goal."

"I remember thinking, 'this is for me,' " Halverson said. "They also had some great cast parties."

For Halverson, the involvement in theatrical productions offers another significant lure, a continual parade of variety. "You're always working on something new. When you serve as producer, utilizing resources, it creates an environment where you do your best work. That's the thrill."

The excitement is multiplied when young people are involved.

"You can do wonderfully imaginative things. The chance to help young people develop their skills ... there's nothing like it," Halverson said. "You just have to find the kid's passion and tap into it."