June Rice

June Rice was a student from summer to fall of 1949. She was also the college dietitian for the 1949-1950 and 1950-1951 school years.

Mary Emma Harris shared this short bio for BMC Project, "June Christensen (1926-2017) was a dancer and choreographer. She enrolled at Black Mountain College (BMC) with her husband Dan Rice. In New York, she studied dance and was assistant to dancer Katherine Litz, who taught at BMC. With her second husband Merve Lane, a former BMC student, she moved to California and graduated in physical education at the University of California-Santa Barbara. In Santa Barbara, she taught modern dance in a high schooland choreographed high school musicals. In her last three years, she created an alternative learning center for students who “hated school and were dropping out.” She was a founder of the Youth Theater in Santa Barbara and of The Human Curriculum, an organization that explored the processes of learning."

There is a wonderful obituary that shares professional and personal accomplishments in her life, including this blurb from her time at BMC, "In 1945 June married World War II Veteran Dan Rice. The newly married couple moved to North Carolina to attend the iconic Black Mountain College. June studied dance with Katherine Litz and Merce Cunningham while working as the school dietician. At Black Mountain her marriage to Dan ended and her partnership with English and music student Mervin Lane began."

Alternative Names: June Christensen, June Lane

Relationships

Husband: Fellow BMC student, Dan Rice

Husband: Fellow BMC student, Mervin Lane

Black Mountain College Project

Mary Emma Harris interviewed June in 1998 and the transcript is available from Appalachian State University under The Mary Emma Harris and Black Mountain College Project, Inc. Oral History collection.

conventional education– Elizabeth Jennerjahn dance class – to New York as Katy Litz assistance – Katy Litz as dancer – BMC theater performances – Light Sound Movement Workshop – Peek’s Tavern – role as college dietician – BMC farm – college cooks Cornelia Williams and Malrey Few – BMC housing—family background – movies in Asheville – impact of natural environment – Merce Cunningham dance class – BMC students – college conflicts – M.C. Richards – Max Dehn – Johanna Jalowetz – post-BMC professional life – educational work post-BMC