CORALVILLE, Iowa (KCRG) -Senéad Short, an Iowa City native, died in a train crash in Taiwan earlier this month. She is missed by those whose lives she touched back home. We are told she was not only a great dancer but a great person.
Short’s love of dancing started young, but it’s the grace she carried off the stage that those who knew her are remembering most.
“As a human in the building, she was something that even I tried to emulate, she walked in with such a mature grace,” said Leslie Nolte, Owner of Nolte Academy in Coralville.
Short attended Nolte Academy for more than a decade.
“A lot of younger dancers looked up to her, not only just because she did dance almost all of our principal roles in the Nutcracker and any of our various ballet productions, but just as a human,” said Jayme Braverman, a friend who grew up dancing with Short.
“It was always ‘How can I help? How can I help?,’ with costuming, with sort of chaperoning children backstage,” Nolte said.
Short continued to help others within the community. She worked for a time at non-profits like Shelter House in Iowa City and CommUnity Crisis Services and Food Bank who said:
“Senéad Short was a dedicated and extremely hard worker during her time at CommUnity and was able to help many people during their time of need. Senéad had the most calming and reassuring presence. She truly cared about people to her core and it showed. On behalf of all of us at CommUnity, we offer Senéad’s family and friends our most heartfelt condolences and sympathy at this difficult time.”
Short graduated with honors from the University of Iowa in 2018, who said, “With her Fulbright Assistantship Award to Taiwan, she was teaching English in Taipei and offering dance and art lessons to children in the community.”
“I knew she always wanted to give back to when I learned that she was teaching dance in Taiwan in her free time, it’s just such a sense of pride,” Nolte said.
At her studio in Coralville, Nolte plans to offer an annual scholarship in Short’s name for future dance students who travel abroad.
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