At the start of every semester, echoes of a Beethoven funeral march haunt Gabel Hall.

Randy Newsom pounds piano keys in Gabel Hall with a sly grin, playing the bleak melody to set the mood of the ballet class about to follow. And the semester to come.

“I love that tune,” he says, laughing.

On a daily basis, Newsom, NIU’s dance department coordinator, bellows to his dancers at 11 a.m. sharp to get the barres out.

To the dancers, that means they scurry to find a place on the barre and strip down to a leotard, tights and ballet slippers: Newsom’s class-attire requirement.

“No garbage!” he frequently roars.

Garbage, meaning T-shirts, sweatshirts, leg warmers, ballet skirts and any other “junk” that might hinder Newsom from poking at a jiggling thigh or jabbing at a mushy stomach.

As Newsom clicks his heels together to give the first combination, anyone in the hallways outside of the ballet studio could easily hear him hollering instructions.

After 25 years of teaching, the 6-foot-3 former Irish National Ballet Dancer knows his size and loud voice can set new students into a panic.

“I was very, very intimidated,” said Jessica Kelpsch, a fourth-year management major. “But that was normal for new students.”

When Brian Grant, a senior dance major, took his first class with Newsom, he would have guessed Newsom was 30 years old, based on how much energy he had.

Newsom, who now describes himself to be at an age where he has started shrinking, recalls a time years back when a couple of his male students would break out in hives when they attended his class.

“I think it is the funniest thing,” he said, laughing. “I think I’m funny.”

Since he started his teaching career, Newsom said he has found himself to be a bit more “dictatorial,” but that doesn’t mean he leaves the fun out of class. Because ballet is so emotionally and physically draining, Newsom said he tries to put a sense of humor into his class so students enjoy it.

Playing the funeral march before certain classes is one way, although the tune serves to intensify the class atmosphere, just as it functions to lighten it.

“It lets them know,” he politely says, “we are going to have a hard class today.”

Newsom’s students, though, are thankful for his sense of humor and enthusiasm, even the “funny” times when Newsom unleashes his “dictatorial” tendencies.

Kelpsch said once you get accustomed to his unique sense of humor, it really helps you get through class; meaning, once you get used to being yelled at “18 million times” for something, she said with a smile. And at a time when Newsom is rehearsing his dancers for the School of Theatre and Dance’s upcoming production of “Sleeping Beauty,” which he is the artistic director of, the yelling is a bit more intense.

It’s routine for Newsom to pace the 85-degree studio during class and scream that his students “aren’t sweating.”

“You could be literally dripping puddles on the floor and he’ll tell you that you aren’t sweating,” Kelpsch said. “It’s never enough for Randy. But that’s his way of telling someone they need to work harder.”

And in the hour-and-a-half Newsom has his students in custody, forcing people to work harder is part of his mission to work toward perfection.

Grant chose NIU’s dance program over joining a company because of Newsom and the training he offers. At a professional company, Grant said, they don’t break down the steps and teach you to use muscles correctly. Newsom, however, is particular about this and constantly emphasizes that “approximate dancing” is not enough.

He often stresses the importance of being exact by comparing a dancer to a surgeon, saying it isn’t good enough if surgeons can “almost” make a good incision on a patient. It isn’t good enough if dancers can “almost” do a clean pirouette, he says.

“He’s probably one of the most meticulous people I have ever met,” Grant said. “If you have a bad habit, Randy will let you know.”

To get to the root of a step and tackle habits, Newsom said he teaches the same class for two weeks, which is different from most professional ballet companies. By repeating combinations for days at time, Newsom can identify problem areas and take care of them.

“I really try to nail it then and there,” Newsom said. “I catch ’em on it.”

By the end of the two weeks, Newsom said he sees massive improvement. To get this type of progress, Newsom has to be hard on his dancers, but they know the reason.

“He’s there to make people into professionals,” Grant said.

Over the years, Newsom’s dancers have joined companies such as the Koresh Dance Company in Philadelphia, Louisville Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Chicago Ballet, Georgia Ballet, Charleston Ballet Theatre and the Maryland Ballet Theatre.

Dancers have also gone on to dance with Disney World, in Las Vegas, on cruise lines, at Myrtle Beach and with plenty of other contemporary companies.

“If you are technically strong and disciplined, you will get a job,” Newsom said.

For students like Kelpsch and Grant, who have been at NIU for four years, training under someone with such a strong drive to produce good dancers has boosted not only their technique, but also their enthusiasm.

“He gave me the motivation to work,” she said. “I have improved so much since I came here – my technique, my performing, everything.”

Although Newsom’s students appreciate the time and effort he puts forth, his work does not go unrecognized in the public eye. NIU awarded him the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching award in 1987-88. More recently, the Chicago Dance and Music Alliance honored Newsom with the 2003 Lifetime Achievement for Service to the Field award.