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Inviting Arkansas - Index

Inviting Arkansas - invitingarkansas - Index

40
Inviting Arkansas
In the Spotlight Kathleen Joiner, Owner of Little Rock Junior Cotillion
Photography by Nancy Nolan
Dress, shoes and jewelry available at B. Barnett
Makeup by Vannette Vititow, B. Barnett
Y Not Have a Ball,
Bess Chisum Stephens YWCA
As a woman for whom etiquette is not just a defining
character trait but also a moral principle, Kathleen Ann Henry
Joiner is the ideal social maven for teaching manners and
proper social behavior in the context of formal dance.
Born and raised in Little Rock, she is married to Stephen
N. Joiner, CEO of Rose Law Firm. Kathleen has owned Little
Rock Junior Cotillion (LRJC) for the past 22 years. As a
community volunteer, Kathleen has served on the Boards of
the Stephens YWCA, Riverfest (Chairman, 1997), the Junior
League of Little Rock (Marketing VP) and St. James United
Methodist Church (Stewardship Committee). She is
currently a member of the Board of Trustees at Pulaski Academy,
chairs the Acolyte Committee at St. James, and is a Lay
Chaplin for the Community of Hope.
From her first dance in the sixth grade, Kathleen loved
LRJC and was subsequently thrilled when asked to be a
Cotillion “helper” in high school. When deciding on where
to attend college, Mrs. Roger (Ellen) Butts, founder of LRJC,
told Kathleen that if she stayed in Little Rock, she would be
allowed first refusal of the business upon her retirement.
While in college and as a young adult, Kathleen fostered her
love of performance as a major in theatre arts and speech
with a minor in dance at the University of Arkansas at Little
Rock. She performed for over 10 years with Ballet Arkansas
and held several teaching positions with local dance schools.
Additionally, she founded and taught in the dance at Hall
High School. As a natural extension of her personal and
professional interest, Kathleen finally “retired” in 1986 and
bought LRJC from Mrs. Butts.
While it seems Kathleen was naturally inclined to excel
in her roll as director of Cotillion, she admits that advice
from her predecessor has strongly guided her through the
years. “The first lesson [I learned from Mrs. Butts] was to always
put the students and the Cotillion program first,” she
revealed. “Because of this, I have missed many fun parties,
weddings and trips that fell on a dance night!” she quipped.
But the evident heir of selfless dedication that marked her
voice made it obvious that Kathleen is completely committed
to her profession and the impact it has on youngsters
in Little Rock. Amazingly, she’s only missed three cotillion
dances since the sixth grade, with the first being her
ninth grade Holly Ball because she was performing in the
Nutcracker with Ballet Arkansas. The other two missed
Cotillion events were for the birth of her children Meghan,
now a junior at Hendrix College in Conway, and Robert, a
junior at Pulaski Academy.
The evolution of manners has certainly changed how
modern society views etiquette over the two decades Kathleen
has taught; most obviously, cell phone interruptions
were not an issue in previous years. However, there are at
least three points that Kathleen consistently enforces in
Cotillion. “The most important rule, to me, is that the boys
and girls are nice to each other,” she explained. “I teach ‘The
Golden Rule’ in class, as children of Cotillion age, especially
girls, can be mean to one another.” Such depths of ill behavior
are simply not acceptable at Cotillion. Similarly, proper
introductions- looking the person in the eyes, shaking hands
properly and saying one’s first and last names clearly- are
equally imperative lessons in Kathleen’s classes. And, as all
former, current and upcoming Cotillion participants have
probably heard, there is “no chewing gum allowed in Cotil-