A man who was killed in his Bellingham home last week, allegedly by a roommate, was the founder of Western Washington University’s dance program.
Nolan Dennett, 74, was the “architect” and director of Western’s dance program until he retired in 2021, according to Western’s website. An award-winning choreographer, he was also an author and Fulbright Scholar.
He’s remembered by former students as hardworking and influential to them and the broader dance community at Western and in Bellingham.
Dennett was allegedly murdered on June 6 by roommate James Anthony Singleton, according to charging documents. Singleton has been charged with first-degree murder and is still in the county jail, according to the jail’s roster. Dennett and Singleton, 36, were in a physical relationship. A hammer was found last week in connection to the murder scene.
Matt Christman, who took dance classes from Dennett when he had just started at Western, remembers him as engaging and hardworking, with a good sense of humor.
“I learned a lot from him,” Christman said. “His choreography was the best choreography class I ever had.”
Kate Stevenson took her first modern dance class with Dennett. She said he was “very influential” in her pathway as a dancer.
“I loved his teaching style because it pushed me into places that I wouldn’t otherwise have gotten into as a mover,” Stevenson said. She said she remembered fondly the way he infused dance history into his curriculum.
“His passion for dance and his brilliance in the art really moved it forward for the college and then of course, for so many dancers that were exposed to it,” she said.
Dennett worked at the university for 32 years and in his time at Western, brought in internationally acclaimed artists to teach, perform and choreograph. The university confirmed Dennett’s identity and past employment at Western on Tuesday, June 11.
As a choreographer, Dennett created works for the National Ballet of Peru, Ririe/Woodbury Dance Company and the Idaho Theater for Youth. He was the author of short stories, articles and a novel, “Place of Shelter,” according to Western’s website.
Over the years, Christman and Dennett became friends. He recalled a trip that the two took with another friend when they rode to Alaska on motorcycles.
Christman said Dennett was “excellent” at fishing, and he brought his gear on that trip.
“We wouldn’t be catching anything, and he’d come in and he’d just like, read the lay of the creek, and he just throws and boom, he’d get a hit,” he said, laughing. “We nicknamed him the master of ichthyological disaster.”
Director of Communications Jonathan Higgins said the university was “saddened to hear of the death of former faculty member, Nolan Dennett. Our thoughts and condolences go out to Nolan’s family, friends and loved ones,” he wrote in an email.
Dennett was also a board member of the American College Dance Festival Association for several years.
“I have fond memories of having a really comfortable relationship with Nolan, and he provided a lot of access to do performing that I probably otherwise wouldn’t have,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson said she’s thankful she knew him and worked with him and called the situation “tragic.”
According to court documents, Dennett and Singleton, of Dallas, met online in May and Singleton moved into a bedroom in Dennett’s residence on Old Samish Road.
The two smoked methamphetamine together, according to the Bellingham Police Department’s probable cause affidavit. Singleton said Dennett became “overly aggressive and dominant” and gave him a deadline to move out of the residence. Singleton told detectives he “feared for his safety” and brought a hammer into his bedroom.
Later, when the two were using meth, Singleton hit Dennett in the head several times with the hammer, he told detectives. He discarded the hammer near Arroyo Park.
Detectives found Dennett dead on the floor next to his bedroom after Singleton called 911 two to three days later to tell them about the assault and that Dennett was “barely breathing,” according to documents.
Singleton’s arraignment is scheduled for Friday, June 14.
This article has been updated to include comments from people who knew Dennett.
Charlotte Alden is CDN’s general assignment/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.
