Patti Critchfield, Ferris alum­nus and pre­vi­ous con­tes­tant on America’s Got Talent, plans on using her skills and expe­ri­ence to pro­vide dance work­shops and even­tu­ally open a dance stu­dio in Big Rapids.

“Without my expe­ri­ences at Ferris State, through­out life I would have been just another flower in a field of dreams,” said Critchfield about her time at Ferris.

Critchfield began danc­ing at the age of three, start­ing with tap, bal­let, jazz, and then baton. She was in many recitals while grow­ing up and became a semi-professional dancer at the age of eight.

“My favorite style of dance is jazz/modern with some hip hop. I am very ‘with it’ when it comes to dance,” said Critchfield.

During her time at Ferris, Critchfield was very active in the arts, drama, and music depart­ments while tak­ing classes toward a social work degree.

Upon arriv­ing to cam­pus as a fresh­man in 1972, Critchfield audi­tioned to be a majorette for the school band. A majorette is a woman who leads a march­ing band and twirls a baton.

“There were many girls that tried out,” said Critchfield. “I was informed they had cho­sen three majorettes and that my title would be ‘Golden Girl.’ I was very shocked that out of all of those great baton twirlers and majorettes that I was cho­sen to lead the band.”

During the fall of ’73, the Ferris march­ing band was invited to per­form at a half­time show dur­ing a foot­ball game against the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears in Detroit.

“I got a lot of cam­era time; that was a blast,” said Critchfield. “When we returned that week to school we were informed that our Ferris State Bulldog Band was cho­sen to rep­re­sent Michigan in the 1973 Inaugural Parade for Nixon in Washington, DC in January.”

In February of 1974, Critchfield audi­tioned for the Grand Ol’ Opry in Nashville as a singer and dancer.

“I danced around all of the judges and did the same ener­getic theme I had for Ferris as the Golden Girl,” said Critchfield. “I was called when I returned home and was told I got the part to be in a singing and danc­ing group along with now-famous John Schneider.”

Unfortunately, she was unable to take the part due to a fam­ily issue.

This past February Critchfield com­peted in America’s Got Talent in Atlanta.

“I stood in line for hours and then sang ‘These Boots are Made for Walkin’,” said Critchfield. “A month later I learned that I would go on to the sec­ond round. Of 70,000 audi­tions, I was one of the 400 to beat the heap.”

Critchfield was flown to New York and per­formed at the Hammerstein Ballroom in front of a packed audi­ence and the judges: Howie Mandel, Sharon Osborne, and Piers Morgan.

“Howie stood up while I was danc­ing and was blow­ing kisses to me,” said Critchfield. “He gave me a thumbs-up.”

Unfortunately, Osborne and Morgan said no. She plans on audi­tion­ing again for America’s Got Talent 2011.

This past June, Critchfield audi­tioned for Oprah Winfrey’s new cable net­work called OWN as a talk show host. She is cur­rently still in the run­ning and her video can be seen at oprah​.com.

Critchfield now has her sights set on hold­ing dance work­shops focus­ing on col­lege stu­dents in Big Rapids.

“I have a goal and desire to give back to Ferris for all I gained from it,” said Critchfield. “The major­ity of the money raised from these work­shops will go to the music and drama depart­ments of the col­lege. I had envi­sioned that these work­shops could be ongo­ing while at the same time I could be work­ing on get­ting my own stu­dio again.”

Anyone inter­ested in being on a com­mit­tee to sup­port the dance work­shops, pro­mot­ing them, or inter­ested in par­tak­ing in the work­shops can email Critchfield at pacaring@yahoo.com.

“Dancing, singing, per­form­ing, and reach­ing out to oth­ers have been my themes,” said Critchfield. “Thank you so very much to Ferris for the oppor­tu­ni­ties and the love shown to me by the col­lege and Big Rapids com­mu­nity.” n