CCSF Dance News
Dance Celebration draws public to Wellness Center
The Guarsman, Al Lin, October 24, 2008.
City College’s dance classes convened in the Wellness Center on Oct. 18 to host a night celebrating a new era of dance at the Wellness Center. Students and residents alike paired up to salsa with latin dance band Mazacote on the new North Plaza, while others took an introductory lesson on the Feldenkrais method taught by Jean Elvin.
As the sun set and the autumn moon rose, the dancers moved inside to the various studios of the Wellness Center, waltzing to Seal’s hit “Kiss by a Rose” and learning West Coast swing from instructor Steve Rockwell.
When the clock struck eight, the guests lined up to head into the Wellness Center’s theatre for a mélange of performances by the dance department. Kathe Burick and her intermediate tap class opened the show tapping to Chip Webb’s “Spinning the Webb” jazz piece. Other notable highlights included a Mongolian dance performance and a performance by the City College Cheerleading Squad.
For more information on upcoming dances, check the City College athletics Web site at www.ccsframs.com. The dance department will be holding a Halloween Ball on Saturday the 25th.
Student dance designs
BY MARIAN GO
SPECIAL TO THE GUARDSMAN
November 19, 2007
Step into the North Gym Dance Studio early on any Tuesday and Thursday morning and you’re likely to see several groups of students diligently rehearsing long before the start of class.
Their routines do not seem to fall into any particular style, but even an untrained eye could identify morsels of jazz, ballet and hip-hop presented in compelling ways that the visitor is drawn to stay around to sample more.
Welcome to PE 3 – Dance Composition – where students explore the form, content and design of dance through the artistic process of weekly studies that culminate in a semester-ending performance.
Under the guidance of instructor Luana, the class has been exploring the use of elements such as time, space, energy, shapes, texture, dynamics, rhythm and phrasing in weekly assignments. Now, as students prepare for the final performance on Dec. 6, some will assemble vignettes from past studies to create feature-length pieces of concert caliber.
As soon as the dance studio opens at 8 a.m., groups of three or four dancers assemble to rehearse a fellow student’s composition.
“This class has helped me expand my dance horizons by showing me how to apply structure and concepts to what I am composing,” Jocquese Whitfield said. “It also helps me find ways to give clear instructions to my own students.”
Whitfield, 19, who majors in dance and political science has trained in hip-hop, jazz, ballroom, ballet, modern, voguing, and gymnastics. He currently teaches hip-hop to adults and high school students, and plans to study with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York next summer.
Rachel McCray, 21, has taken classes in jazz and tap dancing at City College. She now feels poised to transfer into the dance program at Mills College.
“I’ve learned so much this semester, not just in techniques, but also in being an effective leader and a confident dancer. This course has served as a springboard for me to consider a career in dance.” McCray said.
The younger students look up to Albert Hodge, 30, a 15-year veteran of musical theater who is repeating the class for a fourth time while pursuing two certificates in dance at City College. Throughout the semester, Albert performs his pieces with such polish and professionalism that he serves as a role model for many of his fellow classmates.
“Luana inspires me to stretch and grow artistically,” said Hodge. “As a choreographer I’m learning how to clearly communicate intent and to develop an aesthetic sense of presentation. As a dancer I’m learning how to reach deep beneath surface layers and cultural forms to bring forth a truth organically.”
Most of the class feels inspired by Luana, who has developed a reputation as a caring and demanding teacher.
“My aim is to teach students to communicate an intrinsic vitality on stage,” said Luana, who has taught at City College for 19 years. “Each student has a brilliance, a genius so to speak. I teach to the ‘internal teacher’ which resides inside the student. I find students understand quicker, retain information longer and can aptly apply the information in a multiplicity of situations.”
Former students have gone on to do great things in the dance world. Gina Thompson, Luana’s former rehearsal assistant, currently leads her own performance company, PURE, as well as teaches classes in movement, cheerleading and dance conditioning. Erin Mei-Ling Stuart of the EmSpace Dance Company first studied modern dance at CCSF.
It is now 9:10 a.m., time to begin another session of Dance Composition. Luana promptly enters the studio, and the aspiring choreographers line up at the blackboard to post their names and the names of their troupes in the order of performance appearance. As each student boldly steps up to the stage, the audience witnesses a dreamer leaping forth onto the larger world of life.
E-mail:
a_e@theguardsman.com
City College’s Dance Composition class will present a concert featuring original student choreography on Thursday, Dec. 6 from 8 to 10 p.m. at the Diego Rivera Theater. Admission is free.
City College’s dance program, a part of the physical education department, has been in existence for more than 70 years. It was featured in SF Chronicle’s entertainment section in April 2007 and recognized at this year’s Isadora Duncan Awards, which acknowledge achievement in dance in the Bay Area. The program serves 2,000 students each semester, offering more than 50 sections of classes in swing, ballroom, folk, Afro-Haitian, jazz, hip-hop, modern, ballet and yoga.
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