Cheers, whistles and applause echoed loudly in the jam-packed Saville Theatre after the captivating performance of “More than JustICE,” a hip-hop piece from City College’s last dance concert of the semester.
Dressed in white and electric blue street wear, sunglasses and sideways hats, dance students performed a high-energy hip-hop dance that captivated the audience’s attention. They danced to a hip-hop mash-up with music by Booba and Common, break dancing, bouncing around the stage and throwing each other high into the air.
An Evening of Dance was held on the night of May 10 and had a wonderful turn out, with the theatre completely packed full of friends and family members of the dancers, students and faculty members.
“We give 2 complimentary tickets to all students so along with the paying customers we get a great crowd for our shows,” director Alicia Rincon said in an email interview.
“I am so proud of my students and faculty with their dedication to excellence and their joy of the creative process,” Rincon said.
Rincon wants City College students to know about the Dance Department, and the classes and oppurtunites.
“We offer a variety of courses for every student need. Students may not know that we offer along with the technical classes, Salsa partnering, Yoga, Pilates, Choreography, and performing opportunities in the fall and spring.”
David Martinez, 24, mechanic engineering major, encourages students to take dance classes. He is enrolled in a street dance class at Mesa College, and has taken class here at City.
“It’s fun. You can’t knock it ‘til you try it,” Martinez said, combatting stereotypes about dance.
The concert had two acts, each with five choreographed pieces. There was a variety of dance styles including contemporary, hip-hop, jazz infusion, modern and dance theater. There was a total of four poems that were acted out as dances.
The show started off with a comical piece, “Odd is as Odd is,”choreographed by Debi Toth-Ward. The dancers wore brightly-colored jester outfits and silly expressions. The audience laughed as they danced around stage and bumped into each other, sometimes falling dramatically to the floor.
“I loved the humor and the costumes,” said Jaime Nixon, 21, dance and psychology major.
Nixon performed in five out the 10 pieces of the show. Although he said he always gets nervous waiting for the performance day to come, he liked performing and enjoyed all the dances he was in.
“I loved it. It’s kind of relieving to perform after all the rehearsing,” Nixon said. “I’m getting used to performing and getting more comfortable in my own skin,” he added.
Another piece that the audience clearly enjoyed was called “It was a Good Year.” This was a playful jazz piece, with a romantic mood, in which the dancers portrayed love-struck students. They captured the audience’s attention with their well-coordinated swing dancing techniques,
The dancers chased each other around the stage like love-sick puppies to “The Nearness of You,” by Stan Getz. The entire audience burst out in laughter as the dancers acted out humorous love triangles.
“We were very bipolar with our love,” said Nixon, laughing.
Dance major, 24-year-old Sarah Zwoniarkiewicz explained that she was in the class that performed “It was a Good Year.”
“I love seeing some parts in class and then seeing them put into different parts of the show,” Zwoniarkiewicz said.
Although she did not perform in this concert, she said she really enjoyed the performance and hopes to be able to perform in the future.
“My favorite part was the hip-hop, as well as my class,” she said.
Performances were also held on May 11 at 2 and 8 p.m. For more information visit the website www.sdcity.edu/campuslife/dance.
