Ready To Dance

Posted by Amanda Tyler in Dance

The first week of school usually consists of meeting classmates and reading through countless syllabi. In SFUAD’s dance department however, rehearsals are already in full swing. With the dancer’s first performance this weekend as a part of The After Hours Alliance Festival of Progressive Arts, and their second just two weeks later in celebration of Greer Garson’s 110th birthday, all seven dance majors have schedules full of rehearsals and brains full of choreography.

Elliott teaches a musical theater dance class.

Shannon Elliott, the chair of the dance department, described a vibrant, eclectic group of five new students. With three new women and two new men, all with different dance backgrounds, hailing from various parts of the country, the diversity and collective experience of the department only seems to be growing.

“It’s nice to have this new energy, and just a new comradery that I see occurring. Them working together not only in class, but also in rehearsals,” Elliott says.

There are also two new faculty members contributing to the further growth of the department. Banu Ogan, who will be teaching both ballet and modern classes, taught at Juilliard for almost an entire decade after her career with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. A new ballroom class that will address swing, tango and salsa will be taught by Mike Garcia, a prominent figure in the Santa Fe dance scene.

“I think it’s great to actually have them here and to see who the dance majors are,” says Elliott. “And to begin conceptualizing how we can move this group forward together.”

Elliott also has plans to bring in guest choreographers not only to make original works, but also to teach master classes and set existing pieces on the dancers. With only a week of the new school year under their belts, this upcoming semester is already proving to be an exciting, innovative time for the dance department.