Dance returned in a lively fashion with auditions for their November recital, now in their own studio, with ambitions to travel abroad, and plans to return to the national stage for competition following COVID-19.
Over 40 students attended the audition on August 31, which was a larger turnout than expected, even being back in person.
“It’s been an adjustment,” said Jessica Torres, one of several dance faculty leading the audition. “Having the audience changes everything. It changes the energy in the theater.”
The energy level in the room was high as many of the dancers were excited to see each other again or for the first time, many having only been online during the pandemic.
One of the attendees at the audition was Tyree Kelly, an alumni with a dance degree. Tyree has been dancing for about 11 years and is involved in other arts such as music.
“What I want to see in my future career is being either a traveling dancer to perform on Broadway or for musicals like Lion King,” Tyree said. Continuing he mentioned, “I also want to open up a small dance company somewhere in New York or Los Angeles once I have my bachelor’s and fine arts degrees.”
Another of the students auditioning was Adronni Willis, a business major. Adronni is majoring in business as she wants to have the knowledge of how to start her own business, possibly even a dance studio.
“I’ve been dancing since I was seven and both of my parents were dancers. It’s my passion and a good outlet,” said Willis.
She continued on by saying, “I can always go into a marketing agency as a fallback but the main plan is just getting the knowledge of how to start a business.”
Among the veteran dancers of Long Beach City College was a first year dance major, Jada Smith.
Jada has been dancing for four years and was on her highschool dance team. She expressed nervousness going in but was also confident.
“My heart started going 80 miles per hour,” said Smith when she heard that the results would be sent out early that next morning.
Jada’s dancing was also impacted with the shutdown following the pandemic. “I took two years off dance, the long period of being online to suddenly in person again was a switch.”
The dance program is only as strong as their team, a welcoming environment that welcomes all with a passion for the art. “If you think about it, it is more of a family or a community than a team,” said Smith.
The program itself has recently been granted their own studio.
“We’re unique as a program, when we didn’t have one, dancer’s had to consistently adapt outside a studio setting,” said Martha Pamintuan, one of the leading professors for the upcoming recital.
She focuses more on the dancing taking place outside campus, having the dancers ready for any stage, “We’re training them for the top programs.”
Having been recognized nationally in competitions, “We hope to return to the national stage with other colleges,” Pamintuan expressed one of her goals for this semester.
“It is great to know that the team is recognized nationally,” said Jada Smith, in response to the dance team’s place on the national stage.
Off the stage, Pamintuan gave insight on the true goal for the dance team, sharing that, “Traveling abroad is the main thing they’ll be aiming for.”
When asked where she’d like to head, “Africa, there’s also connections within the school for Spain, even in Israel with their strong dance scene. COVID-19 had made these plans come to a halt within the last two years but things are looking up for the future.”