LBCC’s Artistic Director Stephanie Powell has teamed up with JazzAntiqua and choreographers to host the 2023 Spring Dance Ensemble Concert featuring president Mike Munoz.
The event will be running from Friday, April 21 at 7 p.m. to Saturday times at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. inside the Ellis Auditorium at the LAC campus.
The concert will feature diverse genres of dances and music. A variety will be brought to the stage and showcased by the students of LBCC within 11 performances including a performance by the school’s faculty.
Choreographers are able to choose their music, dance style and concepts. Being featured are dances of ballet to hip-hop and belly dance fusion, providing something to see for all groups in the audience.
Tickets will be $15 general admission which includes students and other attendees. Senior students enrolled into LBCC will be charged $10, as well as staff. High school students with a valid school ID will be able to get in for free.
There will be snacks and drinks sold, available inside of the lobby of the auditorium. All of the sale benefits will go directly to the LBCC dance program.
With a cast of over 40 dancers included, students and staff all devoted lots of time and energy to give their all during their performance. Students were very excited to have the amount of support from staff and superintendent-president Mike Munoz.
“Mike Munoz, the energy he brought to the rehearsal was amazing, everyone is so wonderful and I’m blown away by how supportive everyone is,” says Jacqueline Estrada, a current dance student at LBCC who also used to be on the cheer team.
“It’s a group effort and we want to give it our very best.” added Estrada.
Auditions took place in February, at the beginning of the spring semester and students and staff have been devoting up to 15 hours a week for practice depending on the amount of pieces they are in, with a max of 4 pieces per student.
Another student choreographer, Kevin Olivares, shared the amount of work being willingly devoted into the dances.
“During the recital, hard work will be demonstrated, but also versatility, technique and artistry because being a student, lots of people think dance is just glam and tricks but it is way more than that,” said Olivares.
“People will be surprised how much art they will see on stage, it takes lots of work so expect something fun and different as well as upbeat that will make your brain think in an abstract way,” says student choreographer Michelle Rosales, elaborating on the reactions she expects the audience to have.
The show will run for 2 hours total and will have an intermission in between the performances.
The LBCC dance program is open to all auditioning students of all ages. “There are a variety of dancers and age ranges ranging from freshmans to seniors and returning students, we offer opportunities to all ages,” says Powell.
This will not be the last of the dancers to be seen on stage, there will be the Choreographer Showcase on June 6 as well as the Fall 2023 Dance Ensemble that is already in the works.