Dancers fill up studio for fall concert audition

About 54 dancers hyped each other up with chants while dancers performed stunts that required a great deal of flexibility during the improvisational portion of the dance auditions for LBCC’s fall dance concert.

41 dancers committed to the team out of the 43 that were selected.

^{Dancer Marissa Ramos improvises to slow music during the audition for LBCC’s fall dance concerts on Aug. 27 in the J-206 dance room. Dance concerts at LBCC are held every fall and spring semester by LBCC’s Dance Program, with this semester’s set of performances beginning on Oct. 31. (Paloma Maciel)}

Students learned three dance routines of different genres and were performed in groups of six on Aug. 27 in the J-206 dance studio.

Afterwards two rounds of improvised dancing took place, where dancers had the opportunity to showcase their skills and personality. 

“These students were far beyond our expectations, I think. I’m always concerned there’s not enough students and there were plenty. They had amazing technique, it was really great to see how many came out today. All shapes, all sizes, all abilities, it was really great to see such a range,” Kiara Kinghorn, the ballet choreographer and judge, said. 

One of the dancers, Jamesuniq Mcalister, shared at the beginning of the auditions that they had been on a long break from dancing and used the auditions as an opportunity to begin to dance again. 

“It’s a love and hate relationship with dance, I’m not even going to hold you, but at the same time it’s more so love because a lot of people don’t like the process but I love the process. I like the long practice hours, spraining my ankle, the whole nine yards, I love all that,” Mcalister said. 

Janell Cobian, a professional dancer who teaches ballet and lyrical at a studio, also attended the audition. 

^{Dancer Janelle Cobian does a split during the stretching segment at the start of the audition for LBCC’s fall dance concerts on Aug. 27 in the J-206 dance room. Cobian is a professional dancer at a ballet studio and specializes in teaching ballet and lyrical. (Paloma Maciel)}

“At first it was kind of hard to find purpose in my dancing because it just seemed kind of robotic, like I couldn’t put any emotion into it. But now dance to me is something that I can escape to, it’s like people go to the gym every day and for me I take my ballet classes and that’s like my therapy,” Cobian said.  

Both Mcalister and Cobian made it into the fall dance concert. 

The auditions consisted of dancers learning three routines in the style of ballet, modern and theatrical jazz which blended both styles. 

^{Choreographer Marie Hoffman teaches a theatrical jazz style routine to dancers at the audition for LBCC’s fall dance concerts on Aug. 27 in the J-206 dance room. Dance concerts at LBCC are held every fall and spring semester by LBCC’s Dance Program, with this semester’s set of performances beginning on Oct. 31. (Paloma Maciel)}

The choreographers of the fall dance concert were present at the auditions and were the judges for the new team. 

By the time of auditions they already had an idea of the theme and style of dance that they wanted to choreograph for the upcoming concert and chose a group of dancers who they felt would best suit their vision. 

Dance Professor Martha Pamintuan, who is the artistic director and executive producer of the fall concert, mentioned that for her ballet piece, she had to be stricter than last year about the dancers she chose to be in her dance as ballet is a style that requires a certain level of technique and experience. 

“I tend to place some flexibility with who I cast and sometimes I cast all beginners, sometimes I cast a mix group of dancers, sometimes I cast, I usually cast, I just love people’s energy, I’m very open to as long as you have a presence and I don’t need you to lift your leg up here and bend and all that stuff. But there’s rare occasions like this time around where I said, you know what I want to try and play with something more technical this semester,” Pamintuan said. 

LBCC’s “Fall 2025 Dance Ensemble in Concert,” like previous dance concerts, will be a full production with each dance having costumes, lighting, and backdrops to bring it to life. 

The concerts will present 12 dances, and run for four shows, debuting on Oct. 31.