You think you can dance?

PCDC holds open auditions for fall semester

lives aside and just dance.

in her offices at Pierce. She told us about how excited she and her smatzaganian.roundupnews@gmail.com

The Dean of Student Engagement Juan Carlos Astorga stood in his guayabera as he answered Michael Sandoval, a 20-year-old art major’s questions.

The dance auditions that took place in the North Gym this past Thursday had a goal of forming a dance crew with new talent that hadn’t been seen before.

Whether it was their first time auditioning for the crew or if they had been on the crew before, Pierce students awaited their time to shine, and perform a choreographed hip-hop routine that they were to learn on the spot from Jay Gamble, a professional choreographer and CSUN student.

Some students including Jacob Soriano, had both excited and nervous feelings towards auditioning, especially when it came to having to learn the choreography.

“I feel nervous that I’m going to butcher the whole choreo... but I’m mostly excited to find out if I make the team and to purse my love for dance,” Soriano stated.

The goal of the dance crew this year is simple, to find a group of people who all share a commonality; to put their busy

“I’m looking for new talent,” said Pierce College Dance Director Jenny Ghiglia, she added, “Enthusiasm, a love and passion for dance, great performers, great role models for other dancers on this campus, and for people to release stress in a fun and wonderful way.”

Although the new rules of competing as a dance crew this year are strict, the goal this year is to expand, including doing outreach performances to schools like Taft, at upcoming football games, and on campus events.

The number of people who made it onto the dance crew this year was not a concern, and it was more about the quality of dancers than the quantity. “I don’t have a number,” said Ghiglia. “I go by who comes and what talent we have, and based on the choreography and their own style I’ll take a balance of that and we’ll see what happens.”

To make it into the dance crew, the dancers must have a familiarity with hip-hop, whether that be as a b-boy, in tutting, locking, or commercial hip-hop. However, the auditions were open to people of all dance backgrounds who had an interest in expanding their dance horizons.

“I do hip-hop, contemporary, and lyrical but my main style is modern contemporary,” said firsttime auditioner Angeleve Cortez. “I’m excited to meet new people, learn and get better every single day.”

While most student dancers auditioning for the first time had dance experience and an interest in continuing to grow, they also stressed the importance of the social aspect of a dance crew, and the opportunity to make friends.

“If I make it into the dance crew I’m mostly looking forward to the team environment, making friends, and to gain close relationships with one another,” said auditioner Kenneth Adkins. “No competition, no “clicks”, just everyone being one, in unity all together.”

-OmidTaghizadeh,Art

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“I wasn’t the happiest person going into my first semester here. I was the only person in my circle of friends from high school that didn’t get into the four-year of my choice. Starting the semester, I kept my routine to going to class, going to practice, and going home.” Sandoval said. “After hearing about the Photography Club, I think that routine is going to change. I never knew Pierce had the same creative spaces that would allow me to utilize my love for photography the same way my high school did.

I think after speaking with the dean I will definitely check out what the photography club has to offer at Club Rush.”

When speaking with The Dean of Student Engagement, Juan Carlos Estorga, he stated, “The opportunity is for us to capture the new students that are really excited about being on campus and really introducing them to the type of vibrancy and out of classroom experiences they can benefit from in participating this.”

He further elaborated that Club Rush was put in place to foster an inclusive environment where the development of student’s networking and leadership skills can take place and diversity and creativity are celebrated.

[For the full story visit theroundupnews.com]

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