San Diego Mesa College’s dance concert, Dance Synthesis, is right around the corner! There are two dance concerts in the year put together by students and faculty. During the spring semester, the concert is choreographed by the students and in the fall, it’s choreographed by faculty. There are open call auditions for all levels of dance experience during the first two weeks of the semester. According to assistant professor, Blythe Barton, “This fall, for my choreography, I have 18 dancers which is a really big group and there are all levels of all experience. Some of the people that are dancing in my group this fall have been dancing for 12 years, others only two semesters. Dancers aren’t picked for their amount of training. Often, choreographers are looking for a little more personality and passion for the dance.” To all students who are interested or hesitating to try out for an audition, go for it! Don’t be afraid to try something new because you never know if it can change your life. If the result of your audition does not go further for the performing show it is OK because there is always another opportunity. An audition experience can either motivate you to grow as a dancer and be more prepared for the next time, or help you realize that it is not your passion. Students that come back usually feel that dance is where they feel their best. If you make it to the audition you were meant to be there. With dance you have the opportunity to learn and grow. You can only fail if you don’t get up and try.
There are eight choreographers creating pieces for this fall’s event and two alumni are coming back to share their dance art with our Mesa College audience. Barton states, “We have a lot of different styles of dance here in our Mesa classes so you would see different styles on stage … My choreography is modern because that is where my passion for dance art is and there is another modern dance done by one of the other faculty staff. We have a ballet dance, kind of a contemporary dance ballet which means it is not so strict in the ballet rules … We have a salsa afro cuban fusion dance, we have two jazz, we have two hip hop pieces, one more urban and the other hip hop jazz piece.” Mesa College Dance Concert is presenting a variety of styles that you don’t want to miss out on. Watching dancers perform on stage is a completely different viewpoint of learning about dance.
The dance concert was not only made for dancers to be able to create something special, but also to inspire its audience. Barton said, “I think that dance inspires and satisfies something in our soul that you can’t get in regular academic education … Dance to me gives love or appreciation to the whole person, not just their brain. We are honoring and we are training the body, we are honoring and training the artist, we are honoring and training the artistic expression of our students. We are teaching them to be involved in something greater than themselves and be part of a community of movement.” The community should keep giving, enjoying and learning about dance. Therefore, get your tickets soon and support Mesa College students and faculty.