Pima Dance, the dance program at Pima Community College, provides opportunities for students and faculty to develop and present original pieces. Their upcoming spring concert “Lift” will spotlight new works from students, faculty and guest choreographers.
The event will be held Friday, May 1, and Saturday, May 2, at the PCC West Campus Center for the Arts.
The showcase highlights different styles of dance taught at the college, including contemporary, jazz, ballet, folklorico, modern and hip-hop.
Pima Dance is part of the larger Pima Arts department, which encompasses performing and visual arts, fashion design, film and animation and digital arts.
The dance program holds concerts each fall and spring semester.
Dance Lead Julie Andrews said the students learn many of the pieces and perform as part of their class curriculums.
“My understanding is the classes were technique classes. Those students, as well as any other Pima students, had the opportunity to audition for outside pieces and then would meet outside of class to rehearse and set work. We want to give all of our students the opportunity to get onstage. Most of our students are working adults. In many cases, they’re parents. So, finding external time to meet in order to rehearse and perform can be a challenge on top of the commitment of taking classes. This streamlines it and provides more access so that a lot of rehearsal can be done within their class time,” Andrews said.
Andrews, who is in her first year as dance lead, said Pima makes dance accessible to all students, regardless of whether they are getting a dance degree.
“I taught public high school dance for 28 years before I came to Pima. Something that I loved about teaching public high school dance was access. Dance is super expensive, and it is really hard for students to find studios, opportunities and the financial support to study dance. What’s amazing about Pima is that it’s quality. It’s accessible, and it’s for every dancer… I feel like every dancer at Pima, whether they’re actual true beginners or have been literally dancing since they could walk, they have a place where they can come, be with other dancers, perform under the lights onstage and choose their genre, “Andrews said.
Andrews said the program allows dancers to try out new styles.
Andrews has noticed within the program, the students care about and want to help each other.
“There can be environments where dancers are competitive with each other. What I have experienced is overwhelming support from the dancers. They want everyone to not only be their best but also feel celebrated and seen. That’s why I chose the title of the concert, ‘Lift.’ When I walk into the studio, I feel lifted. I feel that positivity. In our show last year, our December show, the dancers were backstage cheering each other on and being there for each other,” Andrews said.
The spring concert will feature different styles of pieces from faculty and guest choreographers.
Andrews will present the jazz piece “Everything Old is New Again,” in which she pays homage to choreographers who have contributed to dance traditions in theater.
Andrews said the piece is a throwback to the 1940s Hollywood, Broadway dance style.
In four different pieces, Elena Hernandez will highlight traditional folklorico dance and music from different states of Mexico.
“Those students are getting an opportunity to really get a larger understanding of the different styles within the genre of folklorico,” Andrews said.
Claire Hancock will share new ballet, modern and contemporary works. This includes “Threshold,” a series of dance solos inspired by still imagery from Pima Art exhibits.
“She took her students to the Barnel Gallery, which is on the West Campus at Pima. The students chose a piece of art, created solos based on that piece of artwork and presented them to the class after they had refined them. Then, she took their solos, put them together and staged it in the modern piece,” Andrews said.
A ballet piece for 10 dancers, Hancok’s work “Cu Plăcere” is set to Béla Bartók’s “Romanian Folk Dances,” which will be performed live on piano by Lawrence Nash.
Hancock will also present “Liminal Spaces,” a narrative ballet set to a string quartet by Tucson choreographer Bryce Cravatzo.
Both Hernandez and Hancock are adjunct faculty members at Pima.
During the concert, guest choreographer Cris Barajas will debut a new hip-hop piece. He is a dance teacher at Cholla High School and has his own hip-hop dance company.
“We brought him in to work with a group of students. He auditioned the students, and then he selected a cast,” Andrews said.
Students auditioned to have their work featured in the concert. Andrews and other faculty members made determinations on which pieces to showcase.
“We selected pieces that we thought were going to be stage-ready but also tried to find a variety of groupings. There’s some duets. There’s some larger groups. We really wanted a variety of styles across genres. The selection criteria was based on what we thought was going to make the best quality and the most entertaining show for our audience,” Andrews said.
Faculty members served as mentors for student choreographers. Andrews said they had the chance to see the works as they developed.
“It’s great to see these pieces grow from the beginning of the process, to the audition and then to the performance. But also over the course of the academic year, it’s great to see how the dancers have grown in the way they think about the art, their interests, their technique and their performance,” Andrews said.
Andrews said the showcase gives the student choreographers a chance to work collaboratively with other dancers.
“I personally prefer collaborative work for the students, where they’re working together and they’re having to negotiate artistically and make choices. Not that there isn’t value in single choreographers setting work on dancers as well, but that process of creative collaboration, it just brings all those ideas to the table,” Andrews said.
The student choreographers created their own costumes, but they had the chance to work with the stage manager and lighting designer to bring their visions to life.
Andrews said during the concert, there will be a chance to see the variety within specific styles of dance, as contemporary dance and ballet.
“Contemporary is such an umbrella term in dance. There’s some work that is narrative contemporary. So, it’s telling a story. One of Claire’s pieces that she’s setting is about how war affects family. That’s explored through dance. And then we have some lighter contemporary pieces. There’s one quartet that is student choreographed that’s exploring more contemporary movement vocabulary without a darker or more intense subtheme underneath it… Within ballet, there’s contemporary ballet and there’s more classical ballet. We’re really trying to give our audience a really broad, diverse offering,” Andrews said.
Many of the choreographers have studied multiple styles of dance and bring different types of movement into their pieces.
“I feel like it’s harder and harder to say, ‘This is modern. This is contemporary.’ The movement vocabulary comes from the creator, so they’re pulling from all the different things that they’ve experienced and studied,” Andrews said.
The Pima Dance Club will present a disco piece at the showcase.
Andrews, the dance club sponsor, said the group is very active and committed to dance.
“There’s a group of really dynamic and dedicated Pima students that meet every Friday. They choreograph. They teach each other work. They perform around the community as well…They’re always looking for performance opportunities to get their work out there and be part of the community,” Andrews said.
The dance club is made up of students of different backgrounds and ages.
“The age range of the dance club really is decades wide, from straight out of high school students to seniors… I just think that’s so special and cool because I don’t know how many groups out there have that range of life experience,” Andrews said.
At the upcoming showcase, the Pima Dance Team, an auditioned group, will be showcasing contemporary and hip-hop pieces choreographed by students.
Pima Dance Presents “Lift”
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday, May 1, and Saturday, May 2
WHERE: Proscenium Theatre, PCC West Campus Center for the Arts, 2202 W. Anklam Road, Tucson
COST: $12.04 general admission, $9.98 for students, seniors and military, free tickets for Pima students with ID at box office
INFO: bit.ly/4mUcLeF