Dance Production (Dance Pro) is the largest student-run organization at Occidental with 220 dancers currently signed up for the Spring 2024 show, according to choreographer and e-board member Raja Bella Hicks (junior).
According to choreographer Zuriyah Smith (sophomore), Dance Pro can serve as an introduction to a healthy world of dance for experienced and especially first-time dancers. Smith said Dance Pro doesn’t have auditions and there’s a low barrier of entry, which also makes it accessible to students who are new to dance or do not have an interest in pursuing it professionally.
“When I joined my dances, I realized how fun the space was — how fun going to rehearsal every week was — and learning from people who are your peers, instead of this highly trained, professional dancer who has all this prestige [and] you’re super intimidated,” Smith said. “Whereas with Dance Pro, I felt for the first time an actually safe and comfortable dance space.”
Hicks said Dance Pro has been around for 75 years and is regarded as a well-established group on campus, in part due to the organized structure provided by the club’s manual and constitution.
The manual spells out the selection process the club uses to place dancers in dances. According to Hicks, the process begins with dancers watching a showcase of all choreographies and then selecting their top six dances in a Google Form. Hicks said this is a well-liked process among dancers because it avoids the intimidation that can stem from a more selective audition system.
“I think for the most part, for dancers [the selection process] has been very positive because you’re picking what you’re interested in, rather than having someone choose you — it’s not as scary,” Hicks said.
After all dancers submit their choices through a Google Form, the Dance Pro e-board and choreographers meet and review the preference list of each dancer, according to Hicks. As they go down the preference lists, choreographers have the chance to either accept or reject the dancer into their dance. Hicks said using a software system could streamline this repetitive and time-consuming process.
“We have all of the data in these Google Sheets — it’s already automated — but then we hand pick each dancer to go into dances and it takes hours,” Hicks said. “So I think maybe having people put in their grade, and their preferences as we had before, [then] having a software try to fill as many [placements] as possible — I think that would be great.”
But automatization would also pose its own challenges, according to Hicks. Because of unequal demand distribution across the dances, Hicks said that a lot of dancers will choose the same pieces as their top dance.
“I don’t know how it would be equitable though because we have a lot of people picking the same dances — that was the problem,” Hicks said.
Additionally, Hicks said there are factors that an automated system might not consider, such as seniors getting priority and friends allowed to be in the same dance. But in looking to the future, Hicks said that the e-board will revise Dance Pro’s policies as needed.
“At the beginning of each semester, the e-board sits down and looks at the Constitution and is able to propose amendments,” Hicks said. “But I would say for the most part, the policies stay the same because it has run well in the past.”
Despite some inefficiencies, Hicks said that Dance Pro provides a niche community in the world of dance, as well as a valuable community on campus as there is no dance program at the college.
“It’s definitely more of a collective success — that’s what you’re proud of at the end of the day,” Hicks said. “It’s all about cheering each other on, not about a competitive aspect or being better than anyone else on stage.”
Contact Julian Villa at jvilla@oxy.edu
