With Dance Production (Dance Pro) being one of the the longest-running and biggest clubs at Occidental, it’s safe to say that dance has a large prominence on campus. But, besides Occidental’s dance studio hosting Dance Pro rehearsals and PULSE classes, there are many other ways for students to strut their stuff on campus.
Yemale Febres (sophomore), co-president of Occidental’s Latinx dance group ¡Azúcar! said the culture of the group fosters community by both bonding participants through dance and through their culture. She said part of that bonding comes from choreography being a group effort, rather than the work of just one individual.
“I like seeing how excited the people on the team are and then being able to put that excitement into something we make together,” Febres said. “I think we’re super connected, and we make sure everyone feels comfortable and gets to highlight themselves.”
Another aspect of campus’ dance culture is K-Tigers, Occidental’s K-pop dance group. Leila Moassessi (senior), co-president of the group, said the club’s focus is on K-pop dance, but they also offer a wide variety of other events and opportunities for club members.
“We have a Halloween event coming up, where we’ll trade photo cards,” Moassessi said. “We’ll watch some music videos and do K-pop trivia.”
Moassessi said the club also gets opportunities to engage in off-campus events, like performing at UC Irvine, UC Riverside and traveling to a dance showcase in Orange County.
“K-Tigers, we definitely brought the heat. We were just there to have fun,” Moassessi said. “We had so much energy and so much fun; we made matching shirts and went into the crowd.”
Moassessi said K-Tigers encourages anyone to join, since many members don’t have prior intensive dance experience.
“[K-Tigers is] trying to get people involved in dance and have fun and be excited regardless of where you come from or what your background in dance is or your level of interest in K-pop,” Moassessi said. “College is the perfect time for you to try things and see what you like, or pursue an interest that you may not have had access to when you were in high school. Now it’s at your fingertips for free.”
For those looking for a more intense dance experience, there is Dance Team, which competed in the Sharp dance competition last spring, winning in the adult dance category.
Eliana Davila (senior), former social chair of the team, said the team separates itself from other dance groups on campus because of the time commitment it requires and the professionalism it demands from its dancers.
“I wanted to be a part of a group that liked to dance but was also more serious,” Davila said. “Dance Pro is amazing, but it’s definitely not as difficult as Dance Team. I also missed the difficulty of really technical dancing. So that’s why I joined my sophomore year.”
Davila said the group practices five to six hours a week not including performances, while Dance Pro typically practices one and a half to two hours a week.
“In Dance Pro, you learn choreography throughout the academic year and perform it at the end of the year,” Davila said. “But in Dance Team, you’re learning new choreography all the time, for a soccer game or a quad show — so it’s more intense.”
For students who want to dip their toes into the dance scene at Occidental, or those who have never danced before, the college offers dance classes through the theater department taught by Senior Professor Francisco Martinez.
“Most of my students are there for their art credit,” Martinez said. “I like to teach with humor, to help them feel less insecure.”
Martinez said he has been teaching at Occidental for 23 years and about 10 years ago the administration asked him to draw out what a dance minor would look like at the college.
“I made up a specific structure, but I didn’t hear anything back,” Martinez said. “It’s a shame, because I think more students would make time to take dance classes if they knew they could get a minor.”
The dance classes receive minimal funding from the college, Martinez said, and they only get to have one performance per semester.
“It’s held in the dance studio,” Martinez said. “There were more of my dancers there than audience members.”
Moassessi said that while people are often afraid of stepping outside their usual comfort zone, dance is worth the try.
“People will realize that you find a community that’s eager to let you in and join in the journey of learning how to dance together,” Moassessi said.
Contact Eliana Joftus at joftus@oxy.edu
