Pulse Breaks out with “Disturbia” Dance

64

Author: Soo Jin Kim

On Oct. 31, Halloween, the dance club Pulse performed a dance entitled “Disturbia,” befitting the day of performance. The dance took place approximately at 1:00 p.m. on the Quad directly in front of Thorne Hall. The club members performed to the song “Disturbia” by the artist Rihanna.

Pulse, the brainchild of Maana Sasaki (sophomore) and Mackenzie Oglesby (senior) came to life this year with the help of Assistant Community Director in Residence Life and Housing Services and Advisor to Pulse and Dance Production Caroline Kim ’07. Pulse was created as “a reinvention of several different attempts to create a hip-hop dance community on campus,” Kim said.

“We had Dance production but that was it,” Sasaki said, “so we wanted to start something that was all-inclusive, so I would say we’re more of a dance club/community than a dance team.”Pulse had about 100 people sign up during Club Day, and currently has around 40 members who join in the weekly hip-hop class. “It’s arguably one of the most diverse clubs on campus,” Kim said. “It is truly amazing to see so many students come to class.”

Because the club is all-inclusive, many of the members (60% according to Sasaki) have had no previous experience dancing hip-hop. “Experience ranges from baby beginners to intermediate,” Sasaki said. “We include everybody, and anybody that wants to dance. The dance club meets every Thursday for classes but met three to four times a week to prepare for their performance on Friday Oct. 31.

With such a diverse group of students, there are diverse reasons as to why they joined the club. According to Jamie Thalman (junior), he joined because he saw a Facebook group for it. “I saw when they were doing their thing and showed up,” he said. This was his first time dancing hip-hop. “I’m nervous but pretty excited. This is my first time dancing, except when I’m alone in the room with all the lights off,” he said. “I hope no one can recognize me with all the make-up and stuff.”

For Margaret Gabuchian (first year), the reasons are different. “I wanted to explore new interest and dance was open to all levels,” she said. “It’s a social activity that anybody can join.” When asked about how she thought the performance had turned out, she replied, “I thought we rocked it. We weren’t expecting such a big turnout, so when people come and support us, it really energizes us.”

It was obvious from the big turnout and the cheers given to the dance club that the crowd too, was energized by the performance.

“I really liked how it was a really disturbing dance, how the mood and movements of the dance fit with the song,” Annie Lehmann (first year) said. Clara Sherman (first year) agreed, adding, “I loved it. I have a friend in it and the dance exceeded my expectations.” Audrey Crocker (first year) said, “I loved the costumes and the dance was so creative and exciting.”

“The turnout was amazing,” Sasaki said. “I have never seen the Quad fill up like it did [on Oct. 31]. The level of performance was even better than what we hoped for. The improvement that we saw from the first practices to the final performance was incredible.”

Kim also praised the club’s performance. “I was shocked. I couldn’t stop smiling after the performance,” she said. “One of the goals for the performance was to officially introduce Pulse to Oxy. I think we were successful in doing so. The second goal was to revive the tradition of students gathering on the Quad during lunch on Fridays. Those were some of my favorite pastimes when I was a student, and I would love to see a gazillion people sit out there every week.”

Kim’s inspiration for the dance came from watching other dance crews perform. “With the ‘Disturbia’ performance, I got to combine some of the gothic alter-ego with my love for group performances. The choreography was created with the group in mind and it was important to us to ensure that all the dancers, regardless of their level of experience would feel included,” Kim said.

Allison Truscheit, ’08, and Emily Painter (sophomore) also contributed to the choreography of the project.

According to both Kim and Sasaki, the future of Pulse looks promising. “My hope for the future is that Pulse will continue to grow and be a place where students, staff and faculty can get together and build community through dance,” Kim said. “Before Pulse, there wasn’t any outlet for people to dance other than those who have had technical training, a la our amazing Oxy Dance Team. So, for those of us who are not as technically adept, Pulse does offer something brand new to Oxy’s campus.” Pulse has scheduled another performance on the Quad on Nov. 21 and has also hired professional choreographers to come on campus on Nov. 11 and 18 during lunch (12-1 p.m.) to teach.

“We will definitely be having more performances both this semester and next semester,” Sasaki said. “Over the course of this month and throughout the next semester, we’ll be bringing choreographers from all over Los Angeles,” Kim added.

This article has been archived, for more requests please contact us via the support system.

Loading

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here