Cerritos College Dance department held auditions for the 2017 Fall Dance Concert and for Repertory Dance Theater on Aug 19 with a total of 44 auditioners.

There were nine choreographers choosing dancers for the following dance styles:

• Modern
• Afro-Modern
• Latin
• Middle Eastern
• Hip Hop
• Jazz
• Ballet

After a warm up, auditionees had to improvise individually across the floor, presenting themselves to the judges and let their personality shine through their dance moves.

Adjunct professor Steve Rosa and dance department chair Rebekah Hathaway taught the students a couple of routines for across the floor and group performances.

For Rosa, dance is a balance of discipline, therapy but most importantly culture, “showing our culture from different places and exposing that to different people while they come to the dance concert or while they come to take a dance class, that’s super important.”

He started dancing at the age of 18, when he took a class in the Cerritos College dance program and later got a Master’s Degree in dance.

Rosa explained what he was looking for in the dancers, “the main thing is heart and presence, we can teach how to get your leg up to your ear, we can teach how to point your foot, but it’s harder to teach presence and performance.”

Hathaway has been in the dance department for ten years and has been dancing for 31 years.

She teaches modern and for her, dance is as necessary as breathing.

Hathaway was looking for those with passion, “you can teach technique, you can teach steps, you can’t teach passion, you can inspire it but it’s so much easier when someone comes to dance thirsty for it”.

Popy Saradeth, dance major, was excited to be auditioning for the dance concert once again.

Saradeth has been participating since 2006, “I feel like Cerritos College Dance Department is like my second home, I feel safe, I feel welcome, I love dancing here, I tried dancing elsewhere and it’s not the same as dancing here at home.”

Dance has helped him to express his feelings and reflect it on stage.

“For a small guy like me, I have to dance bigger and I like doing that, showing that height doesn’t matter” said Saradeth.

Alleah Collins was auditioning for the first time at Cerritos College, overall she was excited since she hadn’t dance in about 6 years.

Collins likes the expression side of dance, “I can just let everything out through movement”.

On a scale from 1-10 Collins felt like she did an 8 or 9, “I was kind of forgetting choreography a little so that would be the only points taken off for me” she stated.

After auditions for the Dance Concert, there were auditions for the Repertory Dance Theater held by Christine Gregory (Dance Professor/ Repertory Director).

“We are looking for a group of dancers who want to represent Cerritos College on the campus and out in the community, hoping to give them performance opportunities” said Gregory.

Results of those chosen will be posted August 22 at CB 105 and will be performing at the Fall 2017 Dance concert from Nov. 2, 3, 4 at 8p.m.