By Mario Montalvo/ne news editor
The NE communication arts department will present its fall dance concert featuring a collage of choreography from students.
Expressions will feature pieces choreographed to music by artists like Queen, Metallica, Lady Gaga and Christina Aguilera, all chosen by students.
The show opens with a medley of songs from Queen featuring “We Will Rock You,” “We Are the Champions” and “Another One Bites the Dust.”
“I’ve always just loved Queen music, and I have waited and waited and waited until I ran across the right combination of students that I thought would really enjoy that type of a piece,” said dance professor Linda Quinn. “Queen is also interesting to me because of the creativity of the music and the versatility of the music.”
About 45 students will perform tap, hip-hop, jazz, musical theater and classical ballet, Quinn said.
One reason the group chose to open with Queen was because so many different dance styles work with its music, she said.
“There’s also just a lot of people that enjoy rock music and enjoy Queen like ‘We Are the Champions’ and ‘We Will Rock You,’” Quinn said. “Those are songs that all generations recognize. It’s going to be like a fun dance/rock concert at the beginning of the concert.”
Psychology major Mercedes Sanchez, 19, has multiple parts and costume changes during the show.
“At one point, we go backstage and change for ‘Another One Bites the Dust,’” she said. “We have trench coats and fedora hats. She wants us to be like a bad character.”
The production also features abstract dance performances.
Student Courtney Carden’s performance piece, “Breakaway,” is about acceptance and finding yourself, she said.
“Everyone wants to conform to one type of group and to be accepted, and breaking away can be really hard,” she said. “Pretty much every day, I try to figure out who I am, and that’s what this is. I’m the person that is trying to break away.”
Quinn is proud of the group’s work.
“They’ve worked really hard this semester on their choreography,” she said. “For some of them, it’s their very first piece of choreography ever, and some of them have dabbled a bit in choreography, but they wanted to strengthen their craft. So we have 10 very diverse dances.”
Quinn said she has a great group of students and always looks forward to teaching that class.
“They’re very enthusiastic, and they work very well together. And they’re very supportive of each other, so it’s really a fun experience,” she said. “We always enjoy performing on our campus at the end of the semester because our students here and our faculty and our community, they’re terrific audiences. Students always get a great response from them.”
The show concludes with Ray Charles’ rendition of “America the Beautiful” and is a tribute to the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Shows are Dec. 9-10 at 7:30 p.m. with a special 2 p.m. Friday matinee. All proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the family members of 9/11 victims.
The dance club and the students performing decided on the recipient, Quinn said.
Tickets can be purchased in the business services office beginning Nov. 30. They are free to TCC students, faculty and staff with a TCC ID and $5 for the general public. Matinee tickets are $5 for everyone. Contact Quinn at linda.quinn@tccd.edu for more information.
