Meet the creators and contributors of the Saddleback fall dance concert

Fall Dance Concert 2024 | Steven Wylie

Saddleback saw its first dance production on November 15, culminating months of work for dancers, technicians, and choreographers. 

The college hosts two dance concerts each school year. The fall concert is choreographed by guests volunteering their time at the college, coordinating and organizing dancers into a display of art and passion. One choreographer was given the opportunity to take on a principal position.

Wang, 33, stepped into the role of artistic director in place of arts department chair Steve Rosa, who has been on sabbatical during the process of this concert. Wang holds an MFA in dance from UC Irvine and specializes in contemporary dance.

With the absence of the dance department chair, Wang was required to step up from the role of choreographer and play a larger part in the creation of the show. She credits the AMPD program at Saddleback for keeping the rehearsal process a “well-oiled machine.”

Six choreographers and twenty dancers worked together to create an hour-long program comprising of six dances, all showcasing different styles and music. Wang credits herself with understanding “the flow of the show” and helping organize dances ranging from modern to disco into one comprehensive and enjoyable show. 

“There’s a lot of diversity,” Wang says. “I think dance is for everyone, and people take dance for all different kinds of reasons. Whether it’s the study of, or whether it’s to gain more performance experience, or, whether it’s like a healing practice for them.”

Nicole David, 33, and Catherine McCluskey, 37, are students at Saddleback and two of the dancers in the show. This is David’s first performance in a concert at the college, and she called both her audition and the first night of the concert a “nerve-wracking experience.”

“I was really nervous, but you know, I just took that energy and, like, alchemized it and turned it into excitement and readiness,” David said.

McCluskey assumes more of a veteran role on stage, having danced in two fall concerts and a spring concert before this one. Even with years of experience, she still gets butterflies dancing on a stage, especially when it comes to flying solo.

“I ended up having two opportunities where I had solos, and those weren’t making me feel too good in my stomach yesterday,” McCluskey said. “I just think once you get on stage and you just feel the support from everybody, not only the dancers but then also the audience and everybody surrounding you, it just lights you up.”

“It’s a rush,” David agreed.

Tim Swiss, 47, is the lighting and sound designer for AMPD, which is the arts, music, performance and design branch of Saddleback College. He’s been at the school for 19 years and seen dozens of performances, and his role stays stagnant yet supportive, a pillar of the tech behind scenes of live performances. 

“Essentially, it’s the creation of an art piece,” Swiss said about the process choreographers and dancers must go through to complete a dance. “And then what happens is once they’ve created that piece, they come to me and they’re like, ‘We’ve created this piece, can you please provide technical elements?’ and I do.”

The tech crews for both fall and spring dance concerts and numerous other events at Saddleback consist purely of students. Swiss said that although there will always be faculty on hand to help if needed, they give students the full exposure to the professional world of tech. 

“That is how we work with all of our students on all our shows, is that we, the staff and faculty, we will basically be a safe environment to show them the procedures,” Swiss said. “The way you learn this industry is to do this industry.”

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