The Collegio Pittsburg's student voice since 1916
The dance program at PSU held a ballet masterclass instructed by adjunct dance professor and owner of Pittsburg Ballet, Yana Feldman. The class was instructed on Nov. 9 at the Student Recreation Center.
“(I focused on) Making it an enjoyable experience for all. Given that you had dancers and nondancers alike (at the class),” Feldman said.
“I have been classically training in dancing for as long as I could remember and learning from different teachers and the different variations of dance styles is interesting to me, Feldman was teaching a different style of ballet that I wasn’t too familiar with so I loved the challenge on her teaching,” said junior in interior design Hayley Monday.
This was the third masterclass held by the dance program for the fall semester.
“So, we are just trying to promote through our dance professionals Club, promote dance throughout our university as well as the community classes,” said Dance Professionals Club advisor Janice Jewett “(Getting) Students (aware) of various styles of dance and give them opportunities to learn something new or to practice their craft that they might already have.”
PSU offers a dance professionals club along with a dance minor.
“Well, with a dance minor we really try to appeal to students from various backgrounds, so we have students that are strong in rhythms, and they want to incorporate that into, for example, an elementary classroom and then we have students that have participated in-studio dance,” Jewitt said. “We want them to have the opportunity to continue dancing in college. As well as looking at opportunities to open or manage their own dance studio if they are interested in that, (or) coach a dance team.”
The dance minor is not through any of the performing arts programs, but is instead run through the health, human performance, and recreation program.
“Movement is essential in many ways, and oftentimes we forget about our body’s health. You do not have to be experienced to dance but dance allows us to loosen our muscles and interpret the movements how we see fit, dance is very therapeutic and prevents built-up stress within the members of our club,” said senior in psychology Amber Kennebeck.
The Dance Professional Club is open to anyone who is interested, regardless of dance background or a dance minor.
“What I like most about the club is that we include not only the dance classes, but we learn about valuable aspects to dance, the history of dance, current events within the dance community, and also have performed within our community here in Pittsburg,” Monday said.
Any workshops hosted by the dance program are open to all students, regardless of experience. The program will be hosting auditions early next spring semester for their Spring Show held April. 13.
“So, any student who is interested in performing in our show, they auditioned their own work or may audition to be in like a group number that’s choreographed by one of our professors,” Jewitt said.
Any student who is interested in joining the Dance Professionals Club can find more information on Gorilla Engage.