March 27, 2017
She prefers the term “conflict engagement” to “conflict mediation.” Why? “I believe conflict is necessary,” Dana Caspersen told her audience on Wednesday night. “But we must approach it with curiosity, rather than violence. We must engage with it.”
March 20, 2017
By Rebecca Troyak
Coming to USC Kaufman was a totally unique experience for me. Previously, I attended a performing arts high school, and couldn’t even tell you what football was. Dance was my entire life. When it came time for me to choose a college program, all I wanted was to be somewhere rigorous, challenging, and intense. I thought that meant a conservatory program was my only choice. But Kaufman offers something that no other program in this nation does: the opportunity for an intense, challenging conservatory program paired with a regular college experience.
March 13, 2017
By Jake Tribus
This Friday, we were treated to a master class with Hope Boykin, a dancer and choreographer for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Hope joined the company in 2000 and has choreographed three different works for them throughout her career. This was my second time taking her class (I attended her class while touring campus last year, when she visited to teach the class of 2019), and she has yet to disappoint!
March 6, 2017
By Celine Kiner and Katya Richardson
Celine Kiner: Sophomore USC Kaufman BFA students are collaborating with sophomore USC Thornton composition students for a Choreographers & Composers concert this March 8 and 9 featuring the work of both departments, and facilitated by our wonderful professors Sean Friar, Thomas McManus, and Jennifer Lott.
February 20, 2017
By Celine Kiner
Thursday morning master class with Jessica Lang Dance started out pretty standard–ballet barre with some very helpful corrections about placement and musicality. Lang herself was warm, inviting, and very articulate: she brought us new ideas using terminology that was familiar, allowing us to connect and correct with no difficulty.
February 13, 2017
By Mary Mallaney
If you haven’t already heard, “Mr. Gaga,” a film by Tomer Heymann, has finally opened in the United States. This is super exciting–we have been waiting months for it to travel through places like Israel and Europe to us in California. Personally, I am so obsessed with the Gaga language that I’ve been tracking the film’s progress through Kickstarter campaigns, trailers, etc. impatiently for over two years now.
February 6, 2017
By Jake Tribus
This week, we as BFA Dance majors at USC Kaufman had the privilege of working with two of the commercial dance industry’s top choreographers: Christopher Scott and Jessica Lee Keller. Chris Scott–well known for his hip-hop and animation style–often choreographs for the popular television show So You Think You Can Dance on Fox. Jessica Lee Keller is a former member of the Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and has an extensive commercial résumé, including movies like Now You See Me 2 and Teen Beach Movie.
January 30, 2017
By Alvaro Montelongo
Working with Victor Quijada, founder and co-director of RUBBERBANDance Group, has been a challenging and fulfilling journey. It is not often that we get to go on two hands and upside down, as dancers or as everyday pedestrians.
January 23, 2017
By Celine Kiner
Raphael Xavier does not waste time.
Within the first ten minutes of our very first rehearsal, he had jumped into a cardio workout filled with breaking footwork. We were not ready.
December 12, 2016
By Carolyn DiLoreto
This semester, I had the opportunity to take DANC 363: Dancing on The Screen with professor Jennifer Lott. Throughout this course we stepped through the history of screen dance. Because modern dance had been brought about around the time that the medium of cinema was created, both dance and filmmaking had intersected in a very natural relationship in which they evolved hand-in-hand.