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.
December 5, 2016
By Celine Kiner
“You guys need to understand where it comes from first,” Lil Buck explained before he and Jon Boogz launched into a combination popping/jookin’ master class.
If there’s anything we’ve learned at USC Kaufman in the last semester as a sophomore BFA class, it’s that we must give credit where credit is due. Professor Saleemah Knight has made that abundantly clear to us in our Dance in Popular Culture lecture, and Lil Buck and Jon Boogz seemed to pick up exactly where she left off.
November 28, 2016
By Yifei Yu
I started to take Kaufman’s course in the fall 2015 semester, when Kaufman’s main building was still under construction. Even though I had to dance in the basement of Alfred Newman Recital Hall before the building was finished, I was thrilled by how professionally dedicated and enthusiastic USC Kaufman faculty members were.
November 4, 2016
By Jake Tribus
Tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Jake Tribus and I am a BFA Dance Student in the USC Kaufman School of Dance. My dance training began about ten years ago when I was nine years old; I started with a “Bring Your Friend to Class Day” hip hop class, and over the years have trained seriously in ballet, contemporary, jazz, tap, hip hop, and more.
October 31, 2016
By Celine Kiner
On Sunday, our Discover USC classes were completely booked: our incredible faculty taught six master classes, each filled with students eager to learn about the New Movement. Their parents lined the hallways, peeking into the windows and touring the building.