Santa Monica College’s Global Motion World Dance Company will present “The Pursuit of Happiness,” a program of choreography from throughout the world at the end of this month.
Performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27 and 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28 at The Broad Stage, Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center, Santa Monica Boulevard and 11th Street.
The concert reflects the SMC Global Citizenship 2011-12 theme, “Health, Wellness and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
The concert will feature traditional and contemporary dance styles including Ballet, Armenian Folk dance, Chinese, Hip hop, Cumbia Salvadorena, Irish Step, Lyrical Jazz, Salsa, Mexican dance, and African.
Global Motion, founded by Judith Douglas, is under the direction of Raquel Ramirez and Sri Susilowati.
Faculty choreographers are Ron Brown, Laura Canellias, Douglas, Angela Jordan, Cynthia Molnar and Ramirez.
Guest choreographers are Máire Clerkin and Sona Gevorgyan.
Student choreographers are Yessenia Munoz, Paul Enriquez, Adriana Garzon, Anna Wichert and Xiao Xiao.
Global Motion has toured extensively throughout Mexico and California for more than 17 years – at schools, festivals, and special events.
Ramirez is co-director of Global Motion and part time instructor at SMC. She has choreographed a dance piece from the State of Colima in Mexico called “El Jarabe de Colima”, representing the pursuit of love.
Susilowati, co-director of Global Motion and instructor at SMC, is a choreographer originally from Indonesia. She creates and performs traditional and contemporary works that focus on the subjects of community, gender, and ethnicity through dance and multi-media.
Douglas, founder of Global Motion and Dance Department Chair, has choreographed a dance of Sonajas, Mexico, which is a contemporary piece that is a fusion of indigenous dance, American modern dance and French classical ballet.
Gevorkian is a dancer, choreographer and dance instructor who focuses on Armenian dance. She is a guest artist presenting “Kochan,” an Armenian folk dance performed for happiness, celebration and victory.
Clerkin is an actor, Irish dancer, choreographer, writer and teacher whose passion for Irish dance comes through in her choreography. As a guest artist for Global Motion, Clerkin has choreographed “Ceili” (pronounced “kaylee”), from the Gaelic language, meaning a party where friends and family gather to dance, sing and play music.
Xiao, student choreographer originally from the Hunan Province in China, participated in the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Xiao is performing a solo, entitled “Why the Flowers Are So Red,” where she uses her dress to appear as a flower blossoming on stage.
Tickets, which sell out quickly, are $18 general admission and $15 for SMC students with ID and senior citizens 60 and over.
A special $12 ticket price is available for SMC students purchasing tickets for both Global Motion and Synapse Dance Theater, SMC’s modern dance ensemble, which will perform Nov. 5 and 6. Parking is free.
For tickets, go to www.smc.edu/eventsinfo or call (310) 434-3005. For more information, call (310) 434-3467 or go to www.smc.edu/AcademicPrograms/Dance.
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