Spring Forward 2021

Imran A. Afzal is a transfer student from Mt. San Jacinto College who is currently a junior majoring in Dance with a minor in Education. After he receives his BA, he will pursue a master’s degree and also obtain his teaching credentials. He plans to teach dance at a high school and to become a professor at a college where he will teach and share the cultural knowledge, he received from hos educational journey.

Jessica Barajas is a third-year dance major. Based in the Inland Empire, she began her dance training during her freshman year of high school. She has been trained in the genres of modern, contemporary, ballet, jazz, and hip hop. She also has a bit of training in Latin social dance and gymnastics.

Betty Dương is a second-year Dance major at the University of California, Riverside with a concentration on dance making. Betty is currently training under Voyage dance team and 909 dance team. Throughout her dance journey, Betty aims to share her dancing making and storytelling abilities to tell real-life experiences through the art of movement.

Lindsey Farris is a first-year transfer student to the University of California, Riverside. She was a part of the varsity show choir and dance team in high school and was a part of the dance company at Citrus Community College. Now, she is majoring in Dance at UCR and minoring in Education.

Brianna Gomez is a third-year undergraduate Dance major at University of California, Riverside. She began her dance training at the later age of fourteen at AB Miller High School in Fontana, California, under the artistic direction of UCR alumna Rosa Rodriguez-Frazier, Nicole Robinson, Joey Navarrete and many more. She continues her dance training at both UC Riverside and Riverside City College.

Ami-Maxine M. Hill-Tell is a 20-year-old young woman who has trained in the art of dance for about 14 years. She’s studied with famous dancers such as Debbie Allen, Eartha Robinson, Misty Copeland and Lauren Anderson. She double majors in Psychology and Dance at UC Riverside in hopes of becoming an arts therapist.

Hana Kondo-Bacon is Japanese-American woman born and raised in the East Bay of California, currently residing in the coastal town of Aptos. Hana has reintroduced dance into her life four years ago after a long period of emotional turmoil. Dance has given her a new understanding of life, reconnecting her to nature, people and herself. Continuing to discover her own way to move through life, dancing has helped heal and guide her path. Attending UCR as a transfer junior, Hana looks forward to the ongoing exploration of mind, body and space.

Enoch Lai hails from an extensive background in the performing arts, mainly focusing on the dance arts and performing in a local studio in Anaheim, California. He gained experience for a number of dance forms ranging from ballet and jazz to hip-hop, tap, and contemporary. Only starting improvisation and making choreography when he started high school, Enoch hopes to gain enough academic experience in the lyrical arts of dance making and performance to perhaps choreograph in a professional setting as well as seeking out his ambitions in the realm of the sciences. In addition to his pursuit of a Bachelor of Arts in Dance, Enoch is also seeking to earn a Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering and hopes to apply for Graduate School and earn an M.D. as well as a Ph.D.

Edward Legaspi is a fourth-year Business major concentrating in Management with a Dance minor. They also go by Giselle (Gigi) Lauren as they are a voguer in the House of Lauren. Their main practice is vogue femme but they also enjoy moving and learning in different styles. They hope to inspire people to celebrate themselves through my movement.

Lillian M. Lewis. Throughout life, my struggle with mental illness has given me the desire to understand the inner workings of the human brain. My immediate goal through my dancing is to create pieces which represent moments in my life or how I am feeling and experiencing the world. In the future, I want to develop movement practices that will be beneficial to the mind and body, and that will help people embrace self-care and self-love.

Jatara Newell is a student of UCR Dance program, a freelance dancer and event choreographer. She began dancing in high school by taking dance fundamentals in ballet, jazz, lyrical, and hip-hop. Outside of school, she also joined the Youth Praise Dance Ministry at church and that’s where her passion for dance grew. After graduating from high school, Jatara attended Riverside City College and decided to take dance more seriously. Initially, her major was Business but her love for movement became the focus and changed her program of study to Fine Arts with an emphasis in Dance. These days, she continues to happily be a student of dance, owning a business, and pursuing a career in commercial dance. Her hope in life is to inspire the next generation of dancers to follow their dreams, change the world, and generate wealth!

Andrea M. Robinson is currently studying at UC Riverside to receive a BA in Dance, specifically in Modern and Hip-Hop. She alsos hold an associate degree in Humanities with a focus in dance from Mt. San Jacinto Community College in Menifee. She is mainly self-taught when it comes to being trained in dance over the years. She is an aspiring choreographer that hopes to enjoy performing onstage with famous artists and famous dancers.

Kamryn N. Siler is a triple major in Dance, History, and Art History, as well as a minor in Theatre, Film, and Digital Production. Her future educational aspirations are to get a master’s degree in Education and Teaching Credential. She then hopes to become a high school educator, like her mother.

Artistic Director
André M. Zachery (he/him/his) is a Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary artist of Haitian and African American descent, and is a scholar, researcher and technologist with a BFA from Ailey/Fordham University and MFA in Performance & Interactive Media Arts from CUNY/Brooklyn College. As the artistic director of Renegade Performance Group his practice, research and community engagement artistically focuses on merging choreography, technology and Black cultural practices through multimedia work. André is a 2016 New York Foundation for the Arts Gregory Millard Fellow in Choreography and 2019 Jerome Hill Foundation Fellow in Choreography.

His works through RPG have been presented domestically and internationally, receiving support through several residencies, awards, commissions. These have included the LMCC Arts Center on Governors Island, Dance/NYC Coronavirus Relief Fund, CUNY Dance Initiative, Performance Project Residency at University Settlement, ChoreoQuest Residency at Restoration Arts Brooklyn, 3LD Art & Technology Center, HarvestWorks and a Jerome supported Movement Research AIR. Awarded grants have been from the Brooklyn Arts Council, Harlem Stage Fund for New Work and a Slate Property SPACE Award. Commissions have come from the Brooklyn Museum, Five Myles/BRIC Biennial and Danspace Project.

RPG has earned mentions and favorable reviews from publications such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Village Voice, Culturebot, Infinite Blogspot, Futuristically Ancient, Hyperallergic, the Brooklyn Rail, the Daily News and AFROPUNK. As a technologist André has collaborated with various artists through RPG, the design team of 3LD Art & Technology Center and The Clever Agency on design installations, immersive media productions, film productions, film editing, projection mapping and performance collaborations.

André has worked on major projects across artistic mediums as a choreographer, media designer and consultant with artists such as Daniel Bernard Roumain, Cynthia Hopkins, Davalois Fearon, Dance Caribbean COLLECTIVE, Arin Maya, Rags & Ribbons, The Clever Agency, Kendra Foster, Manhattan School of Music, Burwell & Sasser and Spike Lee.

​As a scholar he has been a member of panels, led group talks, facilitated discussions and presented research on a myriad of topics including Afrofuturism, African Diaspora practices and philosophies, Black cultural aesthetics, technology in art and performance and on expanding the boundaries of art making within the community. He has been a panelist and presented his research at institutions such as Duke University, Brooklyn College, University of Virginia and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. André has taught at Brooklyn College and been a guest faculty member at the dance programs of Florida State University, Virginia Commonwealth University, The Ohio State University, University of California Los Angeles and University of California, Riverside.
https://www.renegadepg.com/
@renegadepg   @amzrpg

Moderator
Jose L Reynoso (he/él) (MFA PhD) is Assistant Professor of Critical Dance Studies at UCR. He writes and teaches about the history, theory, and practice of dance and other forms of cultural production primarily in the U.S., Mexico, and other countries in Latin America. Jose’s book manuscript examines the relationship between dance and politics before and after the Mexican Revolution of 1910.

As Visiting Assistant Professor for the spring 2021 quarter, I extend enormous thanks and gratitude to the entire University of California Riverside Dance Department and chair Joel Mejia Smith. To guest instructor Carlos Funn, thank you for taking time guiding this cohort that is presenting work with your experience and perspective as one of the most innovative artists pushing boundaries in the field. To the production team of Lily Szeto and Kathleen DeAtley for undertaking this labor with me to ensure that student artistic work is lifted and centered, thank you.

Finally, a thank you to the entire DNCE 115E cohort of Spring 2021 for your determination, dedication, patience and grace to bring your works forward. It has been an honor to guide your learning process this quarter and see the growth in thought, consideration and creativity from you all. Be proud of your efforts and I look forward to seeing great things from each of you in the future.