From April 18 to 19 the Delta Dance and Music Departments held the Music and Dance Extravaganza at the Warren Atherton Auditorium, the first collaboration between the two departments since lockdown in 2020.
“Any time you combine arts, it’s synergistic and it gives meaning to both of them, and you can sense the impact of the rhythms and the music from the percussion ensemble with the dancers,” said Brian Kendrick, chair of the Music Department and director of Jazz Studies. “Also, as a listener and observer, you can really see how the music can inspire a movement, and so I think that it’s very powerful in that way.”
Before performances, videos were projected on stage, showing credits and behind-the-scenes, rehearsal footage. The performance line up, in order, consists of: “Lost,” “Ujima,” “Work,” “Sinola,” “Praise Him!” “The Journey to the Other Side” and “Leading the Flock.”
While the performance lineup in some ways resembled previous dance concerts produced by the Stockton Delta Dance Company, many of the pieces featured live music — with only two of the seven pieces using pre-recorded music.
“Musicality became an even larger component of this work because the tempo of the music versus what we practiced recording to was often different. And so, really understanding the music on a deeper level and being able to modify what movement is created around those sounds so that it still makes sense if it was done faster or slower, or with less time or with more emphasis in certain areas than in others … Finding those moments is part of the fun and extravaganza of it all,” said Nicole Manker, associate adjunct professor at Delta and choreographer of “Ujima” and “Work.”
Chair of the Dance Department and dance professor Valerie Gnassounou acted as host for the production.
Delta musicians that featured in the Extravaganza include the Delta Percussion Ensemble directed by Kendrick. The Percussion Ensemble played instruments like vibraphone, congas, gongs and more at an orchestra pit at the foot of the stage — performing to Chad Heiny’s “Bad Juju” for “Lost,” Joachim Horsley’s “Beethoven in Havana” for “Work” and Cesar Gonzalez’s “Blur” for “Leading the Flock.”
A string duet from Delta’s String Orchestra, coached by adjunct music professor and Delta’s String Orchestra director Myriam Cottin-Rack, also featured. Violinists C.J Chang and Justin Kwong played live on stage, backing the contemporary chair dance of Brooke Mathe for “The Journey to the Other Side.”
A string duet from Delta’s String Orchestra, coached by adjunct music professor and Delta’s String Orchestra director Myriam Cottin-Rack, were also featured in the Extravaganza. Violinists C.J Chang and Justin Kwong played live on stage, backing the contemporary chair dance of Brooke Mathe for “The Journey to the Other Side.”
The Extravaganza also featured outside talent. Dancers from the Celebration Arts Dance Company, a Black-led theater company based in Sacramento, performed traditional African dances in “Ujima.” Vocalist Katherine Jantz sang Thomas A. Dorsey’s gospel song “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” a cappella with the accompaniment of a performing trio of Dance Department faculty for “Praise Him!”
There was a variety of dance and music styles at the Extravaganza, with varying levels of modern, ballet, hip-hop, African and Caribbean dance influence. Uniquely, performers danced in the ballet folklorico style for “Sinaloa,” twirling and chanting in traditional Hispanic dresses and even parading down the stage to dance with members of the audience.
“I saw various different cultures and types of dances, from modern, [ballet folklorico], very colorful dances and expressive. More like communal type dance where I saw that they included the audience and [Makkiah] even got to dance with one of them. I think that’s really cool to see how different people use dance to either communicate their own emotions or to connect with others,” said Briana Alexander, a dance student at Delta who graduated with a biochemistry major. Alexander attended with her friend Makkiah Faison, a student at Delta.
At the end, all performers and some production staff walked onto the stage giving shout-outs and bowing to the audience.
“Emotional, tears, I felt so connected,” said Aliza Paulino, a second-year psychology student, former dancer in the Dance program and founder and communications executive of the Unifying the Education of Marginalized Communities club at Delta. “I’m so glad these people are pursuing what they love and what they’re passionate about and I feel like that’s an important message for anyone. It’s just do what you love, and do it with your whole heart and soul.”
Editor’s note: An abbreviated version of this story ran in the May 6 print issue of The Collegian.
