Dance

Dance Productions

Spring Quarter Dance Concert
H-A-P-P-Y,
Directed by Bubba Gong

 

May 30th & 31st, 7:00 p.m. in Smithwick Theatre

Los Altos Hills, Ca- Foothill College Dance Program directed by instructor Bubba Gong will present its 28th annual Spring Concert H-A-P-P-Y on May 30 and 31, 7 p.m. at Smithwick Theatre, 12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos Hills.

Follow the yellow brick road from the selections from THE WIZ to Pharrell Williams's Oscar nominated H-A-P-P-Y in an entertaining, foot stomping, high energy 2 hour romp from Broadway and Burlesque to Hip Hop and World Dance.

Bubba Gong, the first full time tenured Professor of Dance hired at Foothill College, will celebrate his 28th Season as Artistic Director and Founder of the Repertory Dance Company of Foothill College, which has won 4 consecutive Olympiad of the Arts. Discovered by Walt Disney Productions and a graduate of the acclaimed Stanford University Graduate Dance Program.

Bubba will dedicate this year's concert in memory to his mentor Dr. Susan Cashion, visionary Dance Educator and Chair of the Stanford Dance Department for decades who recently passed this year. Dr. Cashion was recipient of two Fulbright grants, a Board member of the Congress on the Research of Dance, and Past President of the California Dance Educators of America. She was honored by the government of Mexico for her significant contributions to the culture and teaching of dance in America.

He will premiere a world fusion choreography combining the techniques of Peking Opera and Ballet in tribute to her and for the generations of Stanford University Dancers whose lives and dances were transformed by her passion and love for the dance as an artistic, athletic, and aesthetic expression of the human experience, rich in its diversity and inclusion of world dance forms.

The Grand Finale will include a special performance by the Cashion Cultural Legacy and an Afro Samba Hip Hop trilogy choreographed by Gong in tribute to the exuberant personality and joyful spirit of diversity for which Dr. Cashion was known.

In celebration of the hallmarks of the Foothill College Dance Program, World dances will include Ballet Folklorico, Irish Soft Shoe, Egyptian Belly Dance and Tahitian.

Movie theme musicals will include excerpts from CHICAGO with the signature technique of Bob Fosse, James Bond, Pulp Fiction and The WIZ which will incorporate choreography with American Sign Language. Additionally, Gong will debut a world premiere Monsters' Ball with the music of Lady Gaga's ARTPOP including her hit single APPLAUSE.

Resident guest and student Choreographers include David Eastman, Bailey Donnelly, Tara Harte-Rodriguez, Kento Vo, Jayvin Lee and Kevin Alarcon. Special Guest artists include Melany Montano, winner of numerous prestigious Dance Awards Competitions, Trey Miller from Chapman University and Woodside High School Dance Outreach.

Production Technical Direction is by John Celona who also created the Poster Design and Master Sound Editor. Assistant Direction is by Jenn Loomis and Tami Burton. Polish Captains are Erika Mueller, Matt Randall and Lizeth Cuevas. Costume design is by Katherine Anderson. Theatre Production team includes Christina Moore, Theatre Manager; Andrea Schwartz, Lighting Designer; Christopher Graham, Sound Engineer; and Eleanor Arculus, Spot Operator.

An all original student showcase of experimental works will begin at 7 p.m. followed by Main Curtain at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 Students, Seniors and Children and $25 General Admission at the Door. Box Office will be available one hour prior to showtime. There is one intermission of 15 minutes.

Information: Bubba Gong, Director of Dance
gongiiibubba@foothill.edu
(650) 949-7354