GCC Dance Program Has Great National Reputation
December 5, 2008
Contacts:
Suzanne Higgins
suzanne.higgins@gcmail.maricopa.edu 623.845.3808
Patricia Rhodes Vogel
pr.vogel@gcmail.maricopa.edu 623.845.3014
Glendale Community College dance professor Lenna DeMarco was pleased and somewhat surprised when a New York writer for Dance Teacher, a national magazine, called her to discuss doing a story about the GCC dance program. The writer, Taylor Gordon, was already quite familiar with GCC, its dance program and DeMarco. She told DeMarco that the program is widely recognized and admired in the dance-instruction world.
The result of that telephone conversation is an article about GCC Dance titled Stepping Stone: Glendale Community College is Paving the Way for Budding Dancers in the December 2008 issue of Dance Teacher. The two-page article, with photos, discusses the history of the program at GCC—from its days as simply "activity classes" offered by the Physical Education Department to its current position as an independent program housed in GCC's Performing Arts Department. It also describes how dance majors can now earn an Associate of Fine Arts (AFA) degree at the college.
Gordon says of GCC, "The school, which offers a two-year Associate of Fine Arts degree, is now known as one of the top programs in the state." The article goes on to describe the various dance classes taught, including ballet, modern, jazz, flamenco, folklorico and world dance.
GCC provides its dance majors numerous outlets to showcase their talent. They generally have four or five performance opportunities per semester, while many larger institutions offer half that number to their dance students. "Students keep as busy as if they were in a professional dance company by performing with local groups," says Gordon. "They are also members of the American College Dance Festival Association. (GCC is one of just a very few community colleges out of this group's 347 members.)"
For more information about GCC's dance program, contact Lenna DeMarco at
lenna.demarco@gcmail.maricopa.edu or 623.845.3796. GCC is located at 6000 W. Olive Avenue in Glendale.
GCC dance student Erika Sagasta
GCC dance students Gabby Schorer, Erika Sagasta and Natasha Telemaque
