LMU Community Dance Project Shares the Joy of Dance with HOLA

For most HOLA students, modern dance is not part of their everyday vocabulary. Thanks to LMU’s touring student company, Community Dance Project (CDP), a group of Bridges Middle School students had the opportunity to dive feet first in to the world of modern dance.

HOLA was very fortunate to be one of the CDP’s stops. “The goal is to give the children a quality dance experience by watching, participating in, and talking about dance,” said Kristen Smiarowski, LMU Professor.

During the first half of the program, the HOLA students had the opportunity to observe three different performances and then talk about how they made them feel. The works explored social pressures and inner conflicts that many teens are faced with. After an in depth group discussion the students participated in an interactive dance workshop. While exploring the endless possibilities of modern dance dynamics and qualities, the Bridges group created their own moves and danced like ninjas and robots.