Orange Coast College’s Dance Department will present its annual Faculty Dance Concert on Thursday, October 26, and Friday, October 27, at 7:30 p.m. in the Robert B. Moore Theatre.
Long-time faculty member Jose Costas will be directing this year’s evening of dance. OCC students will display their exceptional dancing and highlight the cultural diversity of the department through hip hop, contemporary, ballet, flamenco, and Polynesian dance with choreographic premieres by 10 OCC faculty.
“This highly anticipated concert provides an opportunity to showcase the artistry of our multi-talented dancers in works made by OCC faculty- top in their field of expertise- and internationally renowned guest choreographers who are intimately connected to our department,” said OCC Dance department chair Rachel Berman. “We are proud to be part of this momentous occasion, celebrating OCC.”
In celebration of OCC’s 75 anniversary, highlights of the concert will feature two works by esteemed OCC alumni: choreographer and director Dolly Sfeir and master teacher and choreographer Robert Moses.
Sfeir’s “The Birds are the Bourgeoisie,” featuring seven OCC students, will debut at the Faculty Dance Concert. Having grown up in Lebanon and moving to America when she was 19, her work probes the instability of contemporary life through a fantastical and cinematic lens. Sfeir attended OCC before transferring to CSULB, where she received her bachelor of fine arts in dance. She was a 2022 NYFA Choreography Fellow, and the 2019 grand prize winner of the Palm Desert Choreography Competition.
RMK dancer Crystaldawn Bell will perform Moses’ 2017 solo "Black Woman, Black Girl" for Thursday night’s concert. His award-winning works vary in style and genres, and he has worked collaboratively with diverse artists and organizations while touring internationally. Moses attended OCC and CSULB and founded Robert Moses' KIN (RMK), which uses movement as the medium through which race, class, culture, and gender are used to voice our greater potential and unfulfilled possibilities. Moses has lectured as Choreographer-in-Residence at Stanford University and choreographed for companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, San Francisco Opera, and Lorraine Hansberry Theater.
Tickets for the shows can be purchased at the OCC Tickets website: $20 for the general public and $15 for students.