2020 Virtual Summer Intensive Showcase
The Dancer's Journey
Virtual Program
We chose to title our Intensive showcase “The Dancer’s Journey,” in response to the work that Composition teacher, Nathan Hirschaut, introduced to the dancers.
“I tasked the dancers with creating a short film that stems from their hero’s journey. Hero’s journey is a writing method that is used to help one organize a story. We used it to discover what we desire to change, how we would overcome any obstacles, and what it would feel like when we got there. It was a joy to see the passion and creativity amongst these young dancers.”
This project could not have been more timely for our students; the assignment was much more than artistic training - it allowed them to reflect on their own stories, feelings, and experiences while also navigating an unprecedented, and often unsettling, moment in time. I firmly believe that telling one’s story is a validating, cathartic, and transformative act of self care. And telling your story through a lens that you are passionate about, that is unique to your body, artistic expression, and voice, is incredibly powerful. Thank you dancers for sharing your stories, for your vulnerability, and brilliance.
And thank you for committing to the program! Which was a journey in and of itself. We are so proud of you for your dedication and growth, and for showing up in spite of the challenges of online learning. Your hard work, creativity, and openness, has inspired us, and while we couldn’t gather together this year, the feeling of community and home was still present. As we continue to navigate the changing scene, I hope you will take that feeling along with you.
Great work everyone! I look forward to seeing you in classes again, soon.
Angela Chambers
Development Director/Youth Program Manager
For the first time ever, due to pandemic conditions, we are entirely online as we move into our seventh Summer Intensive Showing.
While training, creating and learning dance online is far from ideal, the advantage of the situation is that it allowed us to bring high caliber professionals from around the country to work with our amazing dancers. The pride, gratitude and awe I feel for our dancers' dedication and perseverance is immeasurable.
I cannot express enough how thrilling it has been to watch them grow, learn and connect. These young artists are the future of dance, and the future is BRIGHT!
Much Love -
Micha Scott
TWDCC Artistic Director
Over the past three weeks I have had the pleasure of introducing these young dancers to the work and unique choreographic style of Ronald K. Brown and Evidence Dance Company. I am always overwhelmed with pride when I see a dancer's transformation while learning this work.
This time was no different.
These young dancers were eagerly open and willing to try something new and they have done so brilliantly. Thank you to the TWDCC staff for all of your support and thank you to all the young dancers who have such bright futures ahead of them.
Best,
Annique Roberts
Rehearsal Director & Senior Dancer
Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, A Dance Company
The Dancer's Journey
2020 Virtual Summer Intensive Dancers
Hover over a dancer to learn more
Michaela Auman
Hello, I am Michaela Auman. I am part of the youth company at the Tannery World Dance and Cultural Center. I am 14 and a sophomore in high school. I have been a part of TWDCC’s youth company for 7 years. Through my years of dance, I have learned to push past mental blocks and strive for excellence. Learning new techniques and movement is what I am most passionate about. This is my second year of the intensive, and through both years I have pushed myself and grown as a dancer and performer. Through dance, I hope to continue to feed my creativity and passion, as well as strengthen my mind and body. My biggest goal is to attend the Garth Fagan summer intensive with my fellow company members.
Ella Batt
How long have you been dancing? I have been dancing for 5 weeks in the intensive. And did a contemporary class for 5-7 weeks. I danced when I was about 7 doing a hip hop and jazz class. But that was only for about 2 months. I have done competitive gymnastics for 3 years but have been doing regular gymnastics for 5 years.
How long have you been in the intensive? This is my second year!
Dance goals? I plan on taking a few more classes this fall. And I want to keep dance fun and creative! One goal I have is that I want to get stronger and work on my technique and also improve my skill set. I plan on pursuing dance as long as I can!
Eva Diop
Eva Diop and I am 15 years old. I have been dancing for about 41/2 years at the tannery and have done the summer intensive for 3 years. I love dancing at the tannery and my main goal is to just overall grow mentally and physically.
Maya Giuliani
Hi I am Maya Giuliani and I am a dancer at the Tannery World Dance and Cultural center. I am 15 years old and am going into my Junior year of high school. I have always been a passionate dancer and I always strive to learn new things and improve as a dancer.
I have been dancing for about seven years.
This is my third year of doing the intensive with the Tannery.
As a dancer some goals I have is to become stronger in my technique and flexibility and to continue dancing throughout high school and in the future. I hope to perform on big stages some day and improve as a dancer in my company.
Sahar Maranon Davis
I was born in Pomona, CA, the fourth and last child in the family. My mother is of mixed heritage: my grandmother is white from New England, and my grandfather is of Quecha Indian background from Bolivia. My father's roots are African American and Cherokee from Louisiana. I have been directing and acting in my own plays since I was three, participated in a children's chorus performing in plays and operas, taking creative art classes and I have been in ballet classes since age ten. My overall goal is to be a movie director. I am always making stories in my head so dancing will give me a way to share stories with another lens of creativity and depth. With movies and dance there are no boundaries, I can make worlds up that would bring new ideas to the world and offer different views to existing ideas.
Tamarah Minami
Tamarah Minami has been dancing for 8.5 years. This is her second year taking the Tannery Intensive. She loves dancing and aspires to dance for the rest of her life.
Mariah Ortiz
My name is Mariah Ortiz . I have been dancing 5 years. This is my first time doing the Intensive program and love it! My goal is to become more flexible and dance on the "Company" Competition team.
Maya Pearson
Hello there! My Name is Maya Pearson, currently living in Santa Cruz, CA and I have been dancing for nearly 10 years! 2020 has now been my third consecutive year taking the Summer Dance Intensive, and I feel that I have especially grown as a dancer in these three weeks. In the future, I hope to finally go on pointe, improve my overall flexibility, choreograph a small group piece and take part in more performances!
Thea Sahner
My name is Thea Sahner and I am 13 years old. I have been dancing at the Tannery World Dance & Cultural Center for 7 years, where I study mainly modern and contemporary. I have been doing the TWDCC Summer Dance Intensive for the past 4 years. My dance goals are to become much more flexible. I want to work on being able to do contortion tricks and acrobatic movements. I hope to continue dance in high school and college and dance professionally.
Ava Trujillo
My name is Ava Trujillo. I am 10 years old and live in Watsonville, California. Dance,
parkour, piano, skateboarding, swimming, surfing, snowboarding, paddle boarding,
bongo boarding, and painting are all activities I enjoy doing. I have been dancing for 6
years at TWDCC. Throughout my years of dance, I have tried out many different dance
studios in our county. I have spent most of my time at TWDCC because they support
diversity in dance, have a friendly community, and have the most dedicated teachers.
For the last three years, I have been part of the TWDCC Youth Company. I study
Modern, Jazz, Contemporary, Ballet, Tap, and Hip Hop. I have participated in the
summer camps for children under 10 at TWDCC. During those camps, I had the
opportunity to learn about dance in India, Africa, and Mexico. This is my first year
participating in the Summer Dance Intensive. For the last two years, it has been a
dream of mine to be able to join the older dancers in the intensive. I was so excited and
happy that I could finally participate. As a dancer, my goals are to do my personal best
and to give as much effort as I can. I want to work on my balance and strengthen my
core. Dance makes me stronger, more creative, and gives me energy. Someday I hope
to travel the world and learn about dance in many different cultures.
Helen Wilson
I am Helen Wilson. I am a dancer, artist, and political activist. I have been moving my entire life. I started with gymnastics, then transition to dance when I was 6. I soon started taking it seriously, and have been in company for 4 years now. I have taken the intensive for the past summers 3; i always feel a big improvement every summer after the intensive. I want to continue with dance seriously thorough my life; but my main goal is to go into politics
Estée Wylie
My name is Estée Wylie, I have been dancing for 10 years. I am very happy to be participating in the Tannery’s summer Intensive for the first time. I have found, through this intensive, that I want to put more meaning and expression into my own dance compositions and compositions for others. I also hope to progress with technique, becoming a more diverse dancer.
Ava Barrett
I am Ava Barrett. I am a senior dancer at twdcc. I have been dancing for seven years. I have participated in the summer intensive twice and both have helped mold me into the dancer I am today. My goals in dance are to focus and improve on my technique and become a more diverse dancer.
Violet Forbes
My name is Violet Forbes and I have
been dancing since I was 9 years old. I have taken every single year the intensive has been offered since the beginning, and my dance goals are to dance for the rest of my life, and to get strong and more precise technique than I have now.
Maddie Hall
Madelaine Jade Lee Hall has been dancing for 6 years and has been a member of the TWDCC senior dance company since 2019. This is Maddie's second year participating in the Tannery's intensive. She hopes to continue dancing next year as a freshman at Pitzer College.
Sam Kaplan
My name is Sam Kaplan and I am a fifteen-year-old sophomore at Mount Madonna High School in Watsonville CA. I've been dancing for one year at the tannery, taking only contemporary classes, until just recently at the start of online learning. This is my first year participating in the summer intensive at the tannery. I don't know if I will professionally dance, have it as a hobby, or someday leave it all together, but whatever I do I hope to enjoy myself for as long as I dance.
Claire Marquette
Claire Marquette is twelve years old and lives in Santa Cruz, California. She attends Scotts Valley Middle School and enjoys math and science. Her interests include playing piano, reading, writing, basketball, surfing, hanging out with friends, binge-watching Netflix shows, and of course, dancing. She has been dancing for four years, but just recently began Modern and Contemporary Jazz courses. This is her first year participating in the Summer Intensive. She aims to do the splits fully, to master the fundamental techniques of dance, to become a fully engaged and proficient dancer, and to make her dance teachers proud.
Olivia Moore
Olivia Moore is a 13-year old-girl and has been a dancer since she was three years old. It has been a passion of hers for many years, she has been dreaming of being a professional ballet dancer since she was around 11 years old. As a dancer, she believes she has to work her hardest to be a good dancer. She strives to be her best in not just dance but in school too. In her life, she has danced at three different dance studios but at the moment is only dancing at two. She is a dedicated dancers and works to succeed.
Gloria Panttaja
Gloria is a senior at Harbor High School, where she is active in the theatre department. She has been dancing for four years (two of them at the Tannery), and this is her first year taking the intensive. She is working on growing her strength and control, as well as flexibility, and hopes to apply her dance training in theatrical contexts in the future.
Emma Power-Perkins
My name is Emma Power-Perkins
I’ve been dancing for 10 years mastering my skills in Ballet, Lyrical, Contemporary, Modern, Jazz and Contemporary Jazz.
This is my second year of taking the dance intensive at TWDCC.
One of my dance goals is becoming an even more intune dancer, and really feeling all of the emotions that can be expressed in dance.
Another goal is to become a more flexible dancer. I have struggled over the years at accomplishing both my splits. I have also had a hard time with accomplishing well balanced extensions.
To reach the first goal I have been dancing a lot more on my own outside of class, creating videos that have helped with my emotions and inner feelings of pain or sadness. For example when I created the video for my grandfather who passed away in April it helped me heal and process what happened.
Finally to reach the second goal I have been using rollers and stretching out my tight muscles that have held me back from gaining that flexibility. This will take time, but I just know that I can do it 🙂
I also want to say that the Tannery has taught me so much about community, love, friendship, and most importantly self-love. I came from a place and time in my life where I didn’t feel good about myself and I didn’t feel the protection or comfort of a community/friends in my dance studio. Thank you to the Tannery for the loving, welcoming arms that have changed my dancing career/experience for the better.
Zia Shulman
My name is Zia Shulman. I have been dancing for about 12 years. I’ve taken the TWDCC Intensive ever since its first year. My dance goals are to improve my technique and work my hardest to become a great dancer and inspire others to dance as well. Thank you!
Lola Urner
My name is Lola Urner, and I live in Fresno, CA. I am eleven years old and I have been dancing since I was five years old, off and on. I went to the TWDCC camp for a few Summers and currently, I study aerial dance. Because of COVID-19, I have not been able to dance aerial for months now, sadly. I am very passionate about silks and I’m also very excited to try ballet. This is my first year in the TWDCC intensive. I am hoping to be able to gain more knowledge about dance and to reach a higher level in aerial and dance in general.
Eliana Wowak
My name is Eliana and I have been dancing for 12 years, and 5 of those years have been at tannery. I have had the honor to attend TWDCC’s summer intensive for 3 summers. My goal is to continue to take dance classes that inspire me to be a better dancer and work hard.
Ava Wylie
I have been dancing since I was very young and have enjoyed the opportunity to try the many different styles of dance offered during this summer's Tannery intensive. I have found that a message can be given through different types of movement and not just traditional styles of dance. I hope to be able to apply this idea to my dancing in the future, as well as improve my technique.
