Feliciano Pablo Ortiz

Coming from a place like Vallejo, CA, it is really hard to find a space to dance due to the studios being some distance from that area. It takes a dancer with a lot of drive and hunger to thrive as a dancer in a city like this which is what Feliciano Ortiz did. Also known as Pablo, now age 25, got his start in dance at the age of 12 during a school assembly where a choreographer by the name of Greg Chapkis reached out to him and advised

Throwback Thursday

Do you remember that time when those siblings got stuck in a 1950’s TV Show and couldn’t get out until they realized the injustices that were prevalent at that time? If you don’t you probably have never watched the movie Pleasantville staring Reese Witherspoon and Toby Maguire. The plot is exactly that along with a town of people who are all in black and white.

Aggie Loyala – Use Me

This weeks concept video of the week comes from the one and only Aggie Loyola of the Company. Aggie has been a choreographer for The Company for quite some time but did not get the recognition she has now until she released her Girls Like You concept video.

Robyn Nariyoshi

Coming all the way from Honolulu, Hawaii, Robyn Nariyoshi began dancing at the age of 5 where she was classically trained in ballet. She made the decision to stop ballet right before she made it to pointe, and from there branched off into jazz which eventually led her to hip hop in 6th grade. Nariyoshi enjoyed the style of hip hop due to the freedom it possessed and the limited constraints it had but living in Hawaii, the dance scene was not so big so she was very

Prelude Overview

As with every year November starts off the competition calendar, and this year Main Stacks had the honor of continuing the tradition of hosting Prelude NorCal. Main Stacks is the premier dance team of UC Berkeley and has been hosting Prelude since 2010, 2 years after their debut performance where they took home third place. The competition took place on November 12, 2016, at the Chabot College Performing Arts Center. All in all there were 23 performances throughout the night, following the tradition of starting with the Pre-Show which showcased some of UC Berkeley’s other dance teams, and ending with Main Stacks as

Jon Mitsui

Mitsui, like most college dancers began his dance career in high school after one of his physical education requirements was to take a dance class. A little after that he realized he was good at what he did when his coach Juliette King asked him to try out for the schools team. Dance became a regular part of his life, as he would constantly take classes throughout all of SoCal ranging from workshops hosted by many of the colleges teams around the area. In specifics, PAC Modern

Allyson Del Rosario

San Jose native Allyson Del Rosario got her start in dance after finding inspiration in her older sister at the age of 5. As she was old enough to enroll in classes she quickly jumped into her sisters shoes and began making a name for herself in the world of dance. The first studio she ever trained at was Sheri’s Born to Dance studio in San Jose where she got her first taste of competitive dance. Eventually the owner of the studio passed down the keys to one of her students being Tawnya Kuzia who renamed the studio Norcal Dance Arts and is the current owner. Through Norcal Dance Arts (NCDA) Ally was able to train day and night joining the Hip Hop Dance collective and later dipping her feet into community dancing by training with Hungry Bumz which was led by Randy Van Le and Kyle Limin.

Gina Hong – Bossy

The concept video of the week goes to Gina Hong and the Bad Girls Club (BGC) for choreographing to Bossy by Kelis. The video gives off a very Girl Power vibe consisting of the all female showcase team BGC. Their choice of costume is very street wise which adds to the mood of the video which is a very bad girl who is willing to fight you kind of vibe. Gina utilizes various different levels which gives the video flavor, making choreography from the ground to a chair and even standing up. The dancers really utilize their flexibility by making sure they hit a very deep plie and also jumping straight into the splits.

Alfred Remulla

Born and raised in Daly City, California, Alfred Remulla was exposed to dance through the likings of boy bands like N*Sync and Backstreet Boys at the age of 6. Seeing this infatuation with the art of dance, his mom enrolled him in the hip hop program at the Westlake School of Performing Arts (WSPA) where he received training from his first teacher AR. Soon after that Chris Aldegar took over from there and got him accustomed to the style of The Company, which is WSPA’s competing dance team. After training with him for 2 years he recommended he audition for the jr’s. hip hop team at WSPA. After making it, Remula trained with Patrick Cruz for a year and a half before taking a hiatus during his transition into high school.

NorCal Vs. SoCal

The divide between NorCal and SoCal is extremely different. All in all dance will generally be the same except with a different feel of styles, but aside from just the styles the energy and feeling of classes is completely different. As mentioned by Milo McManus, he describes NorCal as more comfortable, meaning that it is more of a safe feel. NorCal tends to be at more of a slow pace, everyone that takes class here generally does it to dance, or as an outlet which is why class seems more relaxed up here.