Teens Put Best Foot Forward

Imagine being a student and missing class to do what you really love. We’re not talking about a ditch day, but Orange Coast College’s High School Dance Day.

The recent event at the Costa Mesa campus gave a couple hundred students from seven Orange County schools a chance to take classes in jazz, tap and ballet. This marks the 15th year the community college has offered the “high-energy dance experience,” says dance department director Karen Shanley.

“The students have a great time,” she says. “Their teachers tell me they get excited because they don’t have to go to their own school and they get to dance all day long.”

All local high schools are invited. Participating students and their dance instructors this year came from the Academy of the Performing Arts at Huntington Beach High, Canyon High in Anaheim, Esperanza High in Anaheim, Fullerton High, Irvine High, Marina High in Huntington Beach and Pacifica High in Garden Grove.

“What we do is give them an opportunity to taste the variety of levels and contents we have to offer,” says Shanley. “Throughout the day, there are five classes in three of our facilities.

“My biggest thrill was walking into the theater and seeing 50 high school students working with the Middle Eastern dance instructor.”

At a cost of $144 for a 12-unit semester, students pay less than $1 for a two-hour class, which Shanley thinks is a bargain. “OCC is one of the county’s best-kept secrets,” she says.

The summer session begins June 14.

For enrollment details, call (714) 432-0202, Ext. 25735. For information on the dance department, call (714) 432-5506 or visit OCC’s Web site at https://www.occ.cccd.edu, which has a link to the dance department’s site.