Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts prepares for virtual ‘Fusion’ showings

Huntington Beach High senior Jeslyn Russell, who plans to study chemistry in college, has a keen appreciation for the way various elements can come together to create something impressive.

Russell has seen it happen firsthand with the Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts this year, courtesy of the coronavirus pandemic.

The “Fusion” dance concert is one of the top events each year for the high school student performers. In a typical year, it would be their first main stage performance of the spring season.

This year, with the threat of COVID-19 still lingering, things aren’t typical. So the 2021 incarnation of “Fusion” — named that because it combines ballet, commercial, tap, jazz and modern styles — has been prerecorded. The virtual performance premieres this weekend on Zoom, with shows Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and a Saturday matinee performance at 2 p.m. Tickets are $30 for a family virtual ticket and available at hbapa.org/see.

“It’s going to be something that you’ve probably never seen before,” said Russell, whose background is as a ballet dancer. “It’s a mixture of a bunch of different styles of dance that come together really nicely. I think you’ll see that all of our hard work has paid off. We obviously love what we do, because we were able to put together a show during COVID time.”

Each prerecorded number has been executed in a socially distanced format. The routines were done in a variety of wide-open spaces around Orange County. Russell said one of her group’s two dances was filmed at five different locations, including the roof of a parking garage.

“We’d do it three times with one angle, then we’d have to repeat different sections so they could get different angles,” she said. “It was definitely more tedious and very exhausting to do it over and over again, especially since it was really hot and we were outside ... [but] I’m very grateful that we were able to film it, because dancing in this company is something that I’ve wanted to do since my freshman year.”

As a senior and experienced dancer, Russell is part of the academy dance company. The company’s two pieces have been merged with routines from other academy ensembles to create the final “Fusion” product.

Dancers perform in a socially distanced setting at Cap Sheue Field at Huntington Beach High for filming of “Fusion.”

(Courtesy of James McCormack)

“It was a great experience because the piece is primarily a film,” said Jessie Hernandez, another APA senior who attends Coast High. “The message of the film is spoken through dance, so it’s not something that can be performed on a stage because of its artistic aspects. It was an incredible experience for us dancers to be introduced to the film industry and that side of art. A lot of us are so used to concert dance only, so getting that new experience was really a growing experience for all of us. It was challenging and super fun.”

Sierra Sifuentes, a senior at Huntington Beach High and a member of the dance company, said filming the dances proved difficult, but she agreed with her friends it was a worthwhile experience.

“We had to dance in the sand, and that one was pretty difficult,” Sifuentes said. “Dancing in dirt piles, that was pretty difficult, but it was still really fun to be together in a way that was a lot different than just in the studio or on the stage.

“I’m looking forward to seeing all of the pieces and how they all play out. A lot of the different choreographers and teachers have different visions, so I’m excited to see what they had, how they managed to put it all together.”

Though the three young women had to make sacrifices for the finished product to come together, there will be no nervousness or stage fright on Friday night. Their contribution to “Fusion” has already been completed.

“It will be something different, a fun experience and something new, for people who have watched ‘Fusion’ for over a decade or for someone who’s just watching it now,” Hernandez said. “We have all of that diversity and creativity.”

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