April 29’s performance is scheduled for 2 p.m. in the Performing Arts Building, Room 100A. April 30’s performance is at 7 p.m. in the same location. Both performances are free to the public.
“Turning the Wheel Productions,” and she is a founding board member of the San Antonio Dance Umbrella. The S.A.D.U. is a service organization designed to promote dance and to serve dancers, choreographers, and dance companies in the San Antonio area.
“Once a year, I plan to do an inter-generational dance/theater production for the spring and some alternate productions in the fall,” said Ruffner.
"Familiar Moments” is a theatrical interpretation of moments and emotions based upon family, food, conflict, trust, transformation and love. The development of these moments comes from the performers themselves. Ruffner helps to guide the feelings of each person into a movement based on the idea that our bodies help to tell others how we feel.
“I am used to seeing and dancing hip-hop, salsa and jazz, but here the choreography is more personal and comes from my own experiences with family,” said Tabatha Cruz, a freshman majoring in Elementary Education.
After careful collaboration among the performers, a list of movements are selected and then artistically strung together, producing an original piece of choreography. The dance is then carefully woven into a variety of instrumental music, song and poetry that will help communicate the messages of familiar moments to the audience.
“It has help me to overcome my shyness, in both my performance and in my classes, and it has given me an interest in people. I want to know what their familiar moments are,” said Nicole “Nikki” Ledezma, a sophomore majoring in Psychology.
Through repeated practice, the making of “Familiar Moments” has helped to close the gap between ethnicity and age by teaching and mimicking each other in a relaxed and professional surrounding. The choreography is made possible through teamwork. As a movement is created, it then must be taught to the others, which takes patience and demands a silent understanding and respect for each dancer. The participants are able to express more of themselves through this type of dance.
“The way I see dance is that it is a way to relieve stress, and I just feel better,” said Clarissa Perez, a freshman majoring in Education with a minor in Dance.
Students who sign up for dance courses will have a chance to work with Ruffner to create and perform in future productions. Students also work with Chuck Squier, Assistant Professor of Speech and Drama who serves as the Stage Manager/Consultant, to design the set, and Kim Corbin, the Lab Tech for the Fine and Performing Arts Department, to design the costumes.
Vincent Bradford, Assistant Professor, Chair of Kinesiology, Health and Dance is delighted that Ruffner is now on campus.
“I think Palo Alto students have an incredible opportunity to study with one of the top dance instructors in San Antonio,” said Bradford.
The dance program at Palo Alto was added to the Kinesiology Department in the Fall of 2002 because it fit into the study of health and movement. Classes include Folk, Square, Modern, Jazz, Ballet, Ballet Folklorico and Social Dance.
“We don’t want to focus on just one element of kinesiology, health or dance. We want to make an environment for life-changing experiences, and if we say that kinesiology is just an activity course, that wouldn’t be true. Kinesiology is the study of movement, and that entails dance,” said Suzel Molina, Instructor of Kinesiology, Health and Dance.
For more information, contact Ruffner at 921-5217.