Art, dance and music fill the fall semester

By Arlene Galindo | Pulse staff reporter

Palo Alto’s Fine and Performing Arts Department kicked off the fall semester with a multitude of events.

The PAC Juried Student Exhibit is the last anticipated fall event for the Art Department’s ‘Gallery 100'. It features the art work of alumni and past Palo Alto College art students. 

Alba DeLeon, professor of Art, said nine artist have their art showcased. “It demonstrates that many of our students when they finish our program or finish a course keep doing art and participating within the community or individually,” said DeLeon.

The PAC Juried Student Exhibit began Oct. 18 and runs through Nov. 29. It is located in ‘Gallery 100’ at Concho Hall with hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays. For more information, join the Art Department on their new Facebook page at PAC Fine Arts Department.

Every fall, dancers from “Dances in Progress” get ready to show off their moves in the Performing Arts Center. Erica Wilson-Perkins, professor of Dance, said that the performances include “experimental, contemporary dance pieces and extend to exciting hip-hop dances.”

"Dances in Progress" will take place in the Performing Arts Center on November 29 and 30 at 7:30 p.m. For more information or for those interested in making dance a career, contact Wilson-Perkins at (210) 486-3211 or ewilsonperkins@alamo.edu. 

The Music Department will also showcase their students' work. Earlier this fall semester Mariachi Palomino performed for the new Palo Alto President, Dr. Michael Flores. Juan Ortiz, assistant professor of Music and a two-time Grammy winner, leads Mariachi Palomino. The Jazz Ensemble will perform on November 14 at 7:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center’s Recital Hall, and Mariachi Palomino will perform on Nov. 11 at San Antonio College's Koehler House, where they will perform the national anthem. Conjunto Palo Alto will perform a concert on December 5 at 12:30 p.m. in the Student Center.

Juan Tejeda, assistant professor of Conjunto Palo Alto, said, “The musical repertoire we're currently working on for this semester includes polkas, cumbias, boleros, ballads, and even an acoustic rock tune. We usually don't have any events where the public participates, but we're open to that.”

The Music Department's Jazz Ensemble has many things to celebrate besides music. Dr. Armin Marmolejo, assistant professor of the Jazz Ensemble, said both of his former students Adam Garcia and Sam Saenz made the All-State Junior College Jazz Ensemble last semester.

Marmolejo said, “I was very proud of them. They played really, really well.”

This fall semester’s first production on stage, “All in the Timing,” was a set of five short plays by David Ives and directed by Chuck Squier, assistant professor of Theatre. 

Squier said the productions were one-act comedies whose characters enter black holes called Philadelphias. Chimps are expected to randomly re-create Hamlet, and strangers may eventually fall in love via a new universal language. 

Squier said he and his students were excited about the production, but he warned parents that the play contained mature language and was not appropriate for children. The play ran Oct. 11, 12, 13, 18, 19 and 20 in the Performing Arts Center.

All events and performances are free and open to the public. However, the Dance Department does suggest a donation that goes toward the PACDance Summer Dance Scholarship. 

Students, faculty and staff at Palo Alto can see all the festivities on campus by visiting http://alamo.edu/pac/events.

Caption: Irving Herrera, a Palo Alto Art student, takes in Samuel Velasquez's work in Gallery 100.