South Valley Dance Arts offers a variety of summer classes and camps for children and adults

Published in the July 5 – July 18, 2017 issue of Morgan Hill Life

By Marty Cheek

Photos by Johnathan Lance/Memories in Motion
South Valley Dance Arts performers represent mushrooms in a segment of the recent “Alice Through the Looking Glass” ballet.

A time-obsessed white rabbit, a dancing pack of playing cards, a mad tea party of animals, and an epic Jabberwocky battle delighted families as South Valley Dance Arts presented its fresh telling of Lewis Carroll’s adventures about a girl named Alice.

Nearly 100 children and teen dancers from Gilroy, San Martin, Morgan Hill and San Jose performed in SVDA’s original ballet version of “Alice Through the Looking Glass” June 16 and 17.

The show’s artistic director, Meghan Horowitz, described the production as a neo-classical ballet because it incorporates both elements of modern and Ukrainian dance. “It’s family-friendly, comedic and metaphysical,” she said. “There’s something in our show for everyone. From our little baby ducklings, to our technically perfect Alice and our high energy Ukrainian cards. The show is full of beautiful dance and exciting, fully realized characters.”

The show was tailored to fit the technical and acting abilities of SVDA’s students who range in skill from beginning toddlers to experienced teens. They danced to classical music pieces and soundtrack scores from movies and even the TV show “Doctor Who.”

The three performances of the ballet were held at the Sobrato Arts Center in Morgan Hill. The show combined characters and vignettes from both “Alice in Wonderland” and “Alice Through the Looking Glass.”

Live Oak High School senior Alison Tapia played Alice as a teenager in the process of finding her own identity through a conflict with what her family and friends expect her to be. The ballet reflects more of the psychological tensions of the recent Disney “Alice” films than Lewis Carroll’s more whimsical tales written for a Victorian audience.

“In our version I’m pulled through the mirror in order to enter Wonderland and I see my reflection,” Tapia said. “And my reflection portrays who I want to be, but my family back in the real world kind of holds me back. So I’m looking for her (the reflection Alice) throughout the whole show and that kind of like drives me throughout every scene.”

Tapia started dancing when she was three and fell in love with the art form, focusing on ballet. She wants to have a career working in choreography and might some day own her own studio, she said.

Sydney Hoiberg romped playfully around the stage as “Dinah,” a mischievous pet kitten that sets off Alice’s adventure. The 10-year-old Gilroy resident starts fifth grade at Luigi Aprea Elementary School this fall. She has performed in several other ballets with SVDA, including “The Nutcracker” twice and the classic “Firebird” last spring.

“Dinah sees Alice’s reflection and goes over to the mirror,” she said. “She jumps through after Alice gets into Wonderland and kind of follows her. Wonderland is very different from reality. It has magical characters and cats and a mad tea party and different things.”

To assist the Queen of Hearts and guard her castle, 12-year-old Morgan Rush performed as “Ten of Hearts” with other dancers in costumes representing playing cards. She started ballet three years ago. SVDA started rehearsing the show in January and the Gilroy home-schooled student said the studio provides a fun and supportive environment where local young people can express their creative talents.

“It’s really beautiful and whimsical,” she said of the ballet. “It’s really graceful and you can express all your feelings through dancing and not speaking.”

Besides classical ballet skills, SVDA’s “Alice in the Looking-glass” also showcases dances from its student classes including contemporary dance, Ukrainian folk dance, Pilates and musical theater. (The studio offers a wide variety of summer classes and camps for children and adults at its newly expanded space in downtown Morgan Hill’s Renaissance Center.)

Madelyn Guinn played “The Queen of Hearts” fueled by her jealousy and envy of her sister. Her insecurity served as the driving force for comically abusing her servants and demanding Alice’s head be cut off because the girl beat her in a game of croquet.

“Alice is such a fun story and it’s a blast to dance. The studio has changed the story up a bit, it’s so much fun and it adds a bit of a twist into the already incredible story,” Guinn said. “I love dancing with SVDA because it really is like a family. I am so close with my fellow senior company dancers and have gotten the chance to get to know all of the younger kids as well.”

Guinn has danced with SVDA for four years. The dance teachers at the studio make sure their students rehearse well to perform at their best during the show.

The SVDA dancers develop discipline and poise through the process of training and rehearsing, said Tiffany Hoiberg, production manager for the ballet.

“Ballet and dance in general across the board helps them with so many things in life — building a team, the dedication and the hard work,” she said. “A ballerina uses every part of her body, and it’s so much for these kids to think of — smiling and making sure their costumes are on right. It’s from their heads to their toes — their muscles and where they’re placing their foot and where they’re moving their arms.”

Often artists in dance performances can get possessive about their territories in creating the productions, whether it is designing the sets, developing the choreography, making costumes or other aspects, said Juliet Smith, an SVDA dance instructor. That’s not the case with putting on shows with the South Valley studio.

“One of the things that’s kind of unique about SVDA is that we really collaborate,” she said. “We don’t kid around about collaborating. We like to work with each other. We’re not divas about our pieces.”