Dance is life. Dance brings community. It’s a form of self-expression.
For years, all over the world, dance has shared stories and documented history through physical movement.
According to Harvard Health, dance relieves stress, improves physical health by lowering cholesterol and building muscle, and strengthens memory and problem-solving skills.
The El Camino College dance department has a wonderful program, but I believe they should offer more resources and a greater variety of cultural dances for its students.
As of 2025, the dance department offers fundamental cultural dance classes that originated from America and Europe, like ballet, modern, jazz, tap dance, hip-hop and ballroom dance.
They also offer other cultural dances from different continents, like Latin social dance, African dance and belly dancing.
The dance department offers performance opportunities for students to demonstrate their performance techniques and artistic skills in formal or informal dance shows.
Formal performances allow students to work closely with professional guest artists in a theater environment and give students experience in professional costuming and lighting.
However, the dance department should provide more opportunities to gain in-depth, professional experiences and explore more cultural dances.
Expanding the department’s offerings would allow students to grow a deeper understanding of the world and become more well-rounded dancers.
Santa Monica College’s dance department has a three-day residency with BroadStage, inclusive of the RUBBERBAND Method, which teaches hip-hop, classical ballet and contemporary dance with screenings and repertory classes.
The Global Motion World Dance Company offered at SMC allows students to experience, tour and learn about cultures through world dance.
The college’s dance department also hosts study tours where students travel to New York City to explore its dance scene and cultural influences.
Compared to ECC, SMC has a wider variety of global dance courses like Asian Pacific, Mexican, Flamenco, African, Salsa, Brazilian, Middle Eastern and North African dances.
Expanding dance offerings at ECC would allow students to grow a deeper understanding of the world and become more well-rounded dancers.
By adding more opportunities for dance exploration, students will benefit culturally, socially, academically and mentally.
