By Lookout Staff

November 12, 2014 – The Santa Monica College (SMC) contemporary dance ensemble, Synapse Dance Theater, will perform new works by professional guest artists, faculty artists and student choreographers on November 21 and 23.
 
Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, November 21 and Sunday, November 23 at The Broad Stage at the SMC Performing Arts Center, located on Santa Monica Boulevard and 11th Street.  A matinee performance will take place Sunday at 4 p.m.
 
Dance styles being performed include Contemporary Ballet, Modern, Postmodern, and Jazz, as well as Hip Hop and Fusion and more.

The program will feature works by the troupe’s co-artistic directors Jae Lee and Mark Tomasic; guest artists Kate Hutter and Joelle Martinec; and faculty choreographers Seda Aybay, Angela Jordan, Karen McDonald and Roberta Wolin-Tupas.

Also creating new dance works for the performance are student choreographers Juan Diaz, Alex Perez, Glenn Rodriguez and Rachael Servello.

Lee, who is a professional dancer and a professor at SMC, will present her contemporary modern performance entitled “Amalgamated,” which “illustrates merging voices of the past and present, creating new directions for the future,” officials said.
 
Tomasic, a professional choreographer and SMC dance professor, has worked with a variety of renowned dance companies. His modern dance/theatrical dance “Barbara, Katherine, Grace” “explores dynamics of expression, suppression, and control in familial and romantic relationships,” officials said.
 
Guest choreographer Kate Hutter is co-founder and artistic director of the Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company (LACDC). She presents her choreography at venues throughout Los Angeles, creates new works for LACDC and teaches at the Brockus Project Space.
 
Fellow guest choreographer Martinec is the founder, artistic director, and choreographer of Los Angeles-based SoleVita Dance Company, which has performed in a number of music videos and venues throughout LA.  He was also a finalist in the “Dance under the Stars” Choreography Festival.
 
Student choreographer Alex Perez, who received his first dance training on the streets of Los Angeles in street battles/events, joined the dance department at Alexander Hamilton High School and is currently a Dance major at Santa Monica College.
 
Featured Synapse dancer Maisha Morris also performs with Contra-Tiempo Urban Latin Dance Theater and teaches and performs both in the United States and abroad.
 
“Synapse has earned a reputation for artistic excellence and innovation since it was founded more than three decades ago,” according to school officials.

The student troupe has performed throughout the nation, including the Electric Lodge in Venice; the Cast Theater in Hollywood; the Getty Center in Los Angeles, and American College Dance festivals in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, California, and New Jersey.
 
Tickets range from $15 to $18. Parking is free.
 
For tickets, go to www.smc.edu/eventsinfo or call (310) 434-3005.

For more information, please see www.smc.edu/dance or call (310) 434-3467.