Alumna aims to choreograph change through honoring hip-hop culture
Alumna Jackie Oka is a principal dancer and school programs coordinator for the hip-hop dance compan
Jackie Oka (B.A. '15, World Arts and Cultures) began her involvement with UCLA in a high school summer program for dancers. While in school, Jackie co-produced the WAC Smash'D undergraduate showcase and now works with the hip-hop dance company, Versa-Style, and the Flourish Foundation.
Five-year-old Jackie Oka discovered the secret to achieving elementary school fame.
Stepping on the talent show stage to perform for the first time, Oka broke out into dance to Britney Spears’ “Oops!… I Did it Again,” imitating hip shaking and twirls straight from the choreography in the music video. She was then known by the rest of the school as “the Britney Spears girl,” a title that would stick for the rest of her grade school years.
“To me, it was just jumping around, having fun,” Oka said. “It was just something I loved to do. I didn’t realize I was performing for all these people.”
Oka, a UCLA alumna, doubted her knack for dancing could ever amount to much. Now, she is part of the hip-hop dance company Versa-Style, where she is a principal dancer and school programs coordinator. As principal dancer she travels with the group to perform all over the world, including free shows she organizes for middle schools and high schools in the Los Angeles area.— Alexa Gonzales, Feb. 10
Read the full article at the Daily Bruin website.
We sat down last year with Jackie in the ongoing Day in the Life series of interviews; you can find her feature here.