Versa-Style Dance Company – “Hip Hop’s Alive, Beautiful and Healthy” in L.A.
Versa-Style Dance Company—Co-Founded and Co-Directed by Jackie Lopez (BA, World Arts and Cultures/Dance, '04 and Lecturer, World Arts and Cultures/Dance) and Leigh Foaad (Lecturer, World Arts and Cultures)—is a dance ensemble committed to representing the diversity and complexity of Los Angeles. World Arts and Cultures/Dance alumni spoke with See Dance News about Versa-Style's future.
Los Angeles is rich in culture; dance, theater, music and film. It has a very diverse demographics and it is the home of nearly a hundred dance companies representing every ethnic group. Surrounded by all this activity is an extraordinary group that is sadly unknown to many concert dance audiences. Founded in 2005, it is highly respected in the Hip Hop community, the Latino community and by the inner city youth. This company has toured and even attended festivals abroad. I am referring to Versa-Style Dance Company, Co-Founded and Co-Directed by two very gifted artists, Jackie Lopez, aka Miss Funk, and Leigh Foaad, aka Breeze-Lee. They also run a junior company, Versa-Style Next Generation, made up of mostly teenage dancers who have trained with them in community classes.
What prevents this company from reaching a larger and more diverse audience is exposure, opportunity, access to presenters and funding. The talent, the devotion and the drive to succeed is apparent. The work created by Lopez and Foaad is professional and represents with great distinction an important element within the LA dance scene.
I attended a rehearsal of Versa-Style Dance Company at the impressive East Los Angeles Performing Arts Academy. I was immediately struck by the dedication and discipline of the dancers. Leigh Foaad began by building movement phrases that were soon woven into his new evening long work, BOX OF HOPE, premiering in September at the Ford Theater. The same professional work ethic was evident that one sees in a ballet or modern company rehearsal. The emphasis on detail and decorum was the same that I experienced throughout my career with other choreographers. The only difference was the style of dance. The choreography is original, organic and extremely musical. The music that evening was Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, and I watched as the dancers, seven men and six women, concentrated on learning and perfecting Foaad’s exciting movement.
Jackie Lopez, who is also the Director of the UCLA Summer Dance/Performing Arts Intensive for high school students, coached the dancers; reminding them to breathe and to work on their phrasing. “I know that it comes with time, but you have to think about how you breathe.” She said that it is just as important as the attention one gives to her/his “training, the craft, the dancing and the choreography”; that it is part of the “entire package” of their work. She gave clear examples of where in the choreography they could take advantage of breath; how they could use that time to improve certain gestures and the musical phrasing of the movement. Lopez is a supportive, nurturing, but demanding coach with an excellent eye for detail that allows Foaad to concentrate on his choreography.
— Jeff Slayton, Feb. 25
Read the full article at the See Dance News website.