Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1977-1989 | View Entire Issue (May 30, 1979)
By Leanne Lally In the far corner of the bottom level of Randall Hall, in a small room, a very energetic and creative at mosphere is created. Bodies twisting and turning, flowing movement-to music creating words with ac tions. This is all part of dance and the College’s* Dance Collective is no exception. Dance Collective is a club created by Marcia Tuma. Tuma, a dance student herself, and the group have achieved many things through their club. In the begin ning, the group had to practice in the weight room. They now have a studio under the gym that has a wall of mirrors essential to the working of dance. A visitor, would see much action going on in the front of the mirrors as the group practices for one of their many dance concerts. “This year we’ve just begun to get support from the various people in the College,” said Tuma. The dance department has now been “recognized” as a vital and important part of the curriculum, Tuma said. Tuma spoke of dance (modern) saying that the art is a combination of exercise and various steps. “Moves have to follow through with the music,” said Tuma. “I personally like to have my moves crescendo with the music.” Choreography is a technique Tuma is finding pleasing for her. Besides a feeling of elation when she sees her own compositions performed, Tuma said, “I can see that the training and the sweating pay off. ” When a person thinks of modern dance, they are most likely going to think of disco or rock and roll dan cing. Modern dance oftentimes has a message to relay and that is often missed in a viewer’s attempt to rationalize every move. “The individual must make his own decision on what the dance is communicating to him,” said Tuma. “Dance is made to be interpreted in many different ways.” Î The closeness of dancers is another important aspect to achieving the polished look of today’s modern dan cers. Tuma said that without the closeness of the dan cers, a lot would be lost in performance. “If you don’t have something for yourself, you’re going to end up frustrated,” said Tuma of dance and other forms of art. “You have to get what you want out of life,” she said. It is evident that her philosophy is carried out in her dancing. Venturing into the dance room, one can see a group of six to seven leotarded people facing a wall of mirrors and strenuously practicing a performance. Just as a painter of long ago gave up his ear for a belief, these diehards give up a little piece of themselves for us. When they go on stage, the outcome on the audience’s part is unknown, just as any performer knows. But unlike a singer or actor, dancers are completely and unabashedly themselves on stage, pumping out their beliefs into their movements. Tuma summed up her theory on life and dance with this poem: Life for me is a profound a sacred a mysterious a soulful dance But it is a dance.” Anais Nin Tuma took a look into the future with plans of raising her son, Matthew, and staying on at the College bet tering the dance program. “An office would be nice,” she added. So Tuma plans.her next step in life as she does in her dance. For her, choreographing dance is not the only thing she does. She choreographs life. clackamas quarterly review page 10 13 12 ' H Density — ------- - i—7—r r"1 ■