​Dance production featuring “Mad Men” dance runs May 8-10

(SANTA ANA)—Santa Ana College (SAC) students who represented the only community college at the recent American College Dance Festival Northwest Regional Conference   with their “Mad Men” dance featuring dialogue and music from the AMC award-winning series will perform at Santa Ana College’s spring production, Elevation, a concert of original dance works created and performed by students, faculty and guest artists.

Elevation will have four performances beginning Thursday, May 8 at Phillips Hall Theatre, 1530 W. 17th St. in Santa Ana. Performances are Thursday, May 8 and Friday, May 9 at 7:30 p.m.; and Saturday, May 10 at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. General admission is $20, and $12 for staff, seniors and students; SAC students pay $9.99; children’s tickets (ages 5-14) are $5. The May 8th performance will feature special presentations by choreographers sharing their choreographic ideas.  Tickets are available at the door or online at www.sac.edu/dance.

The American College Dance Festival conferences are the primary means for college and university dance programs to perform outside their own academic setting. The April 3-5 regional competition held at the University of Montana featured 43 colleges and universities, with only 11 slots to perform at the Festival’s closing performance. Santa Ana College, the only community college selected, performed with universities whose dance departments are ranked top-10 in the nation, including the University of Utah, California State University, Long Beach, and California State University, Fullerton.

Special guest faculty artist is SAC dance department adjunct faculty member Saleemah Knight, a Los Angeles-based professional dance choreographer. “Mad Men,” choreographed by SAC adjunct faculty dance department member Kari Jensen, will be performed by six Santa Ana College dance majors:

From Santa Ana                                  Rachel Mariah Ackerman

From Santa Ana                                  Tifanie Arakawa

From Santa Ana                                  Raul Martinez

From Santa Ana                                  Jeremy Meza

From Santa Ana                                  Laura Moran

From Santa Ana                                  Alfonso Ortega

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.sac.edu/dance  or call (714) 564-5640.

About Santa Ana College
Santa Ana College (SAC), which will turn 100 years old in 2015, serves about 18,000 students each semester at its main campus in Santa Ana. The college prepares students for transfer to four-year institutions, provides invaluable workforce training, and customized training for business and industry. In addition, another 13,000 students are served through the college’s School of Continuing Education located at Centennial Education Center. Ranked as one of the nation’s top two-year colleges awarding associate degrees to Latino and Asian students, the college is also recognized throughout the state for its comprehensive workforce training programs for nurses, firefighters, law enforcement and other medical personnel. SAC is one of two comprehensive colleges under the auspices of the Rancho Santiago Community College District. Visit http://www.sac.edu to learn more.