Student dancers of Urban Movement, a non-audition, all-level dance club, hosted their first virtual dance workshop through Instagram Live Thursday, April 16. The club is one of many unable to host in-person workshops due to social distancing guidelines.
During a typical quarter, Urban Movement hosts dance workshops on Thursday nights at the Recreation Center, drawing between 30 to 50 dancers. Following two club board meetings, Urban Movement decided to host virtual workshops for spring quarter.
The energy during each workshop is “infectious,” Urban Movement co-president and civil engineering junior Olivia Weinbaum said.
“We are a dance team,” Weinbaum said. “We can’t just stop dancing.”
Fernando Valdivia, Urban Movement dance coordinator and computer engineering sophomore, taught the first virtual workshop on Thursday night featuring a dance hall piece choreographed to “Turn Me On” by Kevin Lyttle.
The piece emphasized “big energy and big movements,” Valdivia said.
Through Instagram Live, the club extends an open invitation to dancers of all ages.
“The workshop is not just for Cal Poly students, but for family members and friends, too, who just want to let loose and dance,” Weinbaum said.
Regardless of social distancing restrictions, Urban Movement continues to uphold its motto of “growth in community, community in growth” by providing an accessible dance outlet, Weinbaum said.
Urban Movement will host the next Instagram Live workshop on Thursday, April 23 at 9:15 p.m.