A jazz technical master class was held as part of the Moxie Dance Project on Monday, Nov. 8, to raise money for Southeastern’s dance program. Instructors were brought in from the Northshore Academy of Dance in Covington, and dancers of all ages were invited to join and advance their knowledge of jazz dance.

Due to budget cuts, the dance program has been holding several of these master classes in different styles of dance to raise money for the department and to travel to the annual American College Dance Festival, which will be held April 2011.

The students bring their own talent and choreography to this convention and compete with their material against students from other universities in the region. This year, 12 dancers will attend, and only three have been granted funds from the Student Government Association.

The jazz class was the second fundraiser to be held by the dance program. Gina Bennett and Paul Guerin, from the Northshore Academy of Dance, were brought in to instruct the participants.

Anyone was allowed to participate in the classes, and they are open to ages 12 and up.

The class began with warm-ups that included stretching, sit-ups and push-ups. Bennett led the participants in these warm-ups and followed with a few dance steps across the floor to get everybody’s feet moving.

Guerin instructed the choreography part of the night and kept the dancers interested, which led to the night running over time due to all the excitement.

“Class was great,” said Bennett. “The dancers did a wonderful job, and they were all super sweet. We had a lot of fun and I think they did, too.”

The first of the fundraisers was the belly dancing master class. The class was held by belly dance instructor Morgan Marcum and was also a huge success.

Members of the dance program plan on having more fundraisers, with the next one to be put on by Michael and Eileen Arnold from Elite Dance Academy in Covington and Mandeville, La. They will teach jazz technique with Broadway influence.

To get the dates or any more information on these upcoming master classes, interested persons may contact Brewer-Plazinic by e-mail at [email protected].