‘Herencia Latina’ honors roots through dance

“How is it going on this stage?” asked the choreographer to a group of elementary school kids. “Is everyone getting used to it?”

Jose Costas, founder and artistic director of the nonprofit Contempo Ballet, stood on Orange Coast College’s Robert B. Moore Theatre stage during a Tuesday afternoon rehearsal and told fourth- to sixth-graders to extend their arms higher in the air.

“Remember to smile and think of yourself as the paint to this blank canvas,” Costas said.

Dance concerts, education, training and community programs.

It’s all part of the vision of Costas, who is on a mission to introduce audiences to multicultural contemporary ballet and teach all generations the joy of dance.

Costas, who founded the dance company in July, was gearing up for the nonprofit’s first performance, “Herencia Latina,” on Friday at Orange Coast College. The 50-minute educational dance presentation will honor Latino-American heritage and feature hip-hop movements and other forms of choreography. The show will be followed by a short speech about the influences of Spanish dance in the world today.

“This is my passion,” Costas said while the student dancers took a break to mingle over string cheese. “My motto is to bring the arts to the community and the community to dance.”

Costas, who grew up in Puerto Rico, earned a master of dance from New York University and was hired as a principal dancer with Ballet Hispanico of New York. He made his debut on Broadway as a featured dancer in a national tour of the musical “Brigadoon,” choreographed by Tony Award and Academy Award nominee Rob Marshall.

After 10 years in New York, Costas moved to Los Angeles and accepted a position as a full-time lecturer in the dance and theater department at Cal State Dominguez Hills. In 1999, he was hired at OCC, became a tenured dance professor and has since been responsible for choreographing shows such as “Bongo Concerto,” a presentation of Latin rhythms by Cuban composer Perez Prado.

But his aspirations of starting a dance company nagged at him. Seeking to launch an independent project outside of his teaching career at OCC, Costas appeared last summer before the Costa Mesa Cultural Arts Committee, which works with the City Council to support cultural arts programs. He had to receive approval to establish the program so residents could access the arts in public venues, such as schools.

Costas presented his mission of developing a nonprofit that would provide students of all ages and levels a dance education. Currently, the dance company falls under the nonprofit umbrella of the Orange Coast College Foundation, which undertakes fundraising campaigns and activities to support the college.

He can’t do it alone.

Costas and his team of nine dancers, who are current OCC students or alumni, teach kids a series of dance workshops for a minimum of 10 weeks that culminates in an informal presentation.

Costas collaborated with the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and established a pilot program with Paularino Elementary School in Costa Mesa. Costas said he hopes to expand to additional interested schools within the district. The 25 fourth- through sixth-graders will showcase their newly learned moves during the first of the two performances on Friday, while the company’s dancers will perform in the second show.

Shannon Spining, a fourth-grade teacher at Paularino Elementary, and Lisa Roberts, a fifth-grade teacher at the school, watched their students rehearse Tuesday and said they wanted to be involved in the program after hearing Costas’ presentation.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to participate in a real dance experience with a knowledgeable dance teacher,” Spining said. “So many of these students have the gift to sense rhythm and keep track of counts.”

Roberts she is most excited to look at parents’ faces on opening day as they watch their children demonstrate their artistic abilities.

“I’m looking forward to seeing them shine on stage, showing all their hard work to the audience, because they worked so hard,” Roberts said.

Supporting the elementary school students are the college-aged students, who, Costas said, are committed to teaching various dance techniques while setting a good example.

Among the Contempo Ballet dancers is Enrique Herrera, whose mother encouraged him to dance as a way to avoid neighborhood bullies. When he was 12, Herrera successfully auditioned for the Saint Joseph Ballet and performed at yearly concerts. The ballet company, whose mission was to serve underprivileged families by helping their children apply for colleges, helped Herrera attend OCC.

There’s also Evona Markanian, an OCC dance major who is a teaching artist and guest choreographer for “Herencia Latina.”

Before they returned to the stage for the second half of the rehearsal, sixth-grader Josh Orozco and his classmates said they were enjoying the lessons and anticipating Friday’s show.

“This is the first time I learned how to dance, and it’s awesome,” Josh said. “It’s the best thing ever.”

Costas said the dancers are being paid for rehearsals and performances this season of three months. The fall season, he said, could be four months. Costas hopes to keep them employed with teaching jobs when they are not rehearsing with funds received by corporate sponsors and private donations. They will be able to do that once Costas secures a dance program in other schools.

To further expand the company’s community involvement, Costas also hopes to book Contempo Ballet at other performing venues, schools or private events. The performance is sponsored in part by OCC Foundation, Neiman Marcus, HOTB Software Solutions, Conversant Capital, Urban Arena and Orange County community members. Contempo Ballet partnered with OCC and the Newport Mesa Unified School District to present the event and public school students may attend for free.

But before Costas thought of his next project in the future, he had one current thing on his mind — watching his students bring art to life.

“So many people helped us get here, and I’m just very excited to see the sea of little kids here and have these little stars light up the stage with their performance,” Costas said. “I love what I do.”

If You Go

What: Contempo Ballet’s “Herencia Latina”

When: 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Friday

Where: Orange Coast College, Robert B. Moore Theatre, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa

Cost: $10

Information: (714) 432-5800 or contempoballet.org