Mimicking choreographed motions, students learned hip-hop dance from an instructor at the second annual Dance SensAsian, hosted by Campus Events + Entertainment’s Asian American Culture on Thursday night.
The class was taught by an instructor from The Space, a student organization that hosts free dance classes. The Space split from Dallas-based organization Dancing for a Cause to better meet the needs of the UT-Austin community, said dance instructor Chris Han.
Han said the new organization aims to provide more hands-on dance classes than before.
“The original format was one class per week,” Han said. “We wanted to make it where everyday of the week there would be some sort of dance class available to the students here.”
Tiara Boquiren, logistics officer for E+E’s Asian American Committee, said she hopes the event will give the Asian-American community more exposure.
“(The Space’s) name really kind of says it all — they created a space that people can create and can come to learn and grow within dancing,” nutrition senior Boquiren said.
The Space currently has five instructors that lead classes on both freestyle and choreographed dancing.
David Cha, co-founder of The Space, said his dance is closer to street styles and incorporates hip-hop, popping and locking, krumping, and breaking.
“My classes are more about performance and character and having fun,” Cha, an arts and entertainment technologies senior, said. “It’s a wide variety. I honestly jump around a lot from what I am focusing on. Sometimes they are technical. They are very clean. Other times, they are about bouncing around and having fun.”
Cha said The Space seeks to create community for people with shared interests.
The Space started classes this past fall, with some seeing as many as 30 students, Han said.
“We have noticed that there are a lot of newer dancers that have started coming to our classes,” said Han. “We have been trying to level our classes in a way where some of them are more beginner friendly.”
Accounting exchange student Ching Foon Seraph Chi attended Dance SensAsian to relax after classes and said she hopes to dance more in the future.
“I rarely find similar things back in my university (in Hong Kong), so I try to join while I am still studying here,” Chi said.
The Space typically hosts dance classes Tuesday through Friday at Bellmont Hall. Students can learn more about their classes on their Facebook group atxthespace.
