Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, San Diego City College’s annual spring 2021 concert was canceled. However, that didn’t stop the dance faculty and students from putting on a lively performance to end the semester or to mark the end of the spring term.

City College’s dance faculty presents “Landing on Our Feet,” a five-part virtual dance performance on Vimeo through Saturday.

The students performed at the City campus in separate groups, all while wearing masks to protect themselves and their fellow performers and following the CDC guidelines at the time of recording.

The first group, “Let Them Go,” was a lyrical and contemporary performance. The student performers were wearing blue, which often represents serenity and tranquility, and it can also convey the complexity of depression. The songs that they danced to were songs of heartbreak and loneliness. 

In the second group, “Best Party Ever,” the music they danced along to was more upbeat and epic sounds that were as if you were walking out of the movie theatre after you just watched the latest Marvel film. The group of three wore bandanas and casual street clothing, which helped the relatability and humanity of their performance. This group was more of a hip-hop street style dance. 

The third performance, “Patches,” was one of the more emotional performances in the entire video of “Landing on Our Feet.” It started off with three women putting on denim jackets and each individual dancing along to a poem which was also called Patches.

The poem was each of the women’s stories about their own history and their own individual openness to the unfortunate traumatizing event of sexual harassment and assault. Each of the dancers was given the spotlight to dance alongside the poem that showed the vulnerability, strength and perseverance of the students.

All of the women then came together and danced about how they are taking back control over their own lives and bodies even after their own experience with something that can either make or break someone. 

The fourth performance, “Love More,” represented how even after all we have been through as individuals and what we have all gone through with this past year, we will always have dance and something to celebrate. The three dancers wore black party clothes while dancing the Latin-inspired dance.

The last performance of the show, “a | part of the story,” starts off with somebody drifting off to sleep and dreaming about the Saville Theatre. Then, a group of five dancers all wearing different colored shirts danced alongside together. It was an upbeat dance, just like “Love More” and “Best Party Ever.”

The person who drifted off to sleep and then dreamed about the Saville Theatre then ran to where the dancers were at. Unfortunately, they were late and the dancers were done dancing to the upbeat song and walked away, leaving the person behind.

The vulnerability, intimacy and love that the students and faculty have for the art of dance is nothing short of stunning. The hard work and dedication that these students and faculty have to put on a lively performance is the light that we needed in the midst of the darkness that the past year gave us.