Prospective young dancers and their parents lined up around Santa Ana’s Wooden Floor from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 19 for the opportunity to enroll as a student in the program.
Founded in 1983 by Beth Burns, the Wooden Floor began as a summer program for at-risk youth and eventually expanded into two campuses, serving grades three through 12. The nonprofit’s mission is to provide a space for low-income students to engage in community and learn discipline through dance, encouraging enrollment in higher education.
Each year, The Wooden Floor holds auditions for new dancers. The goal is not to scout for students with technique and experience, but rather, they are selected on the basis of financial need and the dancer’s inclination toward movement and self-expression.
“We’ve actually had some families that get here the night before, and they sleep on the ground for the opportunity to be here,” Wooden Floor CEO Dawn Reese said in an interview with Culture OC. “The Wooden Floor is an unbelievable opportunity, and what I see is when they all line up at our front door, just stepping over the threshold of The Wooden Floor is such a life changer for them.”
PHOTO 1: Parents fill out application forms with their children before the start of auditions. PHOTO 2: Children accompanied by a parent are checked in and assigned an audition number by staff member Eusebio Romero, left. PHOTO 3: Student volunteer Sasha Neilson, left, pins an assigned number on Jaylah Tellez, 9, of Santa Ana before the start of auditions. PHOTO 4: Prospective students get the attention of their parents before their audition.
Photos by Paul Rodriguez, Culture OC
Nervous energy buzzes around students and parents alike in this crisp morning air. Many are too engrossed in paperwork, straightening ponytails and pinning numbers to jackets to notice the growing line begin to wrap around the building. The stakes are high for many of these families. Out of the 150-200 students that attend auditions each year, only about 20% of them make it due to space, resource constraints and the high retention rate of existing students (86%).
“Good morning,” a Wooden Floor employee greets families in line. “English or Spanish?”
The Wooden Floor is celebrating its 41st anniversary this year, now serving 475 children year-round, 60% of which come from the Santa Ana Unified School District, though students come from over 20 cities. Through the help of 60 staff members, students receive not only dance education but also family services and college and career readiness.
“When they’re facing difficulties of poverty, we find that they need those wraparound services to help them achieve their dreams,” Reese said.
Many students are the first in their families to go to college. The Wooden Floor has approximately 120 students in universities around the United States, and they may be given scholarships anywhere from $4,000 to $10,000 if they meet high school requirements at the time of their graduation. Since 2005, 100% of Wooden Floor students have graduated and enrolled in higher education. If students remain full-time in college, their scholarships are renewable yearly.
On the day of auditions, groups of 30 children at a time are led in number order to a big room with multiple Wooden Floor volunteers and instructors. They remove their shoes before stepping onto the gray Marley flooring and separate into four lines.
“Hello, dancers,” Shelby Monson, a Dance Free Weeks instructor, greets the students in a soft voice. “Hello, good morning!”
The environment is forgiving and welcoming. Each step is slow and simple; volunteers walk around to monitor students and gently correct positions if needed. Here, they are to practice for the real audition upstairs. Monson explains French ballet terms like “port de bras” and “plié” as a live piano accompanist plays while the students stretch and jump and clap.
PHOTO 1: Instructor Maya Mozon, right, directs kids into a practice hall for part of their audition. PHOTO 2: An aspiring student waits for instructions as she prepares to audition. PHOTO 3: Maya Mozon, right, an instructor for The Wooden Floor, encourages prospective students as they prepare for their audition. PHOTO 4: Student practice the proper way to point their toes. PHOTO 5: An aspiring student waits for instructions. PHOTO 6: Aspiring students are evaluated by The Wooden Floor instructors during their audition.
Photos by Paul Rodriguez, Culture OC
“We’re not looking for perfection,” Monson reminds the group. “We’re looking for dancers who want to have fun.”
There is a wide range of interest levels in the room; some students watch eagerly and try their hardest, while others seem a little less interested. However, when Monson asks if the students are having fun so far, all 30 students shout, “Yeah!”
The second half of the practice audition is led by Maya Mozon, another Dance Free Weeks instructor. Each student introduces themself and shows a dance move that resonates with them. Some spin around in circles, and many arms move around in the air. It is clear the students are already picking up skills from the first half of the audition.
Some students seem naturally inclined to dance, while others are slightly stiffer. Number 29 flosses, 27 does a curtsy, 11 demonstrates a cartwheel, and 15 asks, “Can we do backflips?”
The across-the-floor movements include skipping and improvisation where students are to show a bit more of their own expression. When instructed to get back into lines regardless of number order, two girls run up to each other and clasp hands to stand beside one another as they finish out with feeling-based movement that focuses on shapes rather than technique.
PHOTO 1: In preparation for the audition, a Wooden Floor instructor demonstrates free-form movements for an aspiring student. PHOTOS 2 and 3: Hoping to be selected for The Wooden Floor, a hopeful student skips across the dance studio and jumps to express herself. PHOTO 4: Skipping across the dance floor, a boy auditions for an opportunity to learn at The Wooden Floor. PHOTO 5: Aspiring students practice free-form movements. PHOTO 6: A hopeful student finishes up the free-form part of her audition before evaluators. PHOTO 7: As others wait their turn, a prospective expresses herself during an audition. PHOTO 8: Student volunteer Arely Gutierrez, center, gives out a double high-five as an aspiring student finishes up her audition.
Photos by Paul Rodriguez, Culture OC
Through a modern dance lens, students are able to build upon and rely on organic movement to create and collaborate with one another.
“It’s more than learning steps,” Reese said. “It is learning and developing life skills that they can take into all parts of their lives.”
Upstairs, the group of 30 is split into two groups of 15. Each room has two judges, and the students are separated into two lines by odd and even numbers.
“Can you raise your hand if you’re having fun so far?” Andrea Ordaz asks first, and everyone lifts their hands to the sky.
The room is filled with tons of natural light, and the space is big and bright. Each student introduces themself and demonstrates their dance moves from downstairs as a different accompanist creates a miniature tune for each dancer. After their turn, many would scurry back to their lines for safety, though the judges were smiling wide and clapping their hands in encouragement the entire time.
At the end of the audition, Ordaz explains the acceptance process to the students and reminds them, “No matter what happens, please, please keep dancing.”
If students are accepted into the program, they stay at The Wooden Floor for around 10 years, though only two in 20 become dancers in their careers. Every dancer is welcome to perform in the yearly recital at the Irvine Barclay Theater, which runs from Thursday to Saturday following Memorial Day weekend. The Wooden Floor brings in choreographers who are shaping the genre of contemporary dance, and each piece is around 20 to 30 minutes long with 30 to 40 students in each piece.
“Performance brings out a whole other skill set,” Reese said. “That's really where they really get into the critical thinking aspects of the work. You're being witnessed on stage, and by being witnessed on stage, something really powerful happens in your confidence, and you become more courageous, trying new things, and stepping out of your comfort zone.”
As students leave the audition room to put on their shoes and grab their belongings, they can see their parents waiting for them below through the glass windows. They wave and smile, blowing kisses to one another.
Outside, parents wait anxiously for their children to return from the audition. Mother Melissa Garcia shared what this opportunity means for her and her daughter.
“For me, it would be an opportunity for my daughter to build her self-confidence, because I feel like for her, she's still trying to figure out who her friends are and stuff like that,” Garcia said. “I think this is more personal for her. She's very energetic, she's very outgoing, and her personality doesn't really go with some of her classmates. I feel like this would build her self-confidence in a sense where she would feel like, ‘OK, this is mine, I'm gonna make it my own.’ I know it would just be a better future for her.”
PHOTO 1: Children receive high-fives from student volunteers as they emerge from their audition at The Wooden Floor in Santa Ana on Saturday, Oct. 19. PHOTO 2: With camera phones in hand, parents watch as their children emerge from their audition. Photos by Paul Rodriguez, Culture OC
When the students emerge through the glass doors, families erupt into cheers and applause. Children run to reunite with their parents, siblings and grandparents, who envelope them in proud hugs while students who are just arriving are given numbers for their auditions.
The Wooden Floor’s tagline is “From here, you can step anywhere.” No matter what each student wants out of life, the Wooden Floor ensures that students have the tools and opportunities to achieve their dreams.
