Cosumnes River College’s first and only dance club allows both experienced and inexperienced dancers to learn choreography, connect with fellow students and create community on campus.
Jasmine Bui, a 19-year-old computer science major and CRC dance club president, said the club was founded in fall 2024 by Julia Nguyen, a 20-year-old art major.
Bui said she and Nguyen have been a part of dance since middle school, which inspired Nguyen to create the club to continue their dance pursuits.
Nguyen said she was feeling lost without dance and wanted to create a club she wished she had seen when she first started college.
“This club was created because I wanted to bring dance opportunities for dancers at CRC,” said Nguyen. “I noticed CRC didn’t have any dance programs, and I want to bring more exposure to the CRC dance community.”
CRDC’s main focus is hip-hop. The club’s workshops consist of learning new choreography every week led by different members.
“I did sit in on one of their workshops a couple of weeks ago, and it was really interesting to see,” said Martin Flynn, theater and dance arts department chair and faculty advisor of CRDC. “Last year, they performed the song ‘Not Like Us’ by Kendrick Lamar, and they were forward-thinking. It was really impressive what they came up with.”
Flynn said the choreographers consist of the club’s leadership with occasional guest choreographers from the local dance community and club members with permission.
Bui said one of the main ideas of CRDC is to go in on Thursdays, learn a dance and have fun.
“It’s a really fun experience for dance rather than a stressful one because unlike most dance companies I’ve been in, it has not been much of a time commitment,” Bui said.
Nguyen said students who want to pursue professional dancing can use CRDC to build their portfolio and experience.
“The club is a great start to a person’s dance career or just learning how to dance,” Nguyen said.
Flynn said the club’s biggest challenge right now is the lack of resources on campus for dance.
“We kind of bounced around to different rooms, but we eventually found them a home in the Black Box Theater,” said Flynn.
Bui said they set a goal to raise more money this year, which they were able to do. She said they plan to use this money to invest in mirrors for the dance room.
Flynn said another goal for the spring semester is to do an end-of-the-year performance in a place where they can be seen on campus, like the quad.
“It’s super fun to see people who have no dance experience at all come to meetings. It makes me happy seeing people try something new while also being involved in school,” Bui said.
Flynn said CRDC is developing its identity and learning how to nurture that identity.
For more information, follow the CRDC Instagram page @cosumnesriverdanceclub or visit the CRC’s club page here.