'Joffrey West' Summer Dance Training at CSUN Culminates This Friday

Through a new partnership with California State University Northridge (CSUN), the New York City-based Joffrey Ballet School has launched “Joffrey West,” a summer dance training intensive at CSUN through this Friday. 

Open by audition to students ages 12–25 with prior dance experience, “Joffrey West” is led by a faculty of renowned professional dancers including Mia Michaels and Mandy Moore of the hit Fox television show “So You Think You Can Dance.”

The month-long program at CSUN, the Joffrey Ballet School’s only West Coast venue, will culminate with a red carpet event this Friday in the Great Hall of the university’s Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC), known for its commitment to bringing engaging, high-caliber professional performances to its exceptional venues.

“The Joffrey Ballet School’s presence here feeds in both directions,” says W. Robert Bucker, dean of the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication and VPAC’s executive director.

“Like CSUN, theirs is an institution interested in developing young talent and generating new work. The summer program gives dance students exposure to top professionals in their field and the opportunity for rigorous training, artistic collaboration, and live performance that take place in state-of-the-art studios and on a big, beautiful stage. At the same time, those professionals are scouting fresh talent and forming a positive relationship with our extraordinary campus community and facilities.”

Joffrey West is one of several collaborative partnerships established by Cal State Northridge to provide arts education and performance opportunities to middle, high-school, college and post-baccalaureate students, including OperaWorks and the Teenage Drama Workshop (TADW). As a presenter, VPAC also provides matinee programs and master classes during the school year for K–12 students and their teachers.

Up to 150 students per week from across the United States and as well as Mexico and Spain are currently participating in the demanding, high-energy Joffrey West program, registering for sessions of one to four weeks.

Five students received scholarships after submitting performance videos through a contest sponsored by Dance Magazine.

Students are divided into skill levels and taught by instructors with deep professional resumes in the dance world. Michaels works with all trainee levels and is creating a new choreographic piece to be showcased at the final performance.

In addition to Michaels and Moore, the Joffrey West faculty includes Joffrey West Artistic Director Alice Alyse, along with Southern California natives Josie Walsh, a choreographer and a former professional dancer with the Joffrey Ballet, and Dante 7, a dancer and choreographer who has worked with Debbie Allen, Missy Elliot, Justin Timberlake and Mary J. Blige.

Tickets to the culminating performance this Friday at 8 p.m. can be purchased online.