On opposing sides of the city, perched wistfully above the bluffs overlooking the Pacific, SBCC’s Tracy Kofford and UCSB’s Brandon Whited are busying themselves with final preparations for their annual spring dance concerts — a rite of passage for graduating students in their respective dance departments and the culmination of a year’s worth of rigorous training. To the west, Whited, the UCSB dance department’s newest faculty member, is learning the intricacies of a new environment while formulating a platform for his curatorial style. Due east, Kofford continues his efforts to diversify his recently formed SBCC Dance Company through innovative partnerships with area choreographers. On a sunny afternoon, I took a scenic drive along the coast to visit the two concert directors in their natural habitats and got a firsthand look at the particulars of a life in dance academia.
SBCC’s Tracy Kofford
Wyatt Gardner pushes back an unruly curl and takes a deep breath. With a quiet agility that belies his 290-pound frame, he sinks into a grand plié and lifts his chin in concentration. A salty, ocean breeze wafts through the studio door, a welcome respite for the SBCC Vaqueros offensive lineman in the throes of his twice-weekly ballet class. “I’m here because I want to get better at football, ma’am,” he offered, and by his razor-sharp focus and perfectly pointed toes, I can tell that he actually means it.