Weekly Hornet

Issue date: 2/14/07 Section: Features

Media Credit: James Hong

Media Credit: James Hong

Melanie Kay Rosa is a great dance instructor at Fullerton College; she is friendly, personable, and her classes are physically demanding, which is what her students like about her and her classes.

"I like how physically demanding she is with her dance technique classes and what I don't like is being sore after her very highly demanding class sessions," Eddy Fernandez, current dance repertory student said.

Rosa instructs a variety of classes at FC. Her dance technique classes include, Latin Jazz, Jazz 1 and 2, Afro-Caribbean (dances from the African and Caribbean region), Conditioning for Dance, Dance Repertory (the class that has students performing at the student concert), and Dance Ensemble. Her less physically demanding lecture classes include, Dance History and Multi-cultural Dance in the U.S.

This is her second year at Fullerton College as a dance teacher. Rosa is an assistant professor in the dance department.

Rosa has been dancing ever since she was young, and has a varied dance background; she is trained in the styles of ballet, modern dance, and Caribbean-style.

Her educational background includes a Masters in Fine Arts with an emphasis in dance, and a degree in medical anthropology and research all from University of California, Irvine.

Her favorite class to lecture is Multi-Cultural Dance class, because this class has a background in research and it is all about different dances from a plethora of cultures around the world, and how the U.S. integrates the dances into American culture. Her favorite technique classes to teach are the Afro-Caribbean and the ballet classes, because these are the classes she has the most experience in. Her personal favorite dance to learn and take is Caribbean style because she loves the different style this dance has from traditional dances.

Before joining the Fullerton College faculty, her resume included modeling, dancing on television shows, and a bit of acting.

Rosa begins each of her technique classes with a warm-up, then an "across the floor," routine, and then she jumps right into the dance that the students are learning. She goes over the dance routine with music first, if students are struggling with the dance, she will stop the music, and show the students how to do the routine step-by-step.

Her teaching style, taking the dance step-by-step, and making sure all the students understand the routine, is what her students love about her. Also, if a student feels nervous about performing in front of the class during evaluations, she comforts her students by telling them to go out there and try their best.

"What I liked about her class was that the class was challenging and Melanie Rosa was funny. What I didn't like about her class was that for [the] final, [you] had to choreograph your own dance," said Lilly Strilio, a former student of Rosa's Latin Jazz class.

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