Student uses ballet background to explore other forms of dance

Gracefully leaping through the air in a tilt jump position and balancing on just his hands in a complex handstand position are just two of the ways dance major Alex Crank creates expression through movement by dancing.

For the past three years, Crank has been cultivating his passion for dance in classes taken at ACC.

"I started out (in high school) with dancing for color guard where you spin flags on the marching band and you dance and spin rifles. I started doing that, and I found a passion for it. I really wanted to just pursue it and see what else is out there besides color guard. So I moved on to other forms of dance. Ballet and jazz and modern," Crank explained.

Upon becoming an ACC student, Crank began studying ballet. However, after learning new forms of dances over the years, he has learned that he enjoys jazz and contemporary dancing styles much more than ballet.

"Those both have ballet basics in them as far as techniques, but they're also more free form. You can do a lot more as far as movement and variety," Crank said.

ACC's dance department offers classes that teach students about various dance forms including jazz, ballet and modern dance. More in-depth classes are offered as well, such as Anatomy for Dancers and Crank's current class this semester, Dance Performance Workshop where students learn how to choreograph dances.

Crank believes that the dance department provides students with a great learning experiences.

"I love all the professors here. They're wonderful teachers. All the classes here are really informative. You learn a lot about yourself in many different ways," Crank said.

"You learn how to be more aware of your body and more aware of what you want to get out of [a dance]," Crank explained. "We are learning how to create movement, how to create a dance. You kind of find out what you want out of that dance as far as emotions. What you want the audience to feel, what you want them to think."

It's those kind of skills Crank utilized when he participated in the Fall Choreographers' Showcase on Dec. 3 and 4.

The showcase was part of this semester's Big Read program and featured a dance performance titled the "Justice Project" in collaboration with the creative writing department.

Aside from his dance studies at ACC, Crank also volunteers in the Austin Metamorphosis Dance Ensemble.

In the ensemble, Crank has performed in numerous dance performances for children.

"We did James and the Giant Peach one year which was really fun and then The Land of Make Believe which was basically three acts of the Three Little Pigs, the Big Bad Wolf and Goldilocks and The Three Bears. We have a show coming up in January," Crank said.

After graduating from ACC, Crank aspires to become a choreographer.

"I really like to create movement, and I really like putting it on people because sometimes I have ideas in my head that I can't necessarily do the way that I want and I see it, but some people can," Crank said. "I really want to have what I have in my head put out there for the world to see."