Dancers take to the air - Legends perform on stage
- David Rages, II
- 4 days ago
- 6 min read
On Wednesday, May 20, students at EPACenter Arts looked up and saw something different: dancers suspended by ropes from the rooftop, practicing against the side of the building.
The performers were from BANDALOOP, the internationally known vertical dance company based in West Oakland. They were in East Palo Alto preparing for a May 30 performance with legendary percussionist and Vallejo native Sheila E.
The performance is part of EPACenter’s first Sunset Concert Series, which began May 9 with Grammy Award-winning musician Pete Escovedo, Sheila E.’s father, and continues through July 25.
The May 30 event featured Sheila E. following EPACENTER’s annual fundraising gala, with BANDALOOP also performing. The dance company is known for performing while suspended from buildings and other vertical spaces.
EPACenter leaders say the event is part of a larger effort to bring high-level arts programming directly to East Palo Alto, instead of requiring residents and families to travel outside the city to experience it.
For EPACenter students, the visit offered a rare opportunity to see professional artists up close and learn about a form of dance few had encountered before.
EPACenter Arts dance instructor Cassi Coleman was on hand with her students Abigail Mata, Ripley Juang, Ella Gutierrez, Jayla Russell, Nairobi Rivera and Mateo Pulido as the BANDALOOP team introduced them to this unique form of dance.
Coleman started at EPACenter Arts before the pandemic. She said having a space for students to dance together again has been meaningful.
“Coming through the pandemic, when I didn’t get to see my kids in person, it was so nice for them to have a space where they can dance,” Coleman said.
Coleman, who grew up in East Palo Alto, said opportunities for young dancers today are very different from those available when she was growing up.
“I grew up in East Palo Alto, but I had to train outside of East Palo Alto,” Coleman said. “The kids now have access to quality training in a variety of art forms, and they have opportunities to compete.”
Coleman has been a dancer since she was 2 years old. She took dance classes in Los Altos, continued dancing in college at De Anza College and San Jose State University, and later danced professionally while touring around the country.
One of Coleman’s students, 12-year-old Abigail Mata, said she has been training at EPACenter with Coleman since she was 6 years old.
Abigail said she hopes to pursue a career in dance and enjoys performing.
“I have been dancing at EPACenter since I was 6,” Abigail said. “I first started as a ballet dancer, and then they started offering hip hop.”
Abigail said Coleman has helped her grow as a dancer.“My teacher’s name is Cassi, and she is really fun,” Abigail said. “She makes sure we are doing our best.”
BANDALOOP is a performance art group based in West Oakland. It was founded by Amelia Rudolph and is now under the artistic direction of Melecio Estrella, who has been with the company for more than 25 years.
Jose Abad, one of BANDALOOP’s dancers and instructors, spoke about the company’s history and style.
“The work has been rooted in rock climbing and nature advocacy,” Abad said. “Amelia started this work while rock climbing and asked, what if we bring dance to this form?”
Abad said BANDALOOP brings together artists from a wide range of dance backgrounds.
“There is a deep love of sharing this practice of flying, connecting with community and bringing people outdoors.”
“A lot of the work more recently has looked at dance in a socially responsible way,” Abad said. “It is about bridging community dialogue with dance and shifting perspectives on the architecture in the cities we live in.”
For Abad, bringing BANDALOOP’s work to East Palo Alto is especially meaningful.
“It feels really special to share this work in places that might not have as much exposure to this type of art,” Abad said.
Abad, who is Filipino and Afro-Caribbean, said representation is also part of the experience.
“There is something special about sharing this practice,” he said. “There is a freedom in this work, even if it is really hard. Being able to share that and be physically present as a role model is really nice.”
The Bigger Picture
Beyond the performance itself, EPACENTER leaders see the partnership as part of a broader vision for the community.
Nadine Rambeau, CEO of EPACENTER Arts, spoke passionately about youth of color and what this type of art might mean for them.
“We need to start thinking about what it means for black and brown bodies to occupy space, because that is so important right now,” Rambeau said. “People are often told, ‘You can’t be here. You can’t be there; you need to go over there.’ This is a response that says, ‘Actually, we’re going to be everywhere.’”
Rambeau said BANDALOOP’s work connects directly to what she wants students to understand about their own bodies and their power.
“I want our students to learn that this is what your body is able to do in space,” Rambeau said. “So when there are people who say, ‘No, you can’t do that,’ the students can say, ‘Actually, I know what my body wants.’”
Rambeau said she hopes the May 30 performance is only the beginning of a deeper partnership with BANDALOOP, including a possible residency that would allow EPACENTER students to train in harnesses and eventually learn how to move across the building themselves.
She said the partnership is also connected to the larger idea of reclaiming space in East Palo Alto.
“That’s exactly how you start reclaiming space,” Rambeau said. “For a place like this, that is all about trying to reclaim land from what happened here, it is important to reclaim not just the land, but the body and the space too.”
Rambeau said EPACENTER’s mission has expanded since its early focus on serving only youth. Community members made it clear that people of all ages wanted to feel welcome at EPACENTER and wanted to have access to everything the state-of-the-art complex has to offer. That feedback helped inspire the Sunset Concert Series.
“It started when we changed our mission to expand beyond serving just youth to serving the entire community of East Palo Alto,” Rambeau said. “What we heard from people here is that they want to feel like they can come here, walk here and have access to the very best.”
Rambeau said the May 30 event also brings positive attention to East Palo Alto while highlighting the creativity and innovation that already exist in the community.
She also spoke about being in Silicon Valley, where attention often goes to technology companies instead of the artists, performers and community members who give technology meaning.
“So often the people who get attention are in tech,” Rambeau said. “But what gives people a reason to use that technology is this, people dancing, people singing. It is not the technology itself. It is what is on it.”
Rambeau said EPACenter is continuing to push forward, even without all the support it needs. “We don’t have all the support we need from funders to make it happen,” Rambeau said. “But like many institutions, you just do it and they can’t stop you. The mission is too big.”
On May 30, EPACENTER students performed with Sheila E., an experience Rambeau said they would carry with them for the rest of their lives. “They will never forget that,” Rambeau said. “It will be a golden experience.”
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