SAN DIEGO DANCE SPOTLIGHT: Jessica Rabanzo-Flores

Written by:  Victoria Mahdion

This past February, Jessica Rabanzo-Flores won the Jean Issacs San Diego Young Choreographers Prize, for her piece Beyond Our Control. She is known by those in her community to challenge her student while maintaining an approach which balances discipline, dedication, creativity, and compassion making this young woman a true standout in the San Diego dance community.

Jessica, originally from Chula Vista, began dancing at the age of four at a local recreation center where she enjoyed learning jazz, ballet, and Polynesian dance. By age ten, she transferred to Eveoke Dance Theatre where her love for hip- hop and modern dance blossomed.

 

 

 

 

Jessica attended the University of California, Irvine, where double majored in Sociology and Dance. She was thrilled to join the dance program at the end of her freshman. at the end of her sophomore

year she auditioned for and was selected Etude Ensemble, under the direction of Donald McKayle, where she had the opportunity to perform legendary works including the solo Angelitos Negros.

After graduation Jessica returned to San Diego where she reconnected with her Eveoke family One of the defining moments in Jessica’s dance career with Eveoke was performing the role of Minerva Mirabal in their work Las Mariposas, inspired by the book In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez. In Dominican Republic during 1950’s, Minerva Mirabal was a young woman with the desire to become a dignified female lawyer who, with the help of her sisters, lead a revolutionary rebellion against the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo’s oppressive, racist, and sexist regime. With the help of Alvarez Eveoke was hosted by the US Embassy tour the Domincan Republic where they drew large audiences, including immediate and extended members of the Mirabal family.

Without doubt, receiving the Jean Issacs San Diego Young Choreographers Prize is a memorable milestone accomplishment for Jessica. In her winning contemporary / hip-hop fusion piece entitled Beyond Our Control, it was her goal to explore the conscious and sub-conscious decisions, and the calling we receive as artists. She was inspired to create a dynamic piece that would engage and excite the audience, requiring physicality from her athletic and energetic dancers. She is grateful to the competition for allowing her to achieve such growth through her craft in the process of creating a piece worth winning, and to have shared the celebratory moment with her fellow dancers, friends, and family as a memorable gift, and milestone in her career. (Photo credits Manuel Rotenberg)

As an instructor, Jessica encourages her students to challenge themselves and take risks. She creates a non-judgmental, community environment in her classroom in which students will feel comfortable taking risks in the effort to evolve as individuals, to inspire each other, and to grow as technical dancers. Jessica enjoys teaching, dancing, and choreographing here in San Diego, and is excited to branch out locally as well as globally to share her passion for dance with the world. (Photo Credit: Martin Rocha)

If you would like to contact Jessica, you can email her at j_flow117@yahoo.com.

Classes at Academy of Performing Arts San Diego Thursday evenings from 8:00-9:30pm, AND at Eveoke Dance Theatre on Tuesday evenings from 6:00-7:15pm.