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SMC student choreographer Aya Nakaguchi (wearing #41, center) teaches a combination to students in SMC’s Core Performance Center (CPC) on Thursday, February 21, 2019. The students are auditioning for a role in Nakaguchi’s piece for the upcoming Synapse Dance Theater, which will be performed on the Broad Stage at SMC’s Performing Arts Center (PAC) on Friday and Saturday May 24 and 25. (Glenn Zucman/The Corsair)
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Emily Hemelbert (#15), Taylor Sun (#13), Juliet Artiaga (#12) (back row, left to right) and Tiffany Dong (#11) and Letxia Cordova (#20) (front row, left to right) audition for Aya Nakaguchi’s piece in Synapse Dance Theater on Thursday, February 21, 2019 in SMC’s Core Performance Center (CPC). Nakaguchi asked the dancers to move along a grid: across the stage and upstage-downstage, but without making any arcs or diagonals. Within their grid movements, if they encountered the floor or another dancer, they could "give weight" to that person or surface. From Nakaguchi’s simple instruction set a variety of movements and configurations emerged. The auditions are for the upcoming Synapse Dance Theater, which will be performed on the Broad Stage at SMC’s Performing Arts Center (PAC) on Friday and Saturday, May 24 and 25. (Glenn Zucman/The Corsair)
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Student choreographer Aya Nakaguchi (in the lower-right with her back to the camera) describes her new work to her cast at the first rehearsal for Synapse Dance Theater on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 in SMC’s Core Performance Center. Synapse Dance Theater will be performed on the Broad Stage at SMC’s Performing Arts Center (PAC) on Friday and Saturday May 24 and 25. (Glenn Zucman/The Corsair)
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Student choreographer Aya Nakaguchi describes her new work to her cast at the first rehearsal for Synapse Dance Theater on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 in SMC’s Core Performance Center. Synapse Dance Theater will be performed on the Broad Stage at SMC’s Performing Arts Center (PAC) on Friday and Saturday May 24 and 25. (Glenn Zucman/The Corsair)
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During the hour before her rehearsal time in the Core Performance Center (CPC) dance studios, student choreographer Aya Nakaguchi (on the floor) from Ishikawa, Japan, uses the exterior landing at the top of the 3rd-floor stairs outside CPC to work on choreography with fellow SMC dance major Marii Kawabata (standing) from Amami Ōshima, Japan, on Thursday, March 7, 2019. Nakaguchi is creating a new work for 13 dancers for Synapse Dance Theater which will premiere at SMC’s Broad Stage at the Performing Arts Center (PAC) on Friday and Saturday, May 24 and 25. (Glenn Zucman/The Corsair)
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SMC dance majors Marii Kawabata (left) from Amami Ōshima, Japan, and Aya Nakaguchi (right) from Ishikawa, Japan, have a conversation on the 3rd-floor landing outside SMC’s Core Performance Center on Thursday, March 7, 2019. Kawabata and Nakaguchi are both performing in the upcoming Synapse Dance Theater, and Nakaguchi is also choreographing a new work for 13 dancers. Synapse Dance Theater will be presented on Friday and Saturday, May 24 and 25, on the SMC Broad Stage at the Performing Arts Complex (PAC) (Glenn Zucman/The Corsair)
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SMC student choreographer Aya Nakaguchi shares a light moment with her cast of 13 dancers in a rehearsal for Synapse Dance Theater in the Core Performance Center (CPC) on Tuesday, March 12, 2019. Synapse Dance Theater will be presented on Friday and Saturday, May 24 and 25, on the SMC Broad Stage at the Performing Arts Complex (PAC) (Glenn Zucman/The Corsair)
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SMC student choreographer Aya Nakaguchi demonstrates a movement for the dancers in her not-yet-titled Synapse Dance Theater piece in the Core Performance Center (CPC) on Tuesday, March 12, 2019. Nakaguchi’s choreographic concept started with a strict grid structure that allowed dancers to move across the stage, or upstage and downstage, but not on diagonals or arcs. Nakaguchi said that as her rehearsals have progressed, the grid remains, but it has softened. Synapse Dance Theater will be presented on Friday and Saturday, May 24 and 25, on the SMC Broad Stage at the Performing Arts Complex (PAC) (Glenn Zucman/The Corsair)
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SMC dancer Alyssa Fletcher works with Aya Nakaguchi’s choreography in a rehearsal for Nakaguchi’s new, not-yet-titled work for Synapse Dance Theater in the Core Performance Center (CPC) on Tuesday, March 12, 2019. Synapse Dance Theater will be presented on Friday and Saturday, May 24 and 25, on the SMC Broad Stage at the Performing Arts Complex (PAC) (Glenn Zucman/The Corsair)
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SMC dancers Letxia Cordova (left) and Erik Fine (right) pass each other as they move along the grid of student choreographer Aya Nakaguchi’s new, not-yet-titled work for Synapse Dance Theater in a rehearsal in the Core Performance Center (CPC) on Tuesday, March 12, 2019. Synapse Dance Theater will be presented on Friday and Saturday, May 24 and 25, on the SMC Broad Stage at the Performing Arts Complex (PAC) (Glenn Zucman/The Corsair)
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SMC dancer Christopher DePiazza works with Aya Nakaguchi’s choreography in a rehearsal for Nakaguchi’s new, not-yet-titled work for Synapse Dance Theater in the Core Performance Center (CPC) on Tuesday, March 12, 2019. Synapse Dance Theater will be presented on Friday and Saturday, May 24 and 25, on the SMC Broad Stage at the Performing Arts Complex (PAC) (Glenn Zucman/The Corsair)
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SMC dancers explore movement along a right-angle grid in a rehearsal for student choreographer Aya Nakaguchi’s new, not-yet-titled work for Synapse Dance Theater in the Core Performance Center (CPC) on Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Synapse Dance Theater will be presented on Friday and Saturday, May 24 and 25, on the SMC Broad Stage at the Performing Arts Complex (PAC) (Glenn Zucman/The Corsair)
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SMC dancers Christopher DePiazza and Alyssa Fletcher rehearse a sequence from student choreographer Aya Nakaguchi’s new, not-yet-titled work for Synapse Dance Theater in the Core Performance Center (CPC) on Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Synapse Dance Theater will be presented on Friday and Saturday, May 24 and 25, on the SMC Broad Stage at the Performing Arts Complex (PAC) (Glenn Zucman/The Corsair)
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SMC student choreographer Aya Nakaguchi explains part of her grid-based choreography to her 13 dancers in a rehearsal for Synapse Dance Theater in the Core Performance Center (CPC) on Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Synapse Dance Theater will be presented on Friday and Saturday, May 24 and 25, on the SMC Broad Stage at the Performing Arts Complex (PAC) (Glenn Zucman/The Corsair)
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SMC student choreographer Aya Nakaguchi shares a light moment with the cast of her new work during a rehearsal in the Core Performance Center (CPC) on Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Synapse Dance Theater will be presented on Friday and Saturday, May 24 and 25, on the SMC Broad Stage at the Performing Arts Complex (PAC) (Glenn Zucman/The Corsair)
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SMC student choreographer Aya Nakaguchi (center) works with dancers Liam Gifkins (left) and Alyssa Fletcher (right) in a rehearsal for Synapse Dance Theater in the Core Performance Center (CPC) on Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Synapse Dance Theater will be presented on Friday and Saturday, May 24 and 25, on the SMC Broad Stage at the Performing Arts Complex (PAC) (Glenn Zucman/The Corsair)f
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SMC student choreographer Aya Nakaguchi (left) works with Alyssa Fletcher (right) to fine tune a movement sequence in Nakaguchi’s new, not-yet-titled work for Synapse Dance Theater during a rehearsal in the Core Performance Center (CPC) on Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Synapse Dance Theater will be presented on Friday and Saturday, May 24 and 25, on the SMC Broad Stage at the Performing Arts Complex (PAC) (Glenn Zucman/The Corsair)
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SMC student choreographer Aya Nakaguchi (top) works with Alyssa Fletcher (bottom) to fine tune a movement sequence in Nakaguchi’s new, not-yet-titled work for Synapse Dance Theater during a rehearsal in the Core Performance Center (CPC) on Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Synapse Dance Theater will be presented on Friday and Saturday, May 24 and 25, on the SMC Broad Stage at the Performing Arts Complex (PAC) (Glenn Zucman/The Corsair)
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SMC dance major Aya Nakaguchi rehearses for "equalizer_", a new work by guest choreographer Jay Carlon in SMC’s Core Performance Center (CPC) on Tuesday, April 2, 2019. "equalizer_" and Nakaguchi’s not-yet-titled new work are two of the eleven works that will be presented in Synapse Dance Theater on the SMC Broad Stage at the Performing Arts Center (PAC) on Friday and Saturday, May 24 and 25. (Glenn Zucman/The Corsair)
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SMC dancers Juliet Artiaga (left) and Aya Nakaguchi (right) work with guest choreographer Jay Carlon (below, in pink sweatshirt) to develop a movement sequence for Carlon’s new work "equalizer_" in a rehearsal in SMC’s Core Performance Center (CPC) on Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Carlon’s "equalizer_" and Nakaguchi’s new, not-yet-titled work are two of the eleven works that will be featured in Synapse Dance Theater at SMC’s Broad Stage at the Performing Arts Center (PAC) on Friday and Saturday, May 24 and 25. (Glenn Zucman/The Corsair)