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Vol.7, No 72, February 15, 2000 
[diversions]  

Student dances into show business

By Johnna Walker
Daily Forty-Niner

Before she could even tie her own shoelaces, Cal State Long Beach student Liza Bugarin was taking dance lessons.

Now as a 20-year-old CSULB junior business major and dance minor, she has sashayed her way into a part in a musical that once appeared on Broadway stages.

She was selected by Musical Theater West and director and choreographer Jon Engstrom to appear in their rendition of "42nd Street."

"My family is very musical, so music has always been in my life," Bugarin said.

Throughout the years, she's learned tap, ballet, jazz and hip-hop dance moves.

She also gets a chance to show off her vocal skills in the production, where she plays the role of a chorus girl and Broadway dancer in "42nd Street."

About 30 other dancers, who also sing and tap dance through the production as they depict the lives of Broadway dancers in New York City join Bugarin.

The opening scene, called "The Audition" is Bugarin's favorite scene. In that scene the dancers get the chance to tap dance together, and act as though they are trying to land a spot in a Broadway production, she said.

Bugarin said this is the most exciting scene because she has the chance to get the audience pumped up for the rest of the show that follows.

"Their applause and reactions to the show really get my adrenaline going," she said.

The audience is very important to her, and their response is motivation for her, she said.

A life away from the musical has become more difficult for Bugarin to maintain since she was chosen to be a part of this production last August and has been practicing for at least four hours daily, she said.

However, through all of the time she has put into rehearsals, school has remained very important to her, Bugarin said.

"I want to concentrate on it, and not lose sight of it," she said.

She is carrying 19 units this semester, and between school and the production, it was necessary for her to eliminate some of her extracurricular activities, she said.

One of the activities Bugarin had to put on hold was choreographing for Laguna Beach High School Dance Team, where she had been working for the past year and a half, she said.

Bugarin said she did her own choreography while in high school, where she performed in school plays and on the dance team.  Dancing for charity has also rewarded Bugarin. She danced for the Orange County AIDS Foundation Services a few years ago and helped the foundation raise money for AIDS education and studies.

"It was for a good cause, and it was a great opportunity to perform," Bugarin said.

Performing may change shape for Bugarin in the future, after she graduates from college and moves on to other things like choreography, and dancing elsewhere, she said.

The show began playing at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center Feb. 11, and will have its last performance on Feb. 20.

 
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