Dancer, choreographer and overall outstanding interdisciplinary student Vanessa Garcia has proved she is one of Humboldt State University’s finest. Now in her senior year, Garcia is an interdisciplinary dance studies major with an emphasis in dance as sacred tradition and dance as language and culture. Her schooling combines dance with religion, philosophy, and cultural studies.

Vanessa Garcia dances because it "expresses something different, something other than using words."

Sharon Butcher, director of interdisciplinary dance studies, vouches for Garcia’s well-rounded education. “Vanessa has excelled equally in all her classes. She is an agile thinker, willing and able to go ‘outside of the box’ often resulting in very original, unique dance creations,” she said.

Butcher has known Garcia since one of last fall’s dance classes. In the class, students were asked to find an outside collaborator to create a cohesive performance. “Vanessa excelled in this project,” said Butcher.

Garcia worked with community videographer Bruce Brown to produce a dance piece based on the phases of grieving. “Vanessa and Mr. Brown created powerful nature-based metaphors for the stages of grief. The audience was riveted by the performance which combined Vanessa dancing live in front of projected images,” Butcher said.

Now 21, Garcia has been dancing since she was 10. “I love dancing because I feel like it expresses something different, something other than using words,” she said. “I like to experiment with body language to express feelings.”

She currently dances with Tribalesque, a troupe that combines belly dancing with tribal movements and elements of hip-hop. When she is not dancing or studying, Vanessa Garcia teaches gymnastics to children aged 5 months to 6 years. Though she is taking this semester off, she plans to start again in the spring.

Theater, film and dance department Chair Linda Sievers has known Garcia for many years and was quick to recognize her talent. “Vanessa is one of the most intelligent, gifted and sensitive students I have had the good fortune to know in my teaching career,” she said. “Vanessa is going to have an extraordinary life as an artist.”

After graduation, Garcia hopes to advance her love of belly dancing to a professional level and become an instructor.