The Santa Monica College Global Motion World Dance Company will present its spring 2026 performance of dances from around the world on Saturday, May 16, and Sunday, May 17, at 7:30 p.m. at The Eli & Edythe Broad Stage at the SMC Performing Arts Center, 1310 11th Street.
SMC students will showcase traditional and contemporary world dance styles, including West African, Asian, Hawaiian, Mexican Folklórico and Salsa. The performance features works by guest artists, faculty and student choreographers, with featured works by guest artists Dewa Ayu Dewi Larassanti and Ariel Kasha.
Larassanti is a multicultural performing artist raised in the Bay Area and Bali. She trained at Çudamani, her parents' organization, and at Bumi Bajra, a Balinese theater company. As a 2024 Fulbright Student Researcher, she studied with elderly Balinese master artists. She produced the first LA Gamelan Festival at the Indonesian Consulate in 2025, is featured in the PS5 video game "Kena: Scars of Kosmora," and recently launched her own arts company, LARAS.
Kasha, a former SMC student, has a background in dance ethnology and women's studies. She has studied and performed in Egypt and Turkey in folkloric and stage productions, with a bellydance lineage of more than 20 years.
Global Motion was founded more than 50 years ago by Judith Douglas, former chair of the SMC Dance Department, to bring knowledge and appreciation of dance from around the world while giving students the experience of performing as a professional company.
The company is currently under the artistic direction of Raquel Ramirez and Sri Susilowati. Faculty choreographers are Laura Canellias for Salsa, Keali'i Ceballos for Tahitian, Angela Jordan for West African, Ramirez for Mexican Folklórico-Jalisco, and Joseph Wiggan for Tap. Student choreographers this spring are Kara Alexys and Marissa Aniel for Burlesque, Lizeth Maldonado for Afrobeats, and Jamie "Nova" Rush for Street Dance.
The company has toured throughout California and Mexico for more than 40 years and has performed in Beijing, Bracciano, Italy, Santiago, Chile, Lloret de Mar, Spain, and Paris.
Advance tickets are $20 for general admission, with a modest service charge. Day-of-performance tickets are $23. Tickets are available at smc.edu/tickets or by calling 310-434-3005. Free parking is on premises. More information is available at smc.edu/dance or by calling 310-434-8763.
Edited by SMDP Staff