On May 3, the SBCC Dance Company will be performing in New York City alongside Johns Hopkins University’s Peabody Preparatory Dance department and Manhattan-based modern dance company Jennifer Muller/The Works (JMTW).
The company was formally invited only a month ago. After impressing judges at the American College Dance Association’s Baja regional competition, the dancers grabbed the attention of the Peabody Dance department, who are close colleagues of City College Director of Dance Tracy Kofford.
“It was kind of short notice even for us,” Koffard said. “But I just knew what an amazing opportunity it would be for these students.”
Kofford himself danced with JMTW’s company for more than a decade, now City Colleges dance company will perform at the Peridance center in the KNJ theatre, the same venue where Kofford attended his first summer intensive with the company in the early 1990s.
“I think it will be special for them just to be able to be in New York,” Kofford said. “To feel that energy, to dance with professional companies and make connections.”
The company displays a tight-knit synchronicity best expressed in the delicate movement of pieces like “Cloistered” which they will be performing in New York. Kofford’s flowing choreography ripples like a current through the group.
For this piece, Kofford drew inspiration from imagery of The Met Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art which overlooks the Hudson River. He choreographed “Cloistered” after experiencing a reconnection with his faith and spirituality after recovering from hip surgery in fall 2024.
Lily Kennedy, a dancer who joined the company that same fall, found her connection to the piece in the spirit of community she has found in her fellow dancers at City College.
“More than anything, I link it to a shared love of life and a shared love of dance,” Kennedy said.
Dance performers rehearse for their spring dance concert on March 20 in Santa Barbara, Calif. The spring dance concert will be April 11 and 12 at City College’s Garvin Theatre.
For Kennedy and other students who were unsure prior to City College whether they would continue pursuing dance into adulthood, excitement for their upcoming Manhattan debut has given them a renewed faith in their own hard work and dedication.
“It was a dream of mine as a child to be a working dancer, to perform in places like New York,” Kennedy said. “There is a part of me where that dream has been reignited again.”
Camilla Lesky, a dancer in her first semester with the company, also seems to have a new outlook on her future in dance after almost quitting after high school.
“I think I’m gonna take away that anything is possible,” Lesky said. “I’ve been trying to have more confidence in myself that I can achieve things in my dance career if I put my mind to it.”
Trips like these are equally important for the continued growth and visibility of the dance department at City College as they are for the students.
Whether it’s Ann Arbor or New York City, Kofford says he will try his hardest to get his dancers anywhere that will have them.
“Time is so fleeting, but the memories, when you get older, those are the things that are going to bring smiles to your face,” Kofford said.
As of April 6 2026 the dance company is still short $3,000 of its $8,000 goal, which covers travel, housing and performance expenses. Donations can be made through the SBCC Foundation and proceeds from the spring show on April 11 will contribute toward the goal.
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