The 10th anniversary of world arts and cultures students’ annual showcase, WAC Smash! is just around the corner, and this year’s performance sounds nothing short of extraordinary.
Encompassing art from every end of the spectrum such as dance, film, photography, visual art, spoken word and music, WAC Smash! will showcase original pieces completely inspired and performed by undergraduate students.
The process to bring WAC Smash! to the stage began back in June when the three undergraduate producers, Anthony Barbir, Kristin Killacky and Reyanna Vance started coming up with a vision for the performance and applying for grants.
Although the project receives artistic support from within the world arts and cultures department from faculty and graduate student advisers, it is completely organized and funded through the efforts of the undergraduate students.
“It’s really the initiative of the undergrads,” said Killacky, a fourth-year world arts and cultures student. “It’s a chance to take the tools that we are learning and apply them to projects that we’ve conceived ourselves.”
Throughout fall quarter, auditions were held for artists and choreographers, cuts were made, and the nearly 30 applicants were narrowed down to 14 distinct acts. Open auditions were also held for students outside the major, allowing for further involvement from the rest of UCLA’s community.
“It’s a great learning experience for everyone,” said Barbir, a fourth-year world arts and cultures student. “Everyone (at UCLA) is doing research in their own field. We’re in the studio pretty much 24 hours a day, really trying to create an intercultural experience on the stage … and that’s the great thing about art. It can present many different points of view on one subject.”
This year’s event will feature everything from spoken word reflecting somber personal experiences, to contemporary dance, to an original song that involves looping techniques onstage.
“There is something for everyone,” Killacky said. “It’s meant to provoke people in new ways and open their eyes to something new.”
For world arts and cultures students, the event is a once-a-year opportunity to showcase their work in a professional setting and learn the ins and outs of producing and choreographing a full-scale production.
“It’s really a great chance for us to get our work out there,” said Christopher Albrecht, a fourth-year world arts and cultures student who choreographed a comedic dance piece about the trials of being a graduating senior.
“It’s a way to portray something with your body that words can’t express. … Sometimes you can’t talk it, you have to dance it.”
Albrecht has been in the show all four of his years at UCLA and said he sees the event as a unique opportunity to learn from experienced faculty and graduate students who are already out in the field and to gain valuable experience as a choreographer.
Event producers say that the performance will not only be a great outlet for world arts and cultures students, but it is also an opportunity for the broader UCLA community to get a glimpse of what goes on inside Glorya Kaufman Hall.
“It’s a tradition and something that people look forward to every year,” Killacky said. “And it’s going to be a great show.”