Fall — 2009

Paul Kim

Music & Dance

“I live in Orange County, but I drive all the way here because I love Santa Monica and this college.”

“SMC is just a completely positive environment. Like, I’ve been to other colleges, and they weren’t happy places at all,” says Paul Kim. “People in other schools don’t enjoy learning the way people here do. At SMC, the teachers I’ve had have been very encouraging, very open, very bright, and very excited about what they’re teaching. It all makes me excited to learn.”

A future ‘song-and-dance’ man, Paul reports, “My singing class is one of my absolute favorites. I study with Diana Zaslove. She sang in the LA Master Chorale for over 20 years, and she’s as good as they get. I’ll admit that I was extremely nervous at the beginning of her class,” continues Paul, “because I’ve never sung in front of other people before. But she really brought out the best in me, and always encouraged me to do better.” Though he might have had the jitters about singing in public, dancing was an altogether different story for Paul. “I grew up as a hip hop dancer, and it seemed to come naturally to me. But then I had the late Loretta McCray for a jazz dance class. She just grabbed me and… I don’t know what she did, but she absolutely made me fall in love with dance.”

Paul’s California life since the age of four has been markedly different from what he might have expected in his native Korea. “I plan on transferring to USC or UCLA and then, hopefully, begin working in musical theater or TV. But I’m already performing on the Broad Stage at the Performing Arts Center campus. That campus is completely amazing! Especially for people who are into music and theater.”

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