Spring 2024 Lecture Series
Free Admission to All Events
You are invited to join us for intriguing events and engaging discussions.
Masters of Dance
You are invited to attend and participate in our exciting free series of lectures and master classes. See the Dance Department website or call 310-434-3467 for more information. Seating is strictly on a first-arrival basis.
Rob Tsai
Movement Fundamentals for the Human Behind the Dancer
Rob Tsai of Dance|Prehab will lead a class on building human capacity and qualities
to support movement artistry. The session will introduce movement vocabulary and movement
qualities that are inherent to the strength and conditioning of dance, but that might
not be actively incorporated into training. Participants will be able to apply what
they learn in dynamic warm-ups to prepare for performance-specific needs. Tsai, who
danced professionally for 8 years prior to pursuing his career in physical therapy,
is the founder of Dance|Prehab, supporting the dance community with physical therapy,
strength and conditioning, and injury risk reduction education, and recognized as
the 2023 Dance Education Organization of the Year by International Association of
Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS).
Tuesday, February 27 | 12:30 p.m. | Free | CPC 304
Volta Collective
Colliding Bodies
Volta Collective will lead a class that explores highly physical and acrobatic partnering
in a safe and grounded way. Telling stories through connection to another body uses
rebound, theatricality, and gesture. Session will introduce Volta’s phrasework and
repertory, with a focus on how to manage and balance personal and partner weights
in unusual contexts. Directed by Mamie Green and Megan Paradowski, Volta Collective
fuses physicality, theatricality, and multidisciplinary approaches to performance.
The ensemble — passionate about presenting dance in accessible, nontraditional spaces
and often collaborating with artists across mediums — has presented work in dance
festivals and other events in the US and abroad.
Thursday, March 14 | 12:30 p.m. | Free | CPC 304
Ray Basa
House Dance
Ray Basa, a native of Los Angeles who teaches House and Hip Hop at the Athletic Garage,
will lead open level House dance drills/across the floor exercises, followed by a
dance combo. Movement will be cardio heavy and feel like dancing at a party. Basa
trained in Hip Hop and Jazz at Debbie Reynolds, Millennium Dance Complex, and the
Edge Performing Arts Center, and in House dance with the Versastyle Dance Company
and on the East Coast. He dances with several Los Angeles dance companies — including
Versastyle, Expressive Doubt, and The Freedom Junkies Project — and has performed
in Monsters of Hip Hop w/Funkanometry LA, Asia Entertainment, a Coca Cola commercial,
and a John Tesh Music Gospel Dance PBS Special.
Thursday, May 2 | 10:15 a.m. | Free | CPC 310
Sponsored by the SMC Associates and SMC Dance Department.
Literary Talks & Readings
Ongoing and very popular free series of talks and readings by established and emerging writers. Call 310-434-4003 for details and more information.
Jason Mott
Exploring Identity, Love, and Being Black in America in Fiction Writing
New York Times bestselling author Jason Mott will talk about his recent novel Hell of a Book. Deeply honest, at times electrically funny, the fictional story of an author on
a cross-country publicity tour goes to the heart of racism, police violence, and the
hidden costs exacted upon Black Americans and America as a whole. The novel won the
Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction and the 2021 National Book Award for Fiction,
and was a Carnegie Medals for Excellence Longlist nominee. Mott is the author of two
poetry collections and four novels. His first novel, The Returned, was adapted for television and aired on ABC under the title “Resurrection.” Sponsored
by the SMC Library and Library Speakers Consortium in collaboration with the SMC Associates.
Part of the SMC Library’s Pearls & Insights series.
Tuesday, February 20 | 1 p.m. | Free | Register for the Jason Mott lecture (required)
Kim Scott
Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity
Kim Scott —New York Times bestselling author of Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity — will explain the Radical Candor feedback framework. She will offer practical, tactical
tips for how to solicit criticism, give praise and criticism, gauge how what you’re
saying is received, and build a culture of Radical Candor. Scott is co-founder of
a company that helps leaders put her ideas into practice, and has been a CEO coach
at Dropbox, Qualtrics, Twitter, and other tech companies; on the faculty at Apple
University; a leader of AdSense, YouTube, and DoubleClick teams at Google; and an
analyst at the Soviet Companies Fund. Sponsored by the SMC Library and Library Speakers
Consortium in collaboration with the SMC Associates. Part of the SMC Library’s Pearls & Insights series.
Wednesday, February 28 | 11 a.m. | Free | Register for the Kim Scott lecture (required)
Lucas Rivera
My AfroRican State of Soul
Join us for a book talk and interactive performance by Lucas Rivera, a multidisciplinary
artist traveling the country doing spoken word and interactive discussions of his
autobiographical My AfroRican State of Soul, a blend of narrative nonfiction and poetry that chronicles his journey. Presenting
the perspective of an Afro-Latino, Rivera discusses his life, how art — from turntables
to dance, spoken word, painting, and stained glass — was a means of survival, and
the important influences of the intersections of the Taino, Spanish, and African cultures
that make up the history of Puerto Rico. Sponsored by the SMC Associates, SMC English
Department, SMC Black Collegians, and SMC Adelante Club. Part of the SMC Literary Series.
Wednesday, February 28 | 11 a.m. | Free | Malibu 202 (23555 Civic Center Way, Malibu)
Communication, Media & Design
An ongoing, informative series of free online talks and panel discussions exploring developments in communication, media, and design today. Call 310-434-4003 for more information.
Nehemiah Cisneros Artist Talk
From SMC to Kansas City Art Institute to UCLA
Join us for an artist talk with Nehemiah Cisneros, whose large-scale paintings are
currently on display in a solo exhibition in SMC’s Pete & Susan Barrett Gallery. Cisneros
will talk about his artistic process, how his experiences growing up in Inglewood
affect his work, and how he has been inspired by the aesthetics of California’s lowbrow
and street visual culture — as well as historical iconography that reaches into the
past — to explore themes about the human condition and behavior. He will also discuss
his educational journey and the important role SMC played in his life. A workshop
in Art 126 follows the talk. Sponsored by the SMC Associates, SMC Art Department,
SMC Communication & Media Studies Department, and SMC Design Technology Department.
Tuesday, March 26 | 11:15 a.m. | Free | Art 214
Tatiana Detlofson
How to Have Film Representation
A veteran of the entertainment industry known for her expertise in foreign cinema
and international film and festival promotion, Tatiana Detlofson will talk about what
it takes to get representation for a film in the international arena. Her company,
MEDIAPLAN PR, specializes in representing films in competitions at leading international
film festivals, and conducting theatrical distribution campaigns for foreign and independent
films in Los Angeles. Detlofson — a voting member of the American Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences, the European Film Academy, and the Czech Film Academy —
has also conducted Oscar campaign workshops at festivals in the U.S. and Europe. Sponsored
by the SMC Associates, SMC Communication & Media Studies Department, and SMC Design
Technology Department.
Monday, April 1 | 11 a.m. | Free | Online (Zoom Link for Tatiana Detlofson)
Special Events
Joe Robinson
“The Wellness Toolkit”
Work-life balance and stress management leader Joe Robinson will discuss how to work
smarter and break out of the stress and burnout cycle, covering issues ranging from
the art and science of working more effectively to switching off stress, building
resilience and optimism, and activating life skills. Robinson is author of Work to Live, which shows how to avoid reflex defaults to unhealthy work; Don’t Miss Your Life, on the science and skills of activating the most gratifying life; and Work Smarter, Live Better, his latest book on the tools of smarter work. He has appeared on news and lifestyle
shows that include “The Today Show,” “NBC Nightly News,” and National Public Radio’s
“All Things Considered,” and written for the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, New
York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and CNN.com. Sponsored by the SMC
Associates.
Tuesday, February 20 | 2 p.m. | Free | Online (Zoom Link for Joe Robinson)
Not Without Alonzo
Documentary Screening and Q&A with Director Alonzo ‘Grandmaster Lonzo’ Williams, Marq
‘Cli-N-Tel’ Hawkins, and Kim Renard ‘Arabian Prince’ Nazel
Not Without Alonzo presents an insider’s look at the history and development of West Coast Hip Hop.
The documentary was directed by Alonzo ‘Grandmaster Lonzo’ Williams — an original
member of the legendary World Class Wreckin’ Cru — and features Marq ‘Cli-N-Tel’ Hawkins,
also a Wreckin’ Cru original, and early West Coast electro pioneer and N.W.A/ founding
member Kim Renard ‘Arabian Prince’ Nazel. An audience Q&A with Williams, Hawkins,
and Nazel follows the screening.
Wednesday, March 27 | 11 a.m. | Free | Malibu 202 (23555 Civic Center Way, Malibu)
Dee Hankins
“Life. Curveball. Homeruns. Helping Students Focus on Their Resilience.”
Inspirational speaker Dee Hankins is on a mission to share one powerful message: Resilience
is Everything! Resilience is the ability to bounce back, and what enables students
to come out of challenging experiences with a positive attitude about themselves and
their futures. After spending 18 years in foster care and watching his daughter battle
brain cancer, Hankins knows that life is full of unexpected events, and will share
how personal resilience can turn those experiences into an incredible life lesson.
Sponsored by the SMC Associates, SMC Guardian Scholars, and SMC NextUp Program.
Tuesday, May 7 | 11:15 a.m. | Free | SMC Student Services Center, Orientation Hall (SSC 183)
Please check the SMC Masking Guidelines to view the current policy.
All programs are subject to change or cancellation without notice.