By Elisa Castillo and Samantha Plascencia
Balancing academics and her role as student apprentice with the professional dance company is a time consuming but rewarding task for UCSB student Riley Haley. Photo by Samantha Plascencia.
Between 8 a.m. biology lectures, six-hour-long rehearsals and nighttime labs, second-year dance and biology double major Riley Haley balances being a full-time student and performing with a professional dance company.
“Pushing yourself to do everything is really rewarding,” Haley said about her demanding schedule. “I just feel so much more involved.”
The COVID-19 pandemic brought dance performances across the world to a halt and forced students at UC Santa Barbara to dance on Zoom from their living rooms. Finally, the Santa Barbara Dance Theater returned to live performances in January 2022.
Haley was new to the company, brought in as its sole student apprentice for the season by artistic director Brandon Whited, an assistant professor with the UCSB Department of Theater and Dance.
Haley began her dance instruction at age three in Cleveland, Ohio, training in ballet, modern dance and musical theater. Her family moved to California when she was 13, where she began training heavily in ballet and modern dance.
Riley Haley plans to pursue professional dancing after graduating from UC Santa Barbara. Photo by Samantha Plascencia.
“I was very torn coming to college — if I wanted to go the conservatory or the academic route — and I’m very glad I ended up at UCSB. This has been a treat. You can do both which is nice,” Haley said.
Being a student apprentice for the Santa Barbara Dance Theater has been a demanding task. Haley says she is expected to act as any other professional dancer in the company, adhering to Whited’s company process of two week increments of intense rehearsals, daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. On top of the time she spends with the company, Haley has lectures in the morning before rehearsal and labs for her biology major at night.
“You’re getting pushed because they’re not slowing down for you,” Haley added.
Despite the time pressures that come with being a student apprentice, Haley recommends that students interested in dancing professionally to push themselves with such an experience. She called working alongside established professional artists “inspiring” and said it made her want to work even harder.
Haley plans to pursue professional dancing after graduating from UCSB, and if dance does not work out she will have her education in biology to explore further. She appreciates the UCSB dance program, as the major offers a variety of classes in dance technique, history, choreography and performance.
“They set you up really nicely here to kind of do whatever you want with dance. They’ll push you into any avenue you want to go into,” she said.
Haley says the dance company intends to expand its student apprenticeship program to accept more students next year, and hopes to add performance opportunities following the decline of COVID-19.
Elisa Castillo is a third-year UC Santa Barbara student double majoring in English and Dance. Samantha Plascencia is a third-year Communication major. They wrote this article for their Writing Program course Digital Journalism.