Gracefully moving through her positions, the dancer breathes deeply, prepared for the hours of rehearsal ahead. Calm and poised, she is the picture of professionalism. You never would have guessed that half an hour earlier, she was dashing through the crowded halls of an Oakland BART station to make it across the Bay in time for class to begin.
Sophomore Sophia Marcus is dedicated to dance, practicing every day with San Francisco’s Alonzo King Lines ballet company. She does more than just ballet, though; she is a jack-of-all-trades.
“I do ballet, modern, contemporary, and jazz, so kind of a mix of everything,” Marcus said.
As dedicated as she is now, Marcus was not always this committed to dance.
“I started when I was three, and I didn’t really like it, so I quit for a couple of years,” Marcus said. “When I was eight, I started back up again. In eighth grade, I got really serious about it, and that’s what led me to the decision to go to OSA.”
Last year, Marcus attended Oakland School for the Arts, or OSA, to pursue her passion, Marcus said
“I went to OSA for all of ninth grade, but I switched academics to Piedmont second semester because the academics there just didn’t match up to the ones here,” Marcus said.
Her days during this time looked hectic to say the least.
“I had a free sixth and seventh period last year,” Marcus said. “So I would leave school at one every day to go dance at OSA, and I would be there until seven or eight in the evening.”
It was not all fun and games. Marcus said that she struggled to keep up with her schoolwork at the end of the year, as her OSA class was performing during finals.
“I didn’t really mind it, though,” Marcus said. “It was fun.”
Marcus’s counselor Chris Hartford pulled the strings to make her schedule work, Marcus said.
“Mr. Hartford was a big, big help with the whole thing,” Marcus said. “I’m so grateful for the opportunity he gave me.”
“The whole thing went really smoothly,” Hartford said.
However, this juggling of schedules only lasted one semester, as on top of the academic element, a student cannot attend two schools at once, Marcus said. At the end of last year, Marcus decided to return to Piedmont full-time.
“Now I dance with Alonzo King Lines in the city, so I just book it after school every day,” Marcus said.
Alonzo King Lines is located at the Civic Center in downtown San Francisco, and it offers classes in a variety of styles for any skill level, from the newest beginners to the most dedicated dance students. Marcus’s friend, sophomore Bridget Bentley, can attest to her commitment.
“She could probably go professional,” Bentley said.
Marcus said she dances there for about four hours a day, getting home around ten.
“It’s a big commitment,” Marcus said. “But I love it.”