Dance Students Say Studio Loss a Misstep

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE -- Dance at SF State, says associate professor and dance coordinator Yutian Wong, utilizes two studios for its three dozen courses. The one in the gymnasium is larger, but the fine-arts space, FA 203, was created especially for dance, with sprung floors to reduce strain and injury to the joints, marley floor covering to prevent slipping, mirrors, adjacent locker rooms with showers, as well as bleacher seating, pipes rigged for lighting and a sound system. “I was really shocked when we were told in July that we would be losing the studio,” she says. “At the time, I was told that the size of program did not warrant all the square footage that we had.” According to Daniel Bernardi, interim dean of the College of Liberal & Creative Arts, the dissolution of the space is simply a consequence, if not unintentional, of a larger series of consolidating moves for all departments.