With many years of training and experience, CHS’ new dance teacher Dana Fukagawa has stunned students with her abilities.

Fukagawa knew at a young age that she wanted to pursue dancing as a career, and has since been dancing for 20 years. Dancing has always been her own unique way of portraying her inner emotions and thoughts, especially in a contemporary style.With hard work and dedication, Fukagawa has succeeded tremendously in her dance career. Fukagawa has appeared in many television shows for her dancing such as “Wizards of Waverly Place”, “So You Think You Can Dance” and “Shake It Up”. Despite others opinions on the definition of dance, Fukagawa feels it is much more than a simple sport.

“Dance is graceful athleticism,” said Fukagawa. “It uses the body and music to move others and can portray a spectrum of emotions, stories, and feelings.

With the expertise of her mentor and inspiration Mandy Moore, Fukagawa has found dance as a creative outlet. For many dancing is just a sport, yet Fukagawa sees it as a way to move others. While some find comfort in putting their feelings into words, Fukagawa finds it more proficient to contribute her feelings into dance.

“Dance can be used as an outlet to express multiple feelings or emotions,” said

Fukagawa. “Just like great writers use their words to portray a feeling, dancers use their body as an instrument to emote.”

Previously, Fukagawa worked with Thousand Oaks High School as a coach and mentor. Fukagawa has high hopes for the 2014-2015 dance year, and is working along side many of our talented dancers at CHS to achieve her goal.

“My goal as a teacher is to inspire all of my students to discover a love for dance,” said Fukagawa. “I hope to encourage and push all my students to their potential and build an environment where they feel comfortable and confident to explore through movement.”

Since starting at CHS, Fukagawa has further grown as a choreographer and teacher. She hopes to further improve CHS dance, and hopes to inspire her students as her mentor has done for her.