IN THE MIX:

Just down the street from just about wherever you are in Costa Mesa is a place that has dancing, theater and art ready for public appreciation.

Every year, all year, OCC offers theater and dance productions, and recently opened an art gallery.

Also every year, the school hosts Fiesta Latino and Dia de la Raza Latino cultural festival created by instructor Jose Costas who is using his dance skills to get a message to people of all cultures.

I have heard Costas’ name for years now — he seems to always be involved in something positive around campus. But I finally got the chance to talk to him a few days ago. I’m now more eager than ever to see what he has in store for the future of dance at OCC.

Costas hails from Ballet Hispanico of New York where he was a principal dancer for nine years. He said he has kept his relationship with the group by teaching classes there when he visits New York and inviting dancers from Ballet Hispanico to dance during Dia de la Raza.

With Ballet Hispanico Costas was constantly on the move with international and national tours. He said he craved a more stable life and had always been interested in teaching dance at a college.

He worked part time at Cal State Dominguez Hills before making the move to teach full-time at OCC eight years ago. But teaching full-time apparently wasn’t enough for Costas. He decided to add to his list of responsibilities by creating events like Fiesta Latino, Dia de la Raza and programs like Recruit to Dance.

The programs are designed to bring the Latino culture to the public and Latino students to OCC.

Fiesta Latino is a production Costas’ dance class puts on once in the evening for the general public, and once or twice during the day for visiting grade school children.

Dia de la Raza is a program that incorporates many aspects of Latino culture and is paid for by a grant from the Coast Community College District. This year was the event’s second, and it included comedian Paul Rodriguez. Costas also invited members of Ballet Hispanico to dance, and musicians playing Mariachi music, Latin-Jazz and Afro Cuban.

He said he is trying to get people to understand each other.

“I believe if you educate it gives you knowledge and with knowledge you can appreciate other cultures,” he said.

He is also trying to educate those already a part of the culture about what college has to offer and that it doesn’t have to be a frightening prospect. He’s recently begun a program called Recruit to Dance designed to bring Costa Mesa’s youth to college.

The program is his latest undertaking and involves getting to know some of the high school students in the city.

Last year, Costas and his dance classes recruited students from Costa Mesa High School. Last semester they included students from Estancia High.

OCC students perform for the high schoolers at their school and invite them to take a dance class at OCC. The class is for college credit, is on the campus, and introduces the youngsters to the registration process, the responsibility of a college class and to other college students. All of this is what Costas hopes will encourage the high schoolers to attend OCC.

Costa Mesa has a population of about 33% Latino, but Costas said OCC has only about 18% Latino students. That’s a discrepancy Costas would like to do something about.

“In about 10 years or more it won’t be the minority,” he said. “It will be the majority here. We need to make sure this community is educated.”

He said a lot of the Latino high schoolers in Costa Mesa prefer to go to Santa Ana College because it has about a 99% Latino population and they think they’ll fit in more.

But he hopes to show Latinos in Costa Mesa they can be comfortable at OCC, and share with them what the campus has to offer.

“The parents are grateful for the program,” he said. “They want their kid to go to college but they can’t tell them how because they don’t know.”

On this point, Costas is consistent and adamant. He wants to get these kids to college and he’s using whatever tools he can to achieve that.

“I’m trying to do something,” he said. “The only thing I know is dance. I created this project to help them through dance.”

I get the feeling from talking to him that Costas won’t stop until he’s satisfied everyone in the community knows what OCC and the Latino community has to offer.

ALICIA LOPEZ teaches journalism at OCC and lives in Costa Mesa. She can be reached at lopezinthemix@gmail.com.