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Aftermath Dance Company

Beginning

South San Francisco's Aftermath Dance Company has been performing at showcases and competitions throughout the Bay Area for the past ten years. What started out as a small garage crew, grew into a non-profit organization that extended through many generations. One of their first performances was at Pistahan Parade and Festival in 2004. Their style expresses a unique musicality with a combination of smooth and beat hitting choreography. Some of their most recent performances include Battlefest, Pistahan 2012, World of Dance Bay Area, NorCal Prelude, and Max't Out.

Community

Aftermath worked their way up from dancing with closet mirrors in the garage to teaching hip hop classes at the local Boy's and Girl's Club in exchange for a free dance room. Those classes eventually turned into Aftermath's junior group, called Aftermath Juniors, who performed at halftime basketball games hosted at the Boy's and Girl's Club.

As Aftermath continued to grow as a dance group, they eventually outgrew the small Boy's and Girl's Club dance room that contributed to a major part of their growth. Although they found a new studio, Aftermath wanted to continue teaching classes to stay giving back to the community as a 'thank you' and still do to this day, but are no longer known as Aftermath Juniors.

Aftermath is a group consisting of mostly Filipinos. Pistahan, an international festival of Filipino culture and cuisine, was an event that Aftermath willingly performed at every year. Performing at Pistahan is what kept aftermath together even through the group's inactive years of competition. As Aftermath grew into the competition group they are in the dance community today, they draw in a bigger crowd every year to watch their performances at Pistahan, as well as to the event itself.

Accomplishments

From starting out as a group of friends with the same passion to dance to becoming a known group in the dancing community is already an accomplishment to Aftermath. Although they have not placed in a competition yet, they are always motivated to become a better performing dance group.

Aftermath is now a dance group big enough to pay rent for their own studio at Spindrift School of Performing Arts in Pacifica, Ca.

Artistic Directors

Thomas Vallero, Karl Neri, Alex Del Rosario, and Allan Tina are Aftermath's four Artistic Directors who are all Filipino-American. The directors all have different styles of dance such as Popping, Locking, Dime-stopping, and smooth eccentric choreography. They all work together to combine their different styles of dance to create one unique Aftermath medley.

Dance Community

Aftermath has been involved in the dance community in the Bay Area consisting of groups such as: FunkanometrySF, TheCompany, The League, Academy of Villains, Hungry Bumz, VIP SJ, Wrawsome, Evolution Movement and many more. Being active in the community means Aftermath teaching dance workshops as well as learning choreography from dancers in various groups. Aftermath has been able to network with multiple people who share the same passion for dance.

Filipino

Aftermath Dance Company is not necessarily a Filipino based group, but majority of the group are Filipino. The group carries the family bond that Filipinos are known for through the Filipino customs, which is taking care of each other. Caring for each other goes beyond the dance room and into each other's personal lives. Filipinos are also known for being involved and giving back to the community, and that is exactly what Aftermath does.

Most dancers of the group are second generation Filipinos. The dancers see their passion to dance as an obligation but without direction, which conflicts with their parent's traditional Filipino values on career and time-investment.

Dancing is not a Filipino activity, but dancers who are Filipino are active in the community. Aftermath are Filipinos who are involved in a community as well as establishing ground in leadership such as being a part of the Boys and Girls club.