Sonali Samarasena
Credits: The Prototypes Co-Artistic Director, Common Ground Alumni, S2k, Reality Check
Month – June
Time – Thursday 8pm
Dancing Link -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OMLvp-g6Q24#!

Bio:
Sonali Samarasena was born and raised in Santa Maria; a town that no one has ever heard of and smells like broccoli. She began dancing at the local studio, Adkins Dance Studio, with ballet, then tap, and finally jazz all the way through high school. Upon being accepted into UCI, she saw Common Ground perform at “Welcome Week” and fell in love with their stage presence and choreography. She auditioned two weeks later, and stayed on the team for three years. After her first year on Common Ground, she was invited to be a part of the Underground Artistic Committee, and directed for two wonderful years. Also during her time with the Ground Family, she began dancing with Style2Kill, under the direction of Hikari Murakami and Irene Choi, at Maxt Out 2010 and has been killing styles ever since. Around that time, she started dancing with Reality Check, under the direction of Matt Gutierrez, Kayla Mallari and Paul Jucaban, since Beatniks 2010. Currently, Sonali directs the group Prototypes with Nigel Cortez, which debuted at Vibe Jrs. of last year. She has choreographed and performed in music videos such as Meegan Henry’s “Crash A Party”, and GSeven’s “Seven Steps”. Proper Grammar is all she asks for… and on occasion, food. Don’t Judge

Amy Chang
Credits: Kaba Modern, S2k, The Prototypes
Month – July
Time – Tuesday 8pm
Dancing Link -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7QHsoISmHA

Bio:
Raised in Cerritos for most of her life, Amy Chang first started off her performance career as a figure skater at the age of 7. She soon discovered her passion for dancing through her elementary school’s show choir and ballet lessons. She later dropped figure skating to pursue dancing, and was involved from Cerritos High School’s Dance/Drill Team to Varsity Song, which she was captain of during her senior year. She became aware of the dance community in 2003, when she saw Chill Factor perform at her high school. After continuing to explore the dance scene, she was inspired especially by the Kaba Modern. After hearing news that they had created a junior team, she decided to try out in 2006 even though she knew the distance was far, and she eventually made Kaba Modern in 2008 during her 1st year at UCI. Although she juggled to balance the workload of nursing school with the collegiate scene, she managed to push through and had the privilege of choreographing, teaching, and even competing in Hip Hop Internationals. After 4 years of dedication, she is now an alumnus and is working full time as a RN and teaches as a hip-hop instructor at Boogiezone Utopia. She is currently dancing with different projects from Style 2 Kill (S2K), KM Legacy, and Prototypes. Her other credits include Surreal, Floorteenth, ClengBaDang, Ellen Kim’s Project, David Lee’s Project, and participating in and choreographing for UCI’s KASA dance-off. She considers herself an everlasting student of dance for she is constantly learning from everyone she meets and dances with. The one quote she has come to truly cherish and hopes to pass on is “for the love”, the love of dance, and the love of the people you dance with.
Nigel Cortez
Credits: The Prototypes Founder/ Co-Artistic Director, Common Ground Alumni, Surreal Project
Month - August
Time – Thursday 8pm
Dancing Link -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxRhNhuk8Qg&list=UUdg2MDj7ztC6gYbMRC4B55g&index=1&feature=plcp

Bio:
Meet Nigel Adrian Cortez. Born and raised in Redondo Beach, CA, Nigel Cortez began dancing at the age of 14. Later on, Nigel was mentored by Joshua Yu of Culture Shock LA, who taught him the fundamentals of popping. Through dedication and perseverance his hard work paid off in 2009 where he succeeded in making it on to Common Ground Dance Team.  He went from being known as the guy “dancing to class or practicing while walking home” to being known as Common Ground’s very own “Silver Robot.” He has performed at various hip hop competitions, choreographed for several medleys of Common Ground as well as establishing his own project called The Prototypes, which pays homage to many of the funk styles such as popping and waacking. Through his love and passion for dance, he hopes to continue to inspire and grow as a dancer.