Following her love for dance and taking on a new experience, transfer student Alexandra Giovanetti found her perfect place at Sonoma State University in 2017. She wanted a change for her next college experience and feels she accomplished that here.

“The campus is beautiful and I wanted to move somewhere new and different to get out of my comfort zone of staying in the same place,” Giovanetti said. “I have found great people here and I am so glad I made the choice to come to Sonoma State.” 

Giovanetti is a Theatre Arts & Dance major with a concentration in Dance and is a senior this year. Her love for dance started back at just the young age of 9 years old. She has been dancing for 13 years.

“My mom put me in a hip hop class when I was 9, thinking I would probably enjoy it knowing my background being on stage in choir and doing gymnastics. I ended up absolutely loving it,” Giovanetti said.

Giovanetti has had a lot of favorite memories from dancing all these years, but her favorite would probably have to be performing in competitions with her hip hop crew. She performs different styles of dance but her favorite would be hip hop.  

“My favorite part about dancing is the chance to express myself through my movement whether others understand what I am expressing or not,” Giovanetti said. “It is a great way to let out all of my emotions in a healthy way, through a physical way, and it is amazing what the body can do.” 

Since being at Sonoma State, Giovanetti has been in four different dance shows, including this year’s Spring Dance. Through these experiences, she grew very close with her professors and show directors Christine Cali and Kristen Daley.

“They have helped me push myself to find my full potential, especially this semester,” Giovanetti said.

Getting ready for the spring show in a couple weeks, Giovanetti is very excited, especially to perform Christine Cali’s number GTS. It is a very physical number that is about urgency in life. 

Even though she loves performing, she does feel the nerves and anxiousness before going on stage. Once she hits the stage and gets one piece done though, she’s ready for more.  

“I have many great memories creating this show, but my favorite would have have to be creating friendships and getting to know the awesome dancers I get to share the stage with,” Giovanetti said. “We have all worked so hard on this show, I hope everyone takes a chance to come see it, it’s going to be great.” 

One friends that made her time here so memorable is second year Dance major and Early Childhood Studies minor Brandon Leong. 

Leong and Giovanetti first became friends when they met last year at a Theater Arts meet and greet for transfer students. Being the only two dance majors there, they bonded quickly and have been friends ever since. 

“My favorite part about Alexandra is her drive. She knows what she wants and doesn’t let anything stop her,” Leong said. “She is such a strong dancer, and I was lucky enough to be apart of her first fall dance piece at Sonoma State last year.” 

After graduating, Giovanetti would like to teach dance in her hometown in the Placerville area. She wants to keep learning and growing as a dancer as well, continue to take classes and hopefully, continue to perform.