\u201cThere are people, like I am, who don\u2019t have a choice,\u201d Malashock said. \u201cThey just have to do it [dance]. It was something I wanted to do and needed to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Malashock is a San Diego native who has been in professional dance for 45 years. Out of college, he danced for a professional company in Salt Lake City and went on to do work in Europe and New York for 10 years before he returned to his hometown.<\/p>\n \u201cMy body was pretty exhausted at that point, so I stepped back from [dance] for a little bit,\u201d he said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t long before the need to be dancing and creating dances really exerted itself.\u201d<\/p>\n After living in La Jolla and Scripps Ranch, Malashock settled in his current neighborhood of Mission Hills, where he has now lived for 15 years with his wife and son.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no other place in San Diego that I would rather live than Mission Hills,\u201d Malashock said. \u201cWe have a great feeling, friendly neighborhood. We live on a canyon, so it feels very private and with a nice sense of nature. We have a wonderful old house with tons of character. We are near everything.\u201d<\/p>\n Malashock founded his company, Malashock Dance, in 1988 after moving back to San Diego. The company moved to its studio in Liberty Station 11 years ago; since then, the studio has developed into a dance school, expanded outreach programs and established a rehearsal space all their own.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m most proud of the body of work that I\u2019ve created over these 30 years,\u201d Malashock said. \u201cThe establishment of this facility really gives a nice public face to the dance field. I think the level of artistic collaborations that I\u2019ve developed with almost every major art organization in town has just been really exciting for me too. [I\u2019m proud of] the work, and the community we\u2019ve created.\u201d<\/p>\n Malashock Dance runs five outreach programs in schools around the county, mainly in underserved areas of San Diego. These programs \u2014 Math in Motion, DanceABILITY and A Reason to Dance \u2014 strive to integrate movement and creativity into the curriculum for students of all ages, skill levels and ZIP codes.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the thing most people don\u2019t know about us is how much outreach we do with the community,\u201d Malashock said. \u201cIt\u2019s giving [students] access to the arts \u2014 to dance \u2014 for people who otherwise wouldn\u2019t have that.\u201d<\/p>\n Malashock promotes a collaborative environment in his studio. The soft-spoken choreographer feeds off the creative energy of his team.<\/p>\n \u201cI like working collaboratively and bouncing ideas back and forth,\u201d he said. \u201cI do my best creative work in that mode, just letting the creative sparks fly between us. I will never be one of the solitary artists, like a writer or painter. I draw energy from dancers, from the studio, and working in collaboration with them.\u201d<\/p>\n Justin Viernes, who has been dancing with Malashock Dance since 2011, describes John as a generous and supportive person. According to Viernes, the choreographer is perceptive to the group dynamic, always keeps the environment positive and constantly challenges his dancers.<\/p>\n \u201cJohn has a way of bringing something out of you as a dancer that you normally wouldn\u2019t think you could do,\u201d Viernes said. \u201cWe\u2019re capable of delving into further and deeper to understand a character or concept.<\/p>\n \u201cJohn is quite the visionary and is very inspiring,\u201d he continued. \u201cI\u2019ve been very fortunate to have been with him for such a long time; I can say that every season brings something new and super challenging for me, both physically and mentally.\u201d<\/p>\n Malashock Dance is known for their annual performances and workshops, participation in arts festivals, and other cultural organizations. They have also won Emmy Awards for their innovative dance films in which they do choreography specifically for the screen.<\/p>\n Malashock said he is excited about the studio\u2019s 30th anniversary show, \u201cThe Ride: Malashock@30,\u201d which will be playing March 17\u201325 at The Lyceum Theater in Horton Plaza.<\/p>\n \u201cMy personal hopes are to keep loving to create work, whether in dance or collaboratively,\u201d he said. \u201cThe company has begun to grow without my direct involvement into something that\u2019s bigger than me, and that\u2019s exciting to feel. I want to take work to other places, want to see our school bursting at the seams and see support for our organization grow.\u201d<\/p>\n Malashock\u2019s vision for \u201cThe Ride: Malshock@30\u201d was to create a space for the audience to enter into personal, intimate, humorous and emotive character stories. The show will feature \u201cdynamic and exciting music\u201d by Matthew McBane to compliment the personal nature of the mini-stories. With 11 dancers and one pianist, the show will be \u201cenergetic, rich and powerful,\u201d according to Malashock.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the celebration of our 30th anniversary, I didn\u2019t want to do something retrospective,\u201d he said. \u201cI like new work because what I do is about innovation and moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Malashock considers himself an artist of embodiment and movement, and he hopes the public will tap into the expressive art of dance and discover that they, too, are artists.<\/p>\n \u201cDance and art add tremendous value to the texture of our lives,\u201d Malashock said. \u201cDance is a unique art form. It\u2019s physical, it\u2019s emotional, expressive, exciting, embodied. Some people don\u2019t go into dance because it\u2019s a language they don\u2019t understand. But there is so much about it that can be accessible and creative for all.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Malashock\u2019s](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/John-Malashock2_photo-Javier-Laos.jpg\")
![\"Malashock\u2019s](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Malashock-Rehearsal-photo-Jim-Carmody.jpg\")
![\"Malashock\u2019s](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Minor_Fall_1014.jpg\")