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Come toe-to-toe, shoulder-to-shoulder and meet the college’s new modern dance instructor, Maria Basile.

Basile has taught college dance classes since 1996 and has been at SJCC since January.
Basile’s life essence, aspiration, creative talent and daily activities revolve around dance.
“I like teaching dance, especially social (ballroom) dance, and teaching people how to connect with their bodies and being in close proximity with another person,” Basile said. “The one big challenge students tell me all the time is ‘I can now stand close to someone and I don’t freeze up.’”
Raised in Chicago, Basile came to dance via gymnastics. She recounts a story when she was eight years old that her gymnastics coach would return the students’ $1 fee if they could walk across the training room on their hands or do a full back flip.
“I always got my dollar back,” Basile said.
Basile has the passion of a committed teacher. Her long hours, student interaction, patience and coaching technique give her the skill set for this challenging career.
“I love teaching and the transfer of knowledge. Three things for me about dance are, we are social animals and dancing brings us together. Dance is physical and everyone wants to move, dancing can keep us physically,” Basile said. “And lastly, dancing is extremely mindful. Our mind is engaged and challenged; we must concentrate on how to lead or follow and how to pull steps forward.”
Amber McCall, director of the dance program at SJCC, wrote in an email, “Maria Basile brings a wealth of knowledge in her diverse dance training and performance experience. Between her extensive professional performance career and her years of teaching at San Jose State, she provides a bridge for our students as they move on to the next step of their paths as dancers.”
“Sometimes I have the whole day to myself, but today I teach modern dance at SJCC. I take a ballet class then go to my next school, De Anza College and I also teach at San Jose State University.”
“I am starting to prepare a new dance project called ‘Tango Fatale’ to be performed at the California Theatre, San Jose Oct. 18 and 19,” Basile said.
Basile commented on learning to trust in the universe for her needs and describes her spirituality as it flows through her dance experience.
“I’m very hooked into spirituality. Spirituality comes through my dancing. Nature is my church and treating people with love, passion and respect. I spend a lot of time in quiet, waiting for information to come to me. I meditate with a board inclined at a 30 percent slant that I lie on upside down 10 minutes a day,” Basile said.
Basile, a vegetarian, is careful to stay healthy like any high performance athlete would.
“My wealth is my body, and my wealth is not external. Every penny I make, every penny goes into training my instrument, either training it or recovering it. That’s where my money gets stuck. I spend thousands and thousands of dollars every year recovering or getting my body in tip-top, pristine condition. You see a doctor here, a doctor there, and all of that money adds up. I don’t have insurance,” Basile said.
Dance student Hannah Mets, 18, said, “I like learning new styles of ballroom dance. I really like her (Basile). She’s really cool.
Basile said her aspiration is to devote more time to her dance troupe, sjDANCEco. In addition to dance, Basile enjoys hiking and mountain biking.
Basile hopes appreciation of the arts will increase in Silicon Valley.
“We have a younger generation making more money versus an older generation who has invested time in the arts,” Basile said. “The arts and dance also compete with the sun here.”