The Young DanceMakers of Brigham Young University will present their annual "Evening of Dance" titled “Come Dream with Me” Friday and Saturday, May 4-5, at 7:30 p.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall, Harris Fine Arts Center.
The performance will feature more than 140 children ages six through 18 performing their own choreography.
Tickets at $10 are available at the Fine Arts Ticket Office, at byuarts.com/tickets or by calling (801) 422-4322.
The YoungDancemakers created choreography based on dreams: dreams for the future or what might be. While we lie sleeping, fascinating dreams can take us to a magical world, according to artistic director Kathleen Sheffield.
Audiences can visit the moon and go underwater with eight year olds as they perform “I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon” choreographed by Katelyn Sheffield. Or they can remember childlike fears as the boys in the program share an energetic exploration of nightmares titled “Bad Dreams.”
Kathleen Sheffield has created a mesmerizing suite of dances that transport the audience to places only visited in their dreams, "Come Dream," featuring members of the BYU Young DanceMakers performing to a medley of the best of Irish singer Enya.
Nineteen dancers ages 13 to 16 will perform a piece titled “Dream Catcher” with choreography directed by Kathleen Sheffield. In it, the dancers explore the colorful legend behind the Native American Dream Catcher ornament.
“Uniquely Strong” is a piece reflecting the hope for a world where our diversity makes us stronger, while the fun of learning to drive is expressed in “Driving Dreams” choreographed by Malisalee Gardner.
This year's "Evening of Dance" is filled with a wide range of emotions and energies that will be appealing to audiences of all ages, said Kathleen Sheffield.
"There is a dream for everyone in this show," she said. “Attending one of the shows is like getting a glimpse inside the imagination of a child.”
The Young DanceMakers is the performing company of the BYU Children’s and Teen’s Creative Dance program, which follows a tradition Virginia Tanner created to utilize the natural creative impulses of children. More than 350 dancers are trained in technique, composition, improvisation, choreography and performance.
Those students who are enrolled in the BYU program but who are not appearing in "Evening of Dance" will perform the following Saturday, May 12, in the Saturday Sharing concerts at the BYU Richards Building Dance Studio at 10 a.m., noon and 1:30 p.m. Tickets for those concerts will be available at the door.
For more information, contact Kathleen Sheffield at 801-422-2043.
Writer: Malisalee Gardner
