Youth Dancers Take Flight

Fifteen young choreographers will have a chance to spread their wings this Saturday as Joy of Motion Dance Center (JOMDC) presents its Youth Dance Project.

About 75 percent of Youth Dance Project dancers come from participants in JOMDC’s seven youth dance companies, specializing in hip hop, jazz, tap, world dance and modern dance.

“They get to watch the creative process unfold on a weekly basis with their director creating, explaining and teaching choreography," said Rachel Pearl, production and education program manager at JOMDC. “We have several dancers who apply to the showcase year after year as they build work."

Alexandra May Ballance, 13, has performed her own choreography in the concert three years in a row. 

“It's a thrill to watch her mature each year, to see what is inspiring her from one season to the next,” added Pearl, “and to share the joy of dancing and choreographing with her family and peers is why we do this concert.”

This year at the concert, the young artist will debut Escape, a modern dance quintet to violin music by the Vitamin String Quartet, performed with fellow dancers Serena Baldick, Allison Eigsti, Lee Kirshenboim and Hannah Stebbins. 

Ballance, part of JOMDC’s Youth Dance Ensemble, was recently selected to perform at Dance Bethesda 2012.

Cameron Boucher-Khan and Sarah Epstein will present a duet they co-choreographed incorporating a mixture of hip hop and modern dance moves, set to three pop songs. Dana Coen and Kristen Weymouth co-choreographed a hip hop piece set to music by Rihanna and Drake about moving on after a break-up.  

Other choreographers whose work will be performed at the concert are Maggie Bujor, Meryl Crock, Tina Fowler, Tiara Goodum,  Lila Ruth Klaus, Cecily Lo, Tammy Mamlet, Sabrina Scherr, and Daishawn Jones.

Prior to his audition, the faculty at JOMDC had never met Jones, Pearl told Patch.

“On a whim, he was brought to the audition to show us his Michael Jackson moves set to Billie Jean and he blew us away. Daishawn has never taken a dance class and although he is technically portraying Michael Jackson, we hope to work with him on making the performance his own and maybe more importantly, get him into dance classes!”

The concert will also feature The Highest Low, conceptualized by Helanius Wilkins with Elana Anderson as part of the Just Say No Project and Above the Influence Project improvised and performed by the Youth Dance Ensemble Company.

“I think the best part about this concert,” said Pearl, “is the fact that many of us in the dance community remember what it felt like to choreograph in our bedroom at age seven.”

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The Youth Dance Project will take place at The Jack Guidone Theater, 5207 Wisconsin Ave., N.W., in Friendship Heights, Saturday, January 21, at 8 p.m.

General admission: $12 in advance and $20 at the door. Child/Senior/Student tickets: $10 in advance and $15 at the door.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly named the Joy of Motion Dance Center. We regret the error.