SALT LAKE CITY – Moving through Utah’s scenic vistas, Children’s Dance Theatre has a new story to tell.
Over a year, 11 young dancers explored many locations, including Antelope Island, sand dunes, Little Wild Horse Canyon, Goblin Valley and Mount Baldy. Twig Media Lab captured it all. The young dancers bring that scenery into the Capitol Theatre for a multi-media production.
“That story is this group of dancers that come together, meet in a mountain meadow and decide to go on a journey together,” Artistic Director Mary Ann Lee said.
Diana Timothy is the program manager of Children’s Dance Theatre and the artistic director of “Wild Ideas.”
“These landscapes that we have in our beautiful state are so inspiring, and we, as dancers and choreographers, love spending time outside … We hope that the audience will come away from this with a renewed sense of appreciation,” Timothy said.
Alma Lee, 10, one of the dancers, says she hopes seeing this production will make audiences want to explore our state more.
“I love that we got to go dance in many different places, like the sand dunes and parks, but my absolute favorite was the snow,” Alma Lee said. “I hope that they’re inspired to go see some of the places for themselves because they think it’d be really fun and enjoy that.”
Foss Goodwin, 18, has been a dancer with CDT for 14 years. He graduates this year and then is heading to Dartmouth College. He loves this production because he is also a filmmaker.
“In the world of professional dance, we see so many companies going towards multi-media performances with dance and film, so this is really nice to bring that to the students and to the arts community,” Goodwin said.
CDT has been part of the Utah Arts Community since 1949. Virginia Tanner was the founder. She believed that all children can move creatively. The company now has 190 young dancers, aged 8 to 18.
Mary Ann Lee says it is important that this group continues.
“I think it’s this beautiful legacy of valuing the divinity of each child and allowing them to express and find their voice,” she said.
CDT’s mission is to create fearless artists and worthwhile human beings. The young dancers say “Wild Ideas” lets them express how they feel about their art and how they feel about the beauty of Utah.
Performances of “Wild Ideas” take place this Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Capitol Theatre in downtown Salt Lake City.
