Minneapolis troupe encourages kids as 'artists and creators' of own work

What would it look like if everybody — and every body — danced?

Just ask Young Dance. The nearly 30-year-old Minneapolis-based troupe, dedicated to "transforming lives through movement," helps youths of all abilities harness their kinetic creativity. Next weekend they'll take over the Lab Theater in Minneapolis with "Uncharted," which includes a gala Friday with Kevin Kling.

Young Dance is not the typical school where students have recitals to demonstrate phrases they've learned.

"We're wanting to develop a thinking body before we ever talk about pointing your foot," said Justin Jones, who co­directs with Gretchen Pick. "If I paralleled it to college, I don't think of it as a conservatory, I think of it as a liberal arts program."

The youths learn to move, largely through improvisation, while also studying choreography and creating with dance professionals.

"It is cool, and I really like to choreograph my own pieces," said 11-year-old Iliana ­Skalbeck.

"We like to come and be ourselves," added 15-year-old Eva Reed, who made a trio using her power wheelchair and featuring her friends Skalbeck and 18-year-old graduating senior Aubrey Donisch.

Veteran dance educator Erin Thompson has created a solo for Donisch to perform.

"So many young people who grow up in dance atmospheres are put in a box and not put in touch with their innate selves," she said. "It gets trained out of them." But in Young Dance, "they are becoming sophisticated as dance makers."

In the process they learn to become conscious observers who ponder why dance matters, not just as an art form but also as a catalyst for social change.

"Yes, they are students, but they are also artists and creators, and they want to make an impact on the world," Jones said.

On a recent Saturday in a Cowles Center studio, Young Dance met with Axis Dance, a like-minded company from Oakland, Calif., for a class and to show work.

The companies share a philosophy: Anyone can learn and enjoy movement. Each has members with and without disabilities who perform together.

According to Pick, Young Dance started exploring this approach in 2010 when the parents of a girl with cerebral palsy said she wanted to dance like her sister. There were no options for the girl, so Young Dance decided to seek guidance from VSA Minnesota, Courage Center and Axis, among others, to start offering classes.

"We were upfront with students that we didn't have experience and asked them for feedback," said Pick. "It really quickly changed how we were thinking about all of our dance classes. It influenced the way we approached all of our programming, and it became an integral part of Young Dance."

For choreographer Maggie Bergeron, who has a work in next weekend's show, "it's important that people with all abilities participate in art, and that dance reflect the society in which it's created."

Sometimes mixed-ability performance becomes "more about sympathy than the work," she said, so she wants to upend that expectation. Her piece is "really rollicking and kind of rowdy," she said. "The kids are hilarious, and they love a good dance party."

"Uncharted" also includes pieces by BodyCartography Project (Olive Bieringa and Otto Ramstad), Heidi Eckwall, Becky Heist, Pramila Vasudevan and Marcus Young.

"If the artist wants to be creating work about life, then considering seriously the work of people who are young is important," Pick said.

Bieringa said, "You're developing future artists and future audiences, while creating a profound opportunity and also income for working artists."

Heist's work draws upon poetry by Jack Kerouac while BodyCartography Project raised awareness about the dancers' bodies, including their organs and heartbeats, showing them how to generate movement from interior spaces and pulses.

Vasudevan encouraged personal storytelling so dancers learn that "a creative person has to be able to build relationships … and to articulate in multiple ways that are about authenticity."

The dancers were also interested in lighting design, so Eckwall took them into a theater to inspire a new work. "They were so excited when they realized light is something malleable and can be controlled by them," she said. "If the goal is to perform something in front of an audience, it is important to know that lighting is one of the tools that can help you express your piece."

And finally, Young introduced the dancers to his nine-year project "Don't You Feel It Too?" in which participants groove while listening to music of their own choosing through headphones. The guiding principle, he said, is to "practice our brave, honest, loving, most ridiculous self. This is a practice of honesty. They will say 'I feel very awkward, confused, tired.' It's great to encourage them to be present with themselves."

Growing up is tough — and really a lifelong process. Sometimes dance just makes it easier to take.

Caroline Palmer is a Twin Cities dance writer.