Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Reynolds
Hi Sarah, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
St. George Dance Company was founded by Summer Belnap Robertson in 2007. The company has seen the contributions of a few different directors who have brought it to where it is today. In it’s earlier years, the artistic focus was on modern dance and has expanded over the years to include more styles such as contemporary, classical ballet, Jazz, etc. The vision for our shows has changed throughout the years but our mission to provide our community with dance opportunities has stayed the same. Our unique project-based structure allows dancers to perform in our shows while thriving in their careers or being full-time parents. Our community classes (with more classes and styles to choose from now more than ever) offers all levels of continuing education in dance as well as providing brand new beginners a welcoming place to start. SGDC also produces the Red Rock Dance Festival every year, which is a 4 day event of choreography, workshops and networking opportunities for local and traveling students of dance. We are passionate about dance, it’s benefits on the body and mind, and are so grateful to be able to share it with our community!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The struggle that every arts organization experiences is the lack of funding. No matter how many tickets are sold or how many dancers buy punch passes, the fact is that producing art costs more than it can bring in. We and every theatre company, music group, and professional painter in town rely on grants, the RAP, and most of all the generosity of sponsors and donors to be able to provide all of our incredible programming for the community. The need for fundraising will always exist.
As our programming gets bigger and better, (more classes, more shows, etc) we have often struggled to find the amount of hands we need for the work. All of the behind-the-scenes work takes a lot of time and we always seem to be in need of volunteers and staff.
For a long time, it was hard to fill the seats at our shows and even in our classes. In the last few years we have really focused on making our shows more accessible and relevant to our St. George audience, and of course increased our marketing efforts and it’s really paid off. The numbers are going up and we are so grateful that dance is reaching so many people in our community.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
The St. George Dance Company is Southern Utah’s only professional, non-profit dance company. We create two productions per year in addition to the Red Rock Dance Festival. Our spring shows premier several new works from different choreographers tied to an engaging theme. Our fall shows are often seasonal celebrations – either a Christmas or Halloween show.
Something unique we do that started with Jennie Jones, former Artistic Director, is create dance concerts that are also participatory, murder-mystery nights for the patrons. You witness the “crime,” collect clues through the choreography, and cast a vote before we make the big reveal – all in dance form. Last Christmas, under the artistic direction of Andrielle Davidson, we combined the murder-mystery theme with the Nutcracker – the candy characters from Act 2 (Sugar Plum, Chocolate, Tea, etc.) became the cast of the murder mystery. “The Casecracker – A Murder Mystery Nutcracker” was so well received by audiences (and such a blast for us creating it) that we plan to bring it back as a bi-annual tradition.
We also have a unique project-based structure for our company dancers. In every dancer’s journey, there comes a point where you have to decide if you want to do this professionally, choose another career or start a family. The traditional dance company contracts and time commitment does not always allow for dancers to “have it all.” We believe that you shouldn’t have to give up any of those dreams. No matter what stage of life you’re in, you should be able to have dance in your life and perform if you want to! Our shows are all project-based, which means dancers can audition for one show instead of a season, and only rehearse the hours that you’re available. It is such a unique community to have a cast made up of school teachers, toddler moms, dental hygienists, nurses, business owners and all sorts of careers who all share a love of dance and can come together a few nights a week to create something magical.
In addition, dancers who choose families or careers over dance often don’t have the opportunity to continue taking dance classes. Some companies offer kids classes or beginning classes for adults at most, but St. George Dance Company offers dance classes for adults of all ages in all levels of dance from absolute beginning to advanced. In the last couple years our classes have become more and more popular so we’ve added new styles such as Ballroom, Jazz, Hip Hop, Tap and even Bollywood! We have a lot of dance studios around town that offer classes for kids but we are the only company providing this service at this extent for adults. We are particularly proud of our “Restorative Ballet” class that caters to senior citizens and participants with limited mobility.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
I think this applies to any workforce these days, but especially in the arts: you have to be willing to adapt. Things that have always been traditions or even part of the culture of your field will not always work for your customers or audience. You must be open to other ways of doing things and willing to brainstorm solutions that work for our ever-changing modern world.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://stgeorgedance.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stgeorgedancecompany/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stgeorgedancecompany
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@StGeorgeDanceCo
Image Credits
Alan Holben Photography, Andrielle Davidson
