It rarely happens that we get to perform our youth assembly program for a predominantly adult audience, but last Friday during AXIS’ Open Rehearsal and Silent Auction we did. And it was so much fun. We wanted to give AXIS’ supporters a look into our youth education program and what better way than by showing some pieces and asking them to participate. We performed Bounce Back, a piece created by our own Janet Das, which teaches kids about creating dances. During a short skit Janet taught the audience a phrase to dance with us from their seats: “Shoulders up, shoulders up, tilt head right, left, right, wink one eye, wink the other, wave your right hand and say “hello” and wave your left and say “hola.” From the wings I could see all the shoulders popping, the heads shaking and the hands waving. So much fun!
But the highlight of this Education Demonstration was Stone Soup: our way of showing what dance improvisation means. During Stone Soup I invite the dancers on stage to create a connected group shape, I start the music and give them descriptive words to inspire their movement. After I tell the dancers to freeze, it’s time for some volunteers to come on stage and join us. And on this special night we had our teens Alison, Annie and Michelle join us. The girls have been taking dance classes with us for years and it was so much fun to have them dancing with the dancers on stage. Proud moms and radiant young ladies were the result. What else can one wish for?
To learn more about the different components of our Education/Outreach program visit our website.
AXIS Dance Company 
Wonderful, keep it up thanks.