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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- November 3, 2006
Young Dance receives $7,500 grant for Molecules of Music

Young Dance has been awarded a $7,500 grant from The Metropolitan Regional Arts Council (MRAC) for the Molecules of Music project. The project pairs Young Dance students (ages 8 to 17) with professional artists in year-long workshop format. Developed work will be presented at the Barbara Barker Center for Dance in May 2007.

The MRAC Arts Activities Support program offers grants of up to $7,500 in project support for groups wishing to offer quality arts activities in any discipline to communities within the seven-county metro area.

Molecules of Music will explore the intricate connections – conscious and unconscious, literal and symbolic, physical and emotional – between music and dance. The creative process will begin with the question “What is Music Made of?” Guest artists Dean McGraw (guitarist), Kari Kjome of the Women’s Drum Center, Megan Flood (improvisational dance), and Tara Fahey of Chicks on Sticks will work closely with The Company over a period of several weeks.

Original choreography by dancers, guest artists, and co-artistic directors Kaori Kenmotsu and Gretchen Pick, will be inspired by listening with an open heart to the patterns, spaces, rhythms, layers, textures, and colors of music. Dancers will be asked to draw on their own personal experiences and cultural background.

Artistic director Gretchen Pick is enthusiastic about the project, "The dancers are getting involved with the music in a much deeper way, which affects both the physical and emotional quality of their dances. The project is unique because it's not just about dancing, it's understanding tangible and intangible emotion and learning how to interpret and enhance music through the art of dance."

Like many community arts organizations, Young Dance relies on support from friends, family, employers, local merchants, and granting organizations to close the gap between tuition and expenses.

"Grants and donations keep us alive, and give us the ability to create innovative learning experiences. Without this award, the project probably couldn't continue. More importantly, without public and private funding, a lot of kids wouldn't have access to this kind of high-level artistic experience."