Growing: Dress Rehearsal Concert for Community Engagement

On Friday April 19th at 7:30pm, a dress rehearsal of "Growing" will be open to the KC dance community. This gives students, dancers, and others who cannot otherwise attend the performances a chance to experience the show at no-cost. Audience members attending the open dress rehearsal are invited to stay for an informal question and answer session with the directors, choreographers, and dancers.

Co-artistic directors Ann Shaughnessy and Bobbi Foudree are showing both new and previously presented works along with original choreography of company members. This season the company features returning dancers Ann Shaughnessy and Jadelyn Ransom, and welcomes new dancers Anna Boehm, Ashley Ebner, Allaylu Freeman, Cicely Stevenson, Johnny Dinh Phan, and Selah Thompson.

The theme "Growing” unites very different pieces which contain various themes including losing and finding connection, fear of letting go, life choices, going against the grain, and not taking yourself too seriously. The show refers to growing as people, growing as artists, and growing as a society.

Artistic Co-Director Ann Shaughnessy will debut two new works: “Corpo” to music by Divan Gattamorta and “Growing Young” to music by Acid Pauli and Be Svendsen. Corpo is a quartet of dancers who enter one by one and leave one by one but throughout the body of the dance come together two by two and as an interconnected unit. “Growing Young” is a light-hearted and fun ensemble dance with a bright mix of simplicity, complexity, chaos, and order. It's title is inspired by Picasso's observation, “It takes a long time to grow young”. Ann will also be performing an aerial solo on the Lyra with original choreography to music by Son Lux, about finally letting go of something you've been holding on to.

Artistic Co-Director Bobbi Foudree is premiering a new work entitled "Je te Laisserai des Mots”. This piece is a reflection on the words that we say and the ones we don’t. This solo shows that trials often come with expressing ourselves, and even more often when we hold back from actually saying what we need to say. This piece is set to the music of Patrick Watson. Bobbi is also presenting a piece that she originally choreographed for Modern Night at the Gem earlier this year. This work, entitled “It is What it is”, features the music of Olafur Arnalds, and focuses on the paths that we take, midwest politeness, and the concept of us finding our way by assimilating or even using others, then eventually finding our own voice and being content with it.

Every company dancer is also presenting their own choreography. “In Retrospect”, by Cicely Stevenson, is based on the idea of looking back and realizing the clues to your future were always there. Selah Thompson has developed a piece entitled “She Always Wins” with grounded movement focusing on the fact that Mother Nature and Time will always win. Allaylu Freeman’s “Lost it to Trying” is a duet that showcases individuality at the expense of collective development. Ashley Ebner is presenting a trio that focuses on the concept of breaking away from predetermined rules and blending two extremes to find authenticity. “Work/Force” is a solo by Anna Boehm, which was presented at Modern Night at the Gem 2024 and depicts the build up of exhaustion and frustration a person faces in a toxic environment.Johnny Dinh Phan is presenting a new work that showcases solo and unison work showing our relations to authority and how we fit (or don't fit) into society as a whole. Jadelyn Ransom will present her large ensemble work “Finding Life” to music by E.S. Posthumus. It will feature two guest dancers, Sonja Schulz and Christopher Peacock, and is inspired by an original poem which (talks about) searching for human connection and belonging. She will also perform on the Aerial Cube an original solo set to music by Hania Rani and featuring Patrick Watson.

This production highlights the strengths and talents of our current team of artists and features a wide array of elements and styles of dance, including Hip-Hop, West African and Dunham technique, Aerial, Modern, Contemporary, and Ballet.

Please join us as we present creative and stunning dance works which celebrate the complex process of "Growing".

Financial support for this performance will be provided by the Missouri Arts Council; a state agency, ArtsKC, the Estelle S. and Robert A. Long Ellis Foundation, Louis & Elizabeth Nave Flarsheim Foundation, and the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

City in Motion Dance Theater was incorporated as a 501(c)3 arts organization in 1985. Its mission is to foster the development of high-quality contemporary dance programming and expand the dance audience in the Kansas City metropolitan region. City in Motion is a school of dance, a professional dance company, and a presenter of dance.