Arts & Entertainment
Laguna Niguel's Compass Modern Dance Company to Perform 'Junction'
Created by Amanda Kay White, the modern dance group strives to prepare young dancers for the real world with a "concert dance" experience. On Sunday, April 17, the group performs in Laguna Beach.
Compass Dance Company, Laguna Niguel’s only modern dance organization, will perform "Junction," one of many performances at the Laguna Beach at the Festival of Arts Forum Theatre on Sunday, April 17.
The dance company was founded two years ago by Amanda Kay White of Orange County’s Backhausdance. It is a pre-professional company of 11 South Orange County female dancers ages 14 to 18. The group meets Saturday mornings at Mission Viejo Dance and Performing Arts Center.
There are no fees to participate in the group, and members are auditioned and accepted each fall. It runs as a nonprofit under the Dance Discovery Foundation.
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"Compass Dance was created to prepare young dancers for the real world with a 'concert dance' experience," White said. “I started Compass Dance to better prepare young dancers for college and give them more performance opportunities. Many young dancers only have competition experience prior to attending college. In the competition [dance] world, you dance in order to receive a trophy, but once you get to college, you are expected to dance for yourself.”
White is trained in ballet, jazz, tap and many other disciplines, but "modern or contemporary movement speaks to me most as a choreographer.”
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Many college dance programs are modern-based, so these girls will have an edge, she said. "Exposing my dancers to a modern dance movement vocabulary is essential to their entrance into a collegiate dance program," she said.
Most of the dancers have a strong foundation in ballet and have been training in various forms of dance such as jazz, hip-hop, lyrical and tap for four to 14 years.
White was born in St. Charles, MO, and graduated from Chapman University with a BFA in dance performance. At school she received awards for Outstanding Contribution in Dance and Outstanding Senior Choreographer. She has choreographed for more than 12 years and has been a faculty member at Chapman University since 2005 and Mission Viejo Dance and Performing Arts Center since 2002.
Tickets for Sunday's show may be obtained online at mvdpac.com or dancediscoveryfoundation.org.
