Within the field of dance, these teens were asked to step up, to challenge themselves, to try new things, to fail, to try again, to succeed.

In the mornings, Karl Rogers integrated character work into his phrases, asking his students to practice their ‘dacting,’ while Erika Pujic praised the transformation from dancer to monster, watching her dancers eat up space with force and grace. Shonach Mirk-Robles slowed her classes down to focus on alignment and form, while Martha Tornay ramped things up for “kick-butt Tuesday.”

In the afternoons, Shakia Johnson challenged her classes with multiple hip-hop styles, and had her students moving constantly for 75 minutes, while Courtney D. Jones engaged her students with challenges of coordination and focus. Sean Dorsey asked his repertory students to pour their hearts into the work, while Lida Winfield took her students on journeys and with each class they traveled a little closer to an answer to the question of who they really are.

Aside from all the classes, the students were also choreographing their own work, dancing in work made by their friends and counselors, and thinking about topics of social justice and activism.

On one of the free nights, Head Counselor Tristan Koepke screened “How to Survive a Plague,” a documentary about the AIDS epidemic in the 80’s and 90’s, and the efforts of activist group ACT UP. Due to the documentary’s link to Sean Dorsey’s upcoming show, “The Missing Generation,” Sean lead a discussion with the young dancers afterward. Despite the common response that they had not learned much about the epidemic in schools, the room pulsated with empathy and an understanding of injustice. Some people write teenagers off as self-absorbed and short-sighted, but there were over eighty young people in that room feeling the visceral grief for those lost generations ago, incredulous that anyone would think those individuals were less deserving of care and respect.

The day following the screening, Shonach had a class discussion, which moved from the AIDS epidemic, to LGBTQA+ rights, to institutional racism, and beyond, proving that these teens don’t just engage in topics brought to them by mentors; they have passions of their own.

The students taking Sean’s repertory class had the opportunity to learn choreography from “The Missing Generation.” On the first day of his class, Sean asked his students what they were apprehensive about, and most responded that they were worried about not being able to do the work justice.

“I was so moved by that — they cared so much. They were approaching the work with respect and integrity,” Sean said. “My message to the students was that they could release that as a worry or a fear. By showing up that first day and being in the room, they had already succeeded in that. Just showing up and being present was a gift.”

Sean said that the individuals he interviewed for his project are thrilled to know that young dancers learned about the history and embodied their stories for 3 weeks.

“Again and again, I am so impressed and amazed, and moved and inspired, and quite blown away by this group of young people,” Sean said.

These dancers have a lot to offer, both as movers and as citizens of a very troubled world. While their youth may limit our expectations of them, it also offers them the opportunity to continually surprise and impress us with their engagement and automatic understanding of larger world issues.

Lida Winfield, who teaches Improvisation & Composition, has worked extensively with this age group in a variety of settings. She said she believes this generation, in particular, understands that the world is a mess.

“I think among young people there is an interest to know, and an interest to help,” she said, “It is a revolutionary statement to be an artist in this world, right now. So, even their interest in following dance as a path is an indicator of already pushing the bounds of what is traditional. “

At a time of their lives when they could have spent an entire summer sitting by the public pool by day, and watching Netflix by night, the Young Dancers clocked in a serious number of hours actively participating in art.

Lida’s class, which incorporated improvisational exercises and offered the students tools for composition, focused on one’s self and the telling of true stories. Believing in the power of looking inward to then see outward, Lida asked her students who they were, who they wish to be, and what kind of artist they wish to be.

“We feel extremely lonely in this world, isolated, and there is such a belief that each of us is so different,” Lida said, “I think story telling and art making are among a few successful ways to link people and communities, and in turn shift and change culture at a core.”

Lida also commented on how many students, despite years and years of technical training, had never been asked how they preferred to move. This is a time for them to figure out who they are, through dance and through discussion of real world events, and the Young Dancers Workshop provides a place for both to happen at the same time.

Who knows exactly what the YDW participants and their parents were expecting, but they are returning home much changed from who they were three weeks ago. These dancers spent this time confirming that art is important, finding connections between movement and advocacy, and thinking critically about questions of who they are, who they wish to be, and what they wish to fight for. And that is what makes the Bates Dance Festival Young Dancers Workshop so much more than “dance camp.”

This post was written by Sarah Ellen Miller.  Sarah is the BDF Social Media Intern for the 2015 summer.

Name: Flannery

Hometown: Portland, Maine

Studying: Modern with Erika Pujic, Ballet with Shonach Mirk-Robles, Modern Repertory with Sean Dorsey, Jazz with Courtney Jones

What brought you here?

When I was 14, my mom kicked me out the door and said, “You’re going to the festival! It’s amazing.” I really didn’t want to be here and after the first week, I asked my mom to pick me up early. Then, by the end of it, I never wanted to go home. That was five summers ago. Last year I took the summer off, and now I am back for my fourth summer.

What are you learning so far?

I am learning about correct foot placement and port de bras in ballet class. In modern and jazz, [I’m learning] about being really present when I move, which I think is a really good practice. It’s also just such a joy to learn Sean Dorsey’s repertory.

What has surprised you about BDF?

I was really excited to come back and I knew I was going to learn a lot of new stuff. But I noticed how the festival continues to be wonderful. It has not exhausted its abilities. Also, even though I have taken Shonach’s class before, coming back and having her reiterate all the information is really important.

What is one thing that you will bring home?

Other than being really happy, probably a reinvigorated sense of why I dance and keep dancing.

What is a topic you would like to explore or story you would like to tell using dance?

I don’t know what story I want to tell, yet, but I am really interested in dance, dance-theater, and spoken word. When I worked with Kyle Abraham three years ago, it was such an amazing experience telling a story—his story—through movement. Also, in Sean’s work, the use of spoken word is such a powerful tool, and I want to learn how to integrate that.

What advice do you have for other dancers?

Don’t take any part of the festival for granted. I have gone away and been at other summer programs and it’s such a unique environment that is so hard to find anywhere else. I don’t even know if it exists anywhere else. I’ve met some of my best friends here. Just soak it all up and let it give you what it will give you.

What goals do you have for the rest of the festival?

Continue working really hard and try not to collapse from exhaustion. Also, take everything here and bring it back with me, because I go to college so soon.

What are your future plans in dance?

I will be attending the University of Iowa this fall in their BFA program. I don’t know what I am going to do after that, but I am excited.

This post was compiled by Sarah Ellen Miller.  Sarah is the BDF Social Media Intern for the 2015 summer.

Name: Emma

Hometown: Manhattan

Studying: Jazz with Courtney Jones, Hip Hop with Shakia Johnson, Modern with Karl Rogers, and Ballet with Shonach Mirk-Robles

What brought you here?

I came last year. I attended a workshop at Martha Tornay’s studio with Karl Rogers and I really enjoyed, so I applied and got in. After attending, I fell further in love with dance and with the program, so I came back again after taking a workshop at Martha’s with Quimah (one of this year’s YDW counselors).

What are you learning so far?

I’m learning that dance is a real thing and more than this small group of people can love it and appreciate it, and that you can make dance a lifestyle and continue it and be alive doing it. It’s really amazing.

What has surprised you about BDF?

I think I’m most surprised with how comfortable everyone is. It’s always surprising when you meet people for one week and you’re already feel like a family, and you can try new things through dance. The sense of community that exists here is really great.

What is one thing that you will bring home?

I will bring home the lessons Shonach  is teaching me about standing, and focusing more on my body than on huge movements and trying to understand why something happens.

What is a topic you would like to explore or story you would like to tell using dance?

I make a lot of dance back home and I just made a piece about reluctance, and wanting to do something and doing it and over doing it. At my age, I think frustration, assimilation, and relationships are things I would like to explore through dance. Using theater in dance is one thing I would like to incorporate.

What advice do you have for other dancers?

If you love it, you should just push through and do it. You will find that other people love it too, and that is just the most amazing feeling—realizing what you love to do can be done. Continue to dance if you can and try to find new ways to dance. Stay curious! Dance all the time!

What goals do you have for the rest of the festival?

I would like to take class and perform phrases outside of myself a bit more. I think we tend to fall into the pattern of “I have to get this right,” but we’re learning a lot in Karl’s class about performing and being present. If you are enjoying what you do, it will come out more, and people will see that as you dance. That is something I would love to practice more in class.

What are your future plans in dance?

I would love to dance in college, but I would love to do other things in college too. I would love to be a well-rounded student, but keep dancing. I really enjoy choreographing, so I would love to see if I can continue to do that. There are some companies that I love, and I would love to see if I could do that. I would really like to dance professionally and I would also like to explore other things, so bridging my academic and intellectual career with dance would be so cool.

This post was compiled by Sarah Ellen Miller.  Sarah is the BDF Social Media Intern for the 2015 summer.

Albert Mathias, Shamou, Peter Jones, and Carl Landa have been regular members of the BDF staff over many years and are each considered experts in their fields. The quartet spent their day improvising as a group to create music for the ballet, modern, and jazz combinations that comprised the placement classes. These classes are the first time the young dancers experienced all the musicians playing together during the three-week program.

Albert Mathias, Shamou, and Carl Landa accompany a ballet combination.

I sat down with multi-disciplinary musician, Albert Mathias to talk about the experience of improvising with his long-time colleagues and friends.

Mathias began by saying, “I know them very well,” before continuing on to explain that both the familiarity with his fellow musicians and level of expertise shared by the group made improvising together very easy.

“The musicians here are some of the best in the world at what they do. They all have something to bring, and each person led a little bit,” he said.

Drawing upon similarities between dance and music, Mathias said he mostly thinks about listening and being in a collective environment when he is improvising with multiple musicians.

“It is just like dancing with other people. Music and dance are very similar, especially when you are doing it with other people. […] It’s also about having a good time.”

During their placement classes, the dancers demonstrated this similarity by navigating a smaller space with lots of other dancers.

For this particular round of improvisation the musicians prepared by talking a little bit beforehand. Mathias said each member shared which instruments they thought they might bring to the studio, but not much else. The musicians did the rest of the work on the spot.

The musicians took turns leading the group throughout the class

“You never know what someone is going to play, really,” said Mathias, “There is such a vast variety of stuff.”

Mathias said there is also simplicity to the work. “In that vast variety of stuff, there are actually very few things. There are low sounds, high sounds, mid sounds, and there’s rhythm,” Mathias said, “but you’re always finding this little stuff in between.”

Mathias said this year he has the same goals as when he has attended BDF in the past, to produce clear, fitting music for the classes he accompanies, and contribute to the encouraging, daring, and sincere class environment we strive to cultivate here at BDF.

The four musicians will come together once again next Friday, July 10^th, to teach a master class for the young dancers.

Check out some of the class’s music:

Ballet combination

Modern combination

Jazz combination

This post was written by Sarah Ellen Miller.  Sarah is the BDF Social Media Intern for the 2015 summer.