May 29 – 31, 2025Irvine Barclay Theatre

A powerful, must-see contemporary dance performance, featuring the nation’s top artists, designers, and choreographers working in collaboration with young people who are change agents and beacons of hope within our world. These young dancers harness their distinctive points of view to consistently produce poignant, ground-breaking dance pieces that have drawn national accolades.

Four Performances Only!

May 29 – 31, 2025

8:00pm nightly, plus a 2:30pm Saturday matinee

General Seating $20
Benefit Seating $50*
-Half price discount for children under 13 and students

*Includes a $30 tax deductible contribution to help underwrite the cost of participating in the performance for one of our dancers.

About the Dances

Artistic Director Jennifer Bassage Bonfil’s new piece uncovers the unique superpowers within us all. Through energetic and intricate movements, the dancers explore themes of empathy, integrity, curiosity, and inner strength. Moments of bold physicality highlight agility and stamina, while quieter introspection reveals the beautiful superpower of self-discovery. Inspired in part by the dancers’ own words, the choreography embraces the quirky and remarkable, offering a reminder of our responsibility to honor personal uniqueness within a shared community. Original music by Patrick Vargas, featuring vibrant rhythms inspired by various world cultures, pulses with energy and joy, providing a dynamic soundscape for this celebration of extraordinary qualities.

Choreographer Billy Smith’s new work draws inspiration from the undercurrents within familial relationships, particularly those with sibling dynamics. The dancers’ abstract motions evoke the concepts of sharing, argument, empathy, saying goodbye, and celebration. Structure and formality are juxtaposed with raw, frenzied, and vulnerable moments. These relatable ideas inspired the original music written by Daniel Manoiu for solo piano, a piece filled with a wide range of tones and rhythmic patterns. In a unique approach for the choreographer, the movement style was greatly influenced by the dancers themselves through a collaborative creative process.

Choreographer Eva Stone’s new work, A Rough Translation of Love, takes the audience on a journey through one of our most basic human emotions. This piece explores how love brings us together as friends, as family, and as part of our shared humanity. The dancers form movements driven by the concepts of love: from those that are complex and challenging, to those that are joyous and recognizable in everyday situations. The work is inspired by the stories of love the dancers shared during the creative process and each section in the dance brings these stories into a visual and physical image. This piece invites the viewer to appreciate and participate in the love that is continually happening all around us.

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