Youth Arts Program

New Early Bird Discount (see below for details)

Photo by Jessie Field

This summer will marks the 19th year of our Youth Arts Program (YAP), a community outreach program that brings youth from our community, and their families, together with world-class artists to experience dance, music, visual and literary arts firsthand. YAP engages young people ages 7-16 in an intensive and enjoyable three weeks of arts classes taught by a staff of gifted arts educators. YAP is structured as a full-day (9am to 4pm) non-residential program. During the three-weeks students experience a range of dance/movement styles -- from modern and ballet to hip hop, social dance and yoga-- as well as musical genres from around the world, storytelling, poetry, writing and visual arts. The program is founded on the belief that the arts offer meaningful ways to engage children intellectually, emotionally and physically. Our mission is to enrich children’s lives through the arts.

Program Features

• Daily classes provide dance experience from hip hop and jazz to modern, ballet and yoga
• Music classes include singing, rhythm, drumming and music from around the world
• Visual arts and storytelling classes offer additional avenues for expression
• Every child takes dance, music and visual arts classes
• Targeted learning groups for ages 7-9, 10-12, 13-16
• Younger students develop imagination and cooperation skills in creative movement classes
• Teens study choreography and collaborate to develop a new dance piece
• Master classes and demonstrations by internationally renowned artists from Bates Dance Festival
• Every child contributes to the creation of a final production that is performed in the Festival Finale
• Complimentary tickets to select Festival performances and events
• Healthy lunch and two snacks each day

The arts offer meaningful ways to engage children intellectually, emotionally and physically.

photo by Arthur Fink

Research shows that study in the performing arts:

• Increases children’s self-confidence
• Improves learning
• Increases self-discipline and expression
• Promotes tolerance and increases understanding of different cultures
• Instills a sense of joy

Admission Requirements

• Enthusiasm for the arts – dance and/or music
• Willingness to try new things and contribute ideas

Children with no experience or lots of experience can participate, gain new skills, and HAVE FUN!

Program Location and Dates

Youth Arts Program will take place from Monday, July 23 through Friday, August 10, from 9am to 4pm at the Mays Center on the Bates College campus. A mandatory orientation meeting for all participants will be held on Sunday afternoon, July 22. The Festival Finale rehearsal and performance will occur on Saturday, August 11.

For more information call the Bates Dance Festival office at 786-6381 or dancefest@bates.edu

photo by Arthur Fink

Program Cost

Early Bird program registration is $610 (by April 20) after that date the fee is $660. Fee covers the three-week program including lunch, daily snacks and complimentary tickets for select Festival events. Family discounts are available.

The Bates Dance Festival offers a limited number of partial and full YAP scholarships to qualifying low-income students from Lewiston-Auburn schools (those living in subsidized housing or on the free lunch program). Scholarship forms are available online or from school guidance offices or the Bates Dance Festival.

Refunds

If notified by Monday, July 9 a full refund will be made less the $10 registration fee. No refunds will be made after this date.

Program Sponsors

Youth Arts is made possible with generous support from: Fisher Charitable Foundation, Lewiston-Auburn Children's Home, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Mechanics Savings Bank, Simmons Foundation, Sequoia Foundation, and TD Banknorth. 

Faculty & Staff

Professional, experienced, nationally recognized artists and teachers of children.

Photo by Jesse Field

Dana Reed  (program director/dance instructor) – grew up in Mississippi and discovered her love for dance at the early age of three. Dana graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi with a BFA in Dance Education in 2003. Dana has been a part of the Bates Dance Festival’s Youth Arts Program since 2002, starting her journey as an intern and became Director in 2008. Currently, Dana lives in New Orleans, LA and is the Director of Kid’s Play NOLA; a free arts education program for New Orleans youth. She is the artistic director of her dance company Alternative Collaborations and was awarded a performance residency at Chen Dance Center in New York City in 2009 and an artistic residency at the Bali Purnati Center for the Arts in Indonesia in 2008. Dana has also performed with many dance companies in New York City and is currently performing with Artist Inc in New Orleans, La. However, her true passion lies in teaching dance to others; which she has taught for over the past 10 years all over the world. The Youth Arts Program and it’s community has become a huge part of Dana’s life and she considers Lewiston/Auburn her home away from home; she is looking forward to another summer in Maine.

Photo by Phyllis Graber Jensen

Terrence Karn  (music director) – has been playing music for dancers and composing for a wide variety of theatrical venues for 25 years. His training as a dancer and musician came from the Ali Akbar College, Royal Winnepeg Ballet, Teatro Rue Canada, Children's Theater of Minneapolis, and through studies with master musicians and dancers around the world. Terrence specializes in youth education and has taught workshops for people of all ages and backgrounds including those with special needs. He was the music director for the University of Houston Dance Department and Rice Dance Theater until 2007. He is currently on the faculty at Denison University in Ohio.   

Patrick Ferreri (dance instructor) - is a dancer, teacher, yogi and explorer who holds a BFA in dance from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts as well as a 200-hour yoga certification from the Laughing Lotus Yoga Center in New York City. Patrick believes that learning occurs best in conversation, and has led conversations in such diverse environments as after-school programs in Brooklyn, NY, the Overlook International Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, the Isadora Festival in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, NYU's Summer Dance Intensive, Manhattan’s 92nd Street Y, Jane Weiner's Hope Stone, Inc in Houston, TX, ODC Dance Center in San Francisco, CA, and at community centers and universities around the country when he worked with David Dorfman Dance. He joined the YAP faculty in 2008.

Jillian Grunnah - graduated with an MFA in Choreography and Performance from Smith College in 2009. She has taught contemporary dance to college students at Bowdoin, Mount Holyoke, Smith and at the American College Dance Festival. Jillian currently lives in Boston where she directs the dance program and teaches drama and yoga at the Noble and Greenough School. She also directs the Cambridge-based contemporary dance collective, SPUNKandCOmpany.

Photo by Arthur Fink

Yvonne Hernandez (dance instructor) - earned her BA in Dance in 2002 from Point Park University. She is the Youth Performing Group Director, resident choreographer, teacher and company member with Eveoke Dance Theatre in San Diego. She has taught Literacy through Dance in after-school and in-school elementary programs and is currently certified as an Inclusion Aide, assisting students with disabilities to participate in dance. She joined the YAP faculty in 2009.

Annalyn Lehnig (theatre teacher/assistant to YAP director) – earned her BFA in theatre with and emphasis on original work from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA. She currently resides in New Orleans where she works as an educator and theatre artist. Annalyn has worked with KIDsmART in partnership with the CP3 Afterschool Zone, providing quality arts education for at-risk youth. She has worked as a teaching artist and administrator with YAP Program Director, Dana Reed, to develop and promote Kid’s Play NOLA, an afterschool arts education organization. As a founding member of the Heart Hustle Collective, she has created and produced three original pieces; The Circus LoveSick (San Diego, CA), Mimicry (San Diego, CA) and most recently, Quinta Essentia, which premiered at Zeitgeist Multidisciplinary Arts Center as a part of the New Orleans Fringe Festival. This is her first year working with YAP.

Priscilla Rivas (dance & visual arts instructor) – grew up in Cali, Colombia, where she was inspired by the music and dance of her vibrant culture. She holds a BS degree in early childhood education from the University of Houston and has taught kindergarten, second grade and is currently teaching fourth grade in Houston, Texas. Priscilla has studied ballet, jazz, hip hop, world dance and belly dancing. She has created and performs a unique fusion of Arabic and Latin dance styles. She is the Artistic Director and choreographer of the Colombian Folkloric Ballet where she trains others in authentic Colombian rhythms and other various Latin/African styles, and a soloist/company member of Gypsy Dance Theatre. She joined the YAP faculty in 2009.

Dance Education Interns who are college students majoring in dance education get hands on  training and provide support in the classroom.

Qualified teen assistants support classroom activities and learn from YAP faculty/staff.

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