On Aug. 20, the stage of the Hayes Christensen Theatre at the University of Utah will be filled with professional and amateur dancers from around the country.
That evening, the New Century Dance Project, a youth dance festival in its inaugural year, will host its closing performance.
Francisco Gella, the festival's artistic director, said the final performance will include a variety of dance styles from both professional companies and student studios.
"This closing show is going to be no joke," Gella said in an interview with the Deseret News. "It is the cream of the crop of the cream of the crop in terms of youth dance."
The concert will include performances from local companies including Repertory Dance Theatre (performing a piece choreographed by Gella himself), Ballet West II, SALT Contemporary Dance and the Brigham Young University Contemporary Dance Ensemble. It will also feature pieces choreographed by "So You Think You Can Dance" choreographer Stacey Tookey (performed by the Dance Studio of Fresno) and Las Vegas-based performer and choreographer Peter Chu (performed by the Bunker Dance Center from Las Vegas).
The New Century Dance Project will take place Aug. 18-20. At least 120 students from around the country, ages 8 to 22, will participate in master classes and workshops taught by professionals from Utah and around the world. Along with Gella as the artistic director, producers include Jana and Sean Monson of Creative Arts Academy in Bountiful.
For Gella, the festival is an opportunity to build rapport between dance students and professional studios.
"The project really is all about connecting youth to the professional companies," he said. "What we're trying to do is create a unified community and support each other so that we can keep nurturing future dancers."
Gella is a choreographer and dance teacher formerly of Utah's Repertory Dance Theatre, which is supporting the festival. He currently works out of Los Angeles, but he maintains ties to Utah as a resident artist at Creative Arts Academy and Center Stage Performing Arts Studio in Orem.
He said he hopes the festival, and, in particular, the final concert, will prepare students to pursue careers in dance, but he also hopes those who don't pursue dance will become lifelong patrons and lovers of the art. He said there is a power in watching live performance that will be evident at the Aug. 20 performance.
"We’re trying to reconnect the youth that are up-and-coming so that they understand that you can’t just watch it on YouTube," Gella said. "You have to actually go and see it live because when you see it live, the actual, visceral component — the human component — is much more palpable than watching it on video."
He predicted that the concert will benefit the local audience, festival students and even the professional companies.
"Besides the kids (being) completely in awe of the professional companies, I think the professional companies are going to be very surprised at the level of artistic excellence these younger companies are going to bring into the mix," he said.
The culminating concert will be Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. The public can purchase tickets online at newcenturydanceproject.org for $10 for students and $15 for adults.
If you go ...
What: New Century Dance Project Festival Concert
When: Aug. 20, 7 p.m.
Where: Hayes Christensen Theatre, Alice Sheets Marriott Center for Dance, University of Utah
How much: $10 for students; $15 for adults
Web: newcenturydanceproject.org
Email: jjohnson@deseretnews.com