Teaching NewTechnique: Leadership & Dancers byMarquitaDe Jesus


largestdance training centers inNorthTexas. It isnot the quantityhowev- er, of those educatedbut the quality thathas attractedthepatronage of local businesses inCollinCounty these last six years.


T


Fusion, the residentperformance company of theDanceMovement, attracts the attentionof local sponsors eachyear.Fusiondancers train acrossdiversedisciplines tenmonths out of eachyear, andspendsummers andaugmenting their training atprestigious intensives suchas Joffrey Ballet andGusGiordano. It isnot just the skill andtechnique of the dancershowever, thatdraws local support. It’s the focus onleadershipand community engagement that impress the surrounding community.


Eachyear,Fusiondancers are challengedandinspiredto raise aminimum of $100 throughtheir ownleadershipefforts for a cause close to their hearts.Dancershave craftedspeeches, video campaigns,designedshoes andhostedworkshops to raisedesiredfunds.


Since its inception,Fusionhas raisednearly $60kfor local andinternational charities that largely focus ongirls’ educationandabuseprevention. In additionto this, eachyear local choreographersdonate their time to choreo- graphfor Ireach,Fusion’s annual benefit concert, to raise awareness about pressing issues throughthe art ofdance.Fusiondancershaveperformed nearly 30works to 8,000 audiencemembers over the last five years.


Butwhy leadership? It’sbeenmypersonal experience that, incomparison to other art forms,dancers struggle themostwithasserting their ownart to


hemid-day sunbears its fullheat onthe rooftops of TheDance Movement inPlano, TX.Atraining groundtonearly 800dancers eachweek, TheDanceMovementhas quietly become one of the


create change inthe community inwhichthey reside.Dance, it seems, is the art formof theperfectionist, ofwhichselfdoubt isking. Itwasmy desire that inadditionto great technique andrelevant choreography,my dancerswouldknowtheir lives reallymatteredandbe empoweredto change the lives of others throughdance.Eachyear,dancersparticipate in a transformational leadershipworkshop, team-building exercises, andpeer topeer leadershipandmentorshipopportunities.


Fusionfundshave assistedfamilies at theDanceMovement battling can- cer,helpedformerly traffickedkids inCambodia, andfundednewopportu- nities fordancers atCollinCollege,CityHouseHomelessShelter forKids, andBigSpringsOrphanage. This yearFusionwill beworking to create evenmorepartnerships inthepublic andprivate sector, andinviting guest artists topartner inour annual benefit concert, IreachinFebruary.


ThisFall, youcanfindFusionat thePlanoBalloonFestival,Plano InternationalFestival,DanceRevolution, andtouring their abridgedversion of TheNutcracker to theMcKinneyPublic Libraries andTheDance Movementwithfree localperformances.


MarquitaDe Jesus (fusiondance2010@yahoo.com) is the founder, resident choreogra- pher and company director forFusion. She is the author of “RadicallyOrdinary,” and ExecutiveDirector of Silence theViolence, anon-profit focused onsocial justice and community engagement.


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Nov.-Jan. 2016


www.thedancecouncil.org


DANCE!NORTHTEXAS a publication of the dance council of north texas vol 18 • no. 4


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