Swooning to Dance Fever

Hundreds watched as mostly student dancers performed last Saturday, a sneak preview of the Laguna Dance Festival, Oct. 1-4. In San Juan Capistrano, swallows announce the arrival of spring. In Laguna Beach, at least for the last five years, fall's harbinger is the arrival of bevies of dancers alighting on Main Beach and other local stages for CaDance, the festival founded in 2005 by Laguna's premiere ballerina, Jodie Gates.

The rite of fall started last Saturday on Main Beach with A Taste of CaDance, a showcase for the youngest balletomanes, moderns and hip-hop improvisers from Laguna Beach High School, the Orange County High School for the Arts, Sage Hill School as well as several private dance troupes, including the Latin-themed Ortero Dance Company. The latter brought audience members to their feet during an ensuing salsa class.

Oct. 2-4 will feature stage performances in the comfort of the Artists' Theatre by Ballet X, Ballet West and Breed, the UC Irvine Etude Ensemble, Rachel Bowman, and Backhaus Dance. Also on Oct. 4, Ballet X will perform the West Coast premiere of "Le Baiser Inévitable," (The inevitable kiss) choreographed by Gates.

Between dance fests, Gates stays in motion teaching dance at UCI and mentoring OCHSA dancers such as 10th grader Kelsey Burn and ninth-grader Alex Lee, both stand-out performers already. "During the summer I traveled to Berlin and Paris, New York and Philadelphia performing and choreographing," Gates said. "I have always been tenacious with my career and goal oriented and have been blessed by being able to fuse creative moments with opportunity."

While Gates is also bringing in ballet icons like Tina LeBlanc, who will also teach a master class at Laguna High School, audiences will also be introduced to younger talent via Breed, Backhaus Dance and the Rachel Bowman troupe. "We don't feature the same companies every year. Part of our mission is to present young emerging companies," said Gates.

This year, alas, the festival has also had to leap over a funding shortfall, but Gates said that the city as well as the community has come through admirably. As in previous years, local dance aficionados like Bill Callahan and Nancy and Mike Meyer are hosting dancers in their homes with LeBlanc staying again with Meyer and Matthew Prescott with Callahan. "I travel all around the country to enjoy dance and Jodie brings the most talented, exciting and eclectic group of dancers I've seen right into our own community," said Callahan. "The joy of hosting an artist is that in addition to viewing the beauty of dance on stage, I get a view into the beauty of the artist from within as well."

Nancy Meyer has served on the governing board of CaDance from its inception. "I feel that dance, as with other art forms, brings joy and life to each of us," she said. "Tina was one of the early dancers who stayed with us and that made watching the dancers on stage an entirely different experience for us."

Even so, a cloud hovers over this year's fest, competing again for a dance-loving audience with the Orange County Performing Arts Center, which has scheduled performances by the Trey McIntyre Project, also on Oct. 2 and 3.

Last year's CaDance concerts also coincided with OCPAC dance events. CaDance's president, Stuart Byer, said the Laguna dates were determined by the availability of the Artists' Theatre at Laguna Beach High School, but he expressed confidence the Laguna community would support the festival to the fullest.

Judy Morr, executive vicepresident of the Performing Arts Center, expressed support for Gates and CaDance but said scheduling is done as much as three years in advance. "Trey is doing an entire week of residency at PAC and dates were set so far in advance that once we were on a path, we could not change," she said, adding that by helping to create a larger audience for dance, it would help all groups in the long run.

Also not to be missed are two CaDance performances on First Thursday at Dawson Cole Fine Art at 7 p.m. and the Laguna Art Museum at 7:30.

Programming and ticket prices are listed on info@lagunadancefestival. org