The University of Idaho Argonaut

Dance Academy - Courtesy Photo

From traditional ballets to funky jazz and hip hop routines, Festival Dance and Performing Arts Academy has been bringing dance to the Palouse since 1972.

With dance studios in Moscow, Genesee, Troy, Lewiston and Lapwai, the company offers classes for children and adults.

With new classes starting this week, Festival Dance executive director Cindy Barnhart said it is an exciting time for the company.

“We teach dance in five different towns, and part of our mission is to bring rural communities the art of dance,” Barnhart said. “We are able to really open doors and eyes for people.”

Barnhart said they are going to be teaching roughly 20 classes in the upcoming season and their big push for new enrollment comes in the fall when it becomes difficult for new students to catch up.

“If someone came in late, say in November, it would be hard for them to learn all the choreography with so many productions going on,” Barnhart said.

Mia Seshiki, a ballet teacher for Festival Dance, said new classes are fun because there are new goals.

“I like to help students reach their goals and strive to reach them,” she said. I like to watch them improve as they go along.”

Seshiki said she will be teaching younger children, this year, so she will have to work to keep the classes high-energy and exciting. This is her third year as an instructor for Festival Dance.

“I like to keep them motivated and keep them excited about coming back to dance class,” she said.

Festival Dance not only teaches dance and puts on performances from students, but also brings in professional touring acts.

This October they will be bringing Momix to the Beasley Coliseum at Washington State University.

“It’s going to be really fun and exciting,” Barnhart said. “It’s acrobatic and athletic. It’s like a cross between the traditional Chinese acrobats and Cirque du Soleil.”

Barnhart said funding for the arts is being cut back in public schools.

“It’s important for students to have exposure to the beauty and art of performance, so we invite them to come and see some of our shows during the day like a field trip,” Barnhart said.

Festival Dance will be inviting grade school students from within a 100-mile radius to see an abbreviated performance of Momix the week of the performances in mid-October.

As a part of the school-dance integration, Barnhart said they also go into schools and teach dance in their P.E. classes through “youth reach,” as well as teach classes through the dance programs at both UI and Lewis and Clark State College.

“It’s a valuable program and that’s one of the reasons why we’ve become such a staple in the Palouse and Lewiston valley,” Barnhart said.

Festival Dance classes started Tuesday, but there is still opportunity to enroll late. For more information contact Festival Dance at 883-3267 or visit its Web site at www.festivaldance.org.