Festival Dance
Festival Dance has a rich and colorful history of accomplishments and service in the arts while in partnership with the University of Idaho Dance Program. Throughout the many years Festival Dance has been in residence, it has provided teaching and outreach opportunities, and valuable benefits for dance students.
The Great Performance Series is one of the only professional dance series between Seattle and Minneapolis and has garnered grant support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Idaho Commission on the Arts, the Washington State Arts Commission, the Western States Arts Federation and the New England Foundation for the Arts. Festival Dance has presented more than 80 different touring professional dance companies to the Moscow/Pullman area. Performances are at the Beasley Coliseum in Pullman, Wash. Discount tickets are provided for U of I students, with additional discounts for dance majors.
Festival Dance provides the students taking Dance Pedagogy and Children’s Dance at least 15 practicum hours a semester through the Festival Dance Academy. Class offerings include Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Celtic and Hip-Hop, along with Kinderdance classes for dancers as young as 4 years old. Each year, Festival Dance hires four to six dance students to teach beginning level dance classes. Students are able to earn money for their education while at the same time gaining valuable teaching experiences to enhance their résumés.
Festival Dance has a stellar record of providing outstanding arts opportunities for area youth. More than 4,000 youths from Moscow and the region are reached each year with dance classes, summer workshops, in-school master classes and workshops, performance opportunities and programs by leading professional touring artists.