Admission is free with a pass the hat collection to support the series collected at intermission. The festival is presented by the Springfield Arts Council.
Each season, Arts Council executive director Tim Rowe and associate creative director Krissy Brown look for local talent to showcase. As they’ve worked with both groups previously, they envisioned bringing the various dancers together for one show.
Each group will perform 10 dances, with the two alternating between sets. Music will include numbers from Beyonce, Adele, Taylor Swift, Gloria Estefan, Bette Midler, the movie “Barbie” and others.
Legacy of the late Gary Geis continues
Founded more than 30 years ago, the Gary Geis School of Dance has taught generations various forms of dance. It’s the group’s first appearance the Arts Festival since 2017, which co-director and ballet mistress Celina Schroer said its 18 dancers ages 10-20, including one alum, and staff are looking forward to.
“We’re excited as they get to perform with new dancers and make new friends. To have this performance in the community means we get to show how many talented youth dancers are in Springfield,” she said.
Two of the dances will be set to a song from Judy Garland and “You’re the One That I Want” from “Grease.”
As the Veterans Park Amphitheater’s concrete stage will have a special flooring laid over it to compensate for dancing, Schroer is preparing her artists for the experience by focusing on their dance and jump techniques opposed to an indoor stage.
Also, given the weather can be anything from sticky and humid to rainy or just right, it will also help that the groups are alternating their sets to stay hydrated and loose.
As the Gary Geis School of Dance was the featured act at the recent Richard L. and Barbara D. Kuss Memorial Concert at the Clark State Performing Arts Center, this is another opportunity for the community to discover it and hopefully want to see more in the future.
“We hope some of the people at the Kuss concert will return to see us and are so glad the Arts Festival is highlighting dance for everyone to see,” said Schroer.
Ohio Performing Arts Institute carries on tradition
The Ohio Performing Arts Institute (OPAI) has been in Springfield for nearly 40 years and renowned for its annual production of “The Nutcracker” each December and presents several other shows throughout the year at the John Legend Theater. This is the OPAI’s first Arts Festival appearance as an organization in nearly a decade and anticipates the rare chance to perform outdoors.
“When we got the invitation, we were really excited. The staff liked it as it would be fun and different,” said Amy Davidge, OPAI ballet mistress. “It’s really interesting to see the kids learn as they’ve never been on the park stage, which is bigger than at the Legend. You have to be able to present way out to the street.”
Davidge said in bigger cities, dance groups often collaborate, and this is an opportunity for those in a smaller town to see these dancers’ similarities, differences and artistic camaraderie.
“It’s just a cool collaboration and hopefully we can do more of this down the road,” she said.
OPAI will have 16 dancers ages 11-18 and a couple of their staffers who were eager to join in. They will do a little of everything and focus on upbeat numbers choreographed by the staff.
Davidge has choreographed previous Arts Council’s shows, including last year’s youth presentation of “Newsies,” so continuing the association here was a natural.
“There are great arts opportunities for youth and adults in Springfield and it’s great to have a wider audience there that may not go to a ticketed performance to show we have great dance in Springfield and a neat experience for our kids,” she said.
Other shows this week will include the third consecutive appearance from Elton Rohn: North America’s Premiere Elton John Tribute Show at 8 p.m. Saturday and the Arts Festival’s longest-tenured act, the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, will play its 58th consecutive concert with “Rock the Pops” with guest classical-crossover violinist Siobhan Cronin at 8 p.m. Sunday.
Festivalgoers may set up their lawn chairs or blankets for that evening’s performance starting at 6 a.m. For more information on the festival, go to www.springfieldartscouncil.org/.
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