DaNce FesTivaL

This year, the youth in our ward participated in an eleven Stake Dance Festival. I was never in one of these growing up, and didn't have any idea what we were in for. Most of the youth were not very excited about it, and it required a fair bit of coaxing to get them to participate.

As a youth leader, there were times when I honestly thought Dance Festival was the worst thing anyone ever thought up. With 2,200 kids participating, the amount of work required to pull this thing off was out of sight. It was held at the Tacoma Dome. The first planning meeting for it took place 20 months before the actual event. There were hundreds of adult volunteers, and since they won't tell us how much it cost them, I'm guessing it was a lot. The kids had been practicing three times a month since January, and five times in June and again in July, so my level of frustration going into Dance Festival was pretty high. I was amazed that even though I was sick of begging kids to go to practices, sick of email (almost 70 while I was on vacation for a week), sick of driving all over the place, sick of costume problems, parking problems, chaperone issues, and all the rest... it turned to be a truly awesome experience.

I had no idea how cool this would be. If your Stake ever decides to participate in a Dance Festival, take a deep breath and be prepared for a lot of work, but do it! The kids in our ward who didn't do it were kicking themselves afterward. In addition to dancing they had speakers. The YW general president (Sister Elain Dalton) spoke several times to the kids. EFY/Education Week speaker Brad Wilcox was there as well as LDS musician Kenneth Cope. They were all wonderful and even hung around with the kids during meals and rehearsals just chatting it up.

The dancing itself was labor intensive, and I can't believe the kids pulled it off. Each kid participated in four dances. Think for a minute about 2,200 kids all running around trying to change cosutmes and be in the right place at the right time. And they did the show three times. It was an amazing sight to see. Everyone participated in the opening number. Then everyone participated in a different specialty number. All the Deacons did a basketball inspired dance (Tanner was in this one, see video below). The Beehives all did a cheerleader inspired dance. Then the older kids from each Stake did a dance from a different period in time. Our Stake did the Charleston. Audrey was in this one. (See video and photos below) Then each Stake did a dance to a different Beach Boys song. And finally, everyone participated in the final number. (See video) In that final number they danced to 'We're all in this together' from High School Musical.

The older kids were a little grouchy about dancing to High School Musical at first, but as they learned about why it was picked, they started to love it. In the show, they played a little clip of President Hinkley talking about how we are all in this together, how we are supposed to help each other and support each other. The kids started to realize there are a lot of them all striving towards similar goals, and that they really don't have to do it alone. When you see that many kids out on the floor and know they represent only 11 Stakes of the 2,790 that exist, it is pretty overwhelming.

Living outside Utah, I think kids here sometimes do feel alone. They may be one of only a few LDS kids in their school, and it can be tough. I think this gave them the opportunity to see the true strength of their numbers. Sister Dalton pointed out that number of kids on the dance floor in that final number is about the same as the number of stripling warriors. It was quite a sight to see them out there and to imagine the difference they can make in the world if they will be as the stripling warriors and never falter. It was a cool experience. There were also choir numbers and specialty dance numbers. As a youth leader I got to be there for almost all of dance festival. Since I was a chaperone over a group of girls you will notice there are lots of photos with Audrey in them, but none with Tanner. I'm sure Tanner is not too sorry about this. But I'm a little sad. I suppose I can, however, understand the 'no moms in the boys dressing room' policy.

If you watch, you will find the kids in the video clips. Audrey is not too hard to spot. There just aren't many people with hair her color. Her dance partner even commented on how easy it was to find her in a crowd. In the Charleston she is at the far left when they first make a line, and she's in a blue dress. Tanner is a little harder to see in his dances. In the Deacon dance he is standing near the front of the line, Tanner thinks he was 7th from the front. In the Beach Boys dance Audrey is all the way to the back and furthest right. You can't see her at first because the girls are bent down. Tanner is in that dance too, also on the back row, with two couples between he and Audrey. In the finale, Audrey is in blue on the very front row, and Tanner is just behind her to the right. It is almost impossible to find them in this clip though. Just enjoy the sheer mass of kids!

Audrey in the Charleston...


Both kids in the Beach Boys number...


Tanner in the Deacon Dance...


The finale...


Wow! What a long post! I didn't realize I had so much to say. This was the big event in my kids' lives this summer, so I hope you'll forgive me!