Performances
Kaleidoscope
Dance Company
Kaleidoscope Dance Company is the Northwest’s unique modern dance company of young people between the ages of 7 and 17. Founded in 1981 by Anne Green Gilbert, and now directed by Anna Mansbridge, this engaging company delights audiences with their mesmerizing and expressive performances. Kaleidoscope has performed for hundreds of thousands of children and adults in schools, theaters, community centers, retirement centers and other communal settings across the world.
Mosaic
Dance Company
Mosaic Dance Company is comprised of children between the ages of 7 and 13, and offers performance opportunities to interested Creative Dance Center students. First formed in 2006 by Anne Green Gilbert, the company was reconvened by Anna Mansbridge in the Fall of 2018. Mosaic performs with Kaleidoscope in two major annual concerts each year.
Upcoming Performances
Gift of Dance Concert
Annually in December
This concert provides our company dancers with an opportunity to create their own complex dances based on a given theme, such as social justice, world proverbs, visual art, or contemporary choreographers. This wonderful winter event includes a silent auction fundraiser and the concert includes a piece by Mosaic Dance Company.
What Sets It Apart: The dancers organize their own groups, choose a piece of music, decide on costumes, and choreograph together. Through this collaborative process in multi-age groups, the dancers use choreographic forms and devices to compose work that is deeply personal yet universal in its appeal to audiences of all ages. Experience the Gift of Dance yourself by purchasing tickets today!
Spring Concert
Annually in May
Experience the wonder of our resident companies as they perform a full concert of new choreography and pieces from the repertoire. The Spring Concert series showcases the collaborative work between Kaleidoscope dancers and professional choreographers. Witness the legacy which has supported the creation of over 350 dances since it’s inception. This event includes our Chance for Dance fundraiser and performances from our Mosaic dancers who work with one guest choreographer to create a piece.
What Sets It Apart: Company dancers have the opportunity to work in collaboration with local, national, and international professional choreographers. The choreographers may be invited to work with the whole company or create on a smaller cast of 10-15 dancers. They are encouraged to challenge the dancers, exposing them to the infinite ways of creating dances. Be amazed by their hard work and creativity by purchasing concert tickets today!
School & Community Performances
Events Coming Soon!
Want to know about our next performance? Stay up to date by visiting our announcements. Want to book a concert for your school or community? Fill out the form below!
The Kaleidoscope Experience
The Kaleidoscope Experience is…
By youth of all ages, for audiences of all ages: The Kaleidoscope Dance Company features youth performers ages 7 to 17 dancing together, completely committed, and focused on their art. Our audiences are engaged and inspired as they witness young people perform their own choreography, as well as dances by local and national dance artists. There is something for everyone, from age two to ninety-two, at a Kaleidoscope concert.
About movement and beyond: You’ll experience performers leap, turn, lift, twist, fall, bend, and balance in a seamless flow of shifting patterns and shapes, connecting and separating. Our pieces communicate profound ideas exploring challenging themes such as identity, connection and disconnection, global issues, peace, and the human experience. Some pieces are fun and uplifting, some are abstract, and some tell a narrative story.
Sometimes musical, sometimes silent, but always emotive: Musical accompaniment comes from many genres; classical, contemporary, traditional, pop, musical theatre, alternative, contemporary, electronic, folk, world music, or sometimes silence. Our melodies, beats, and more ambient sounds evoke a particular feeling or atmosphere explored in our dances.
Professionally performed and unforgettable: Our costumes add to the uniqueness of each piece, bringing into focus the colors, look, and style of each choreographic work. Imbued with creative theatrical lighting that enhances the mood and character of each dance, you won’t want to miss the artistry that is a Kaleidoscope concert.
From the same mind that created the Creative Dance Center: Our reputation as one of the foremost youth dance companies in America is in thanks to founding director Anne Green Gilbert’s philosophy that young people are able to achieve a professional level of artistic expression.
Bring Kaleidoscope to You
You can invite Kaleidoscope to perform at your school, festival, retirement home, or community event! The company performs a narrated, educational dance concert which is engaging and fun for all ages.
Our concert includes…
- Parachute Play, a humorous romp with a full-sized parachute;
- Oh Be Gentle, a movement choir inspired by American Sign Language, encouraging everyone to treat the earth and its inhabitants with kindness;
- A To Zap, a lively dance based on classic children’s games and the alphabet;
- The Kites are Flying focusing on resilience and peace
- And more, including fun, guided audience participation and a short Q&A with the dancers.
Booking & Concert Details
- Your experience includes: Concert and Discussion Question Booklets
- Focused Audience: Preschool through grade 8
- Length of School Concert: 50 minutes
- Required Space for Presentation: Minimum 20’x20’ gym or stage space
- Cost: One Concert – $495: Two Concerts – $800.
Financial support may be available upon request.
Please complete the form below.
Dance Residencies are also available using Anne Green Gilbert’s Brain-Compatible Dance Education methods tailored to the needs of your school.
Have an urgent question? You can directly contact Director Anna Mansbridge at anna@creativedance.org or 206-363-7281.
Afternoon of Dance
~ a show for parents, family, and friends of students of the Creative Dance Center ~
Expect the Unexpected
The Afternoon of Dance is a celebration of community, creativity, and collaboration that showcases our teaching methodology, brain-compatible dance education. The show provides our students with the opportunity to perform on stage in front of friends and family. (That’s you!) Afternoon of Dance is their time to shine! We hope you join us to cheer them on at Shorecrest Performing Arts Center.
What Sets It Apart: CDC’s Afternoon of Dance is not your typical recital. There are no expensive costumes to purchase. Our students work in collaboration with each other and with their teacher to present a dance that is age-appropriate and creative, highlighting what they have explored and learned in class. The dancers enrolled in our Winter/Spring independent classes from preschoolers and children to teens and adults, work hard in class and this is their moment to showcase their work.
Alumni
We are so proud of our Alums!
