Dance in the Desert Festival Celebrates 10 Years in Vegas

The annual Dance in the Desert Festival, major summer highlight for Las Vegas dance fans, will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on Friday and Saturday, August 1 and 2.

The festival, cofounded in 1998 by Kelly Roth and Kyla Quintero, will include hundreds of artists and companies representing many choreographic visions and dance styles. Each year, it attracts quality performers and companies from all over the country - from the neighboring states of California, Utah and Arizona, as well as the East Coast and the Midwest.

One of the companies making a repeat visit is Las Vegas Contemporary Dance Theater (LVCDT), a relative newcomer to the local dance scene. Led by co-founder/artistic director, Bernard Gaddis and co-founder/associate director, Charmaine Hunter, the company is making its presence known in the community with solid technique and a culturally diverse dance aesthetic.

Gaddis said he enjoys being a part of the Dance in the Desert festival because of the diversity within his own company.

"I get to meet other choreographers who I might want to have choreograph ballets for our company," he explains. "It also exposes the company to audience members who may not have heard of us."

Festival Director Kelly Roth expressed enjoyment at the varied aesthetics represented in the festival and is especially welcoming to new groups joining the party.

"We are happy," Roth says, "to give this fledgling company and its talented director a platform from which to continue its initial steps in the Las Vegas Valley."

Gaddis notes that the LVCDT audience comes to the festival and helps support the audience base of the other participants. Gaddis said he also wants his dancers to experience the work of other companies.

"You learn from this kind of experience," he said. "Watching and being around other artists helps you grow as a dancer. Other artists awaken your sensses so that when you leave the theater, you are a different person than when you arrived.

"I encourage my dancers to experience life - people, other dancers, museums, books," he added. "And I always tell my dancers to go see other dance companies, from ballet, to tap, to modern."

The Las Vegas environment presents a number of challenges to fine arts groups.

"It is a city focused on gambling and the Strip," Gaddis says. "The fine arts do not get the recognition they deserve."

It concerns him, too, that people don't go out and experience live performances - instead staying home and watching reality shows on TV.

"Everybody is so intrigued with So You Think You Can Dance," he notes. "Well, I am here to say that I don't THINK my dancers can dance. I KNOW they can. And so can the other dancers here in Las Vegas. Come and see. It's right in your own back yard!"

Dance in the Desert Festival:

Community College of Southern Nevada Performing Arts Center, Nicholas J. Horn Theatre, 3200 E. Cheyenne
North Las Vegas, phone: 702 651-5483.

Friday, Aug. 1 at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Aug. 2 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. General admission $10.00; students and seniors $8.00