Inwood Dance Company

Inwood Dance Company

The Inwood Dance Company is a non-profit organization founded in 1990 by Winston and Denna Smith. The company's technical and artistic strengths have been nurtured by assistant director, Shan Dai, a former soloist of the Central Ballet of China. The Inwood Dance Company provides a professional environment for seventeen dedicated student members that range from 11 to 18 years of age. All of the members attend intensive summer dance camps to help continue their dance education during the company's summer break. Students have received scholarships for their achievements from the Southeastern Regional Ballet Association, Marion Park Lewis Foundation/Shenandoah Arts Council, Royal Academy of Dancing, and from private academies and universities.

Each year the IDC participates in the Southeast Regional Ballet Festival and the West Virginia Dance Festival. The Inwood Dance Company is the only company in the state of West Virginia to have the honor of being accepted as a member to SERBA. Other educational opportunities the IDC sponsors include a "Week with the Masters." This concentrated workshop allows area students to study dance with world renowned teachers. This year the faculty included Katrina Killian, Jenny Sui-Kan Chang, and Ashley Solomon. The Inwood Dance Company has been invited to travel to China in July 2003 by the Bureau of Culture and perform in the historic cities of Beijing and Qinhuangdao. This will mark the second international tour for the company. In 2001 the company performed in Qinhuangdao and attended class at the famous Beijing Dance Academy.

In addition to performing The Nutcracker, IDC has produced many of the great classical ballets including Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Coppelia, and La Fille Mal Gardee. Guest artists from the American Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Atlanta Ballet, Lexington Ballet, Louisville Ballet, and the New Jersey Ballet have mentored IDC dancers as well as thrilled the audiences. Alumni of IDC have gone on to dance professionally with the Colorado Ballet, Louisville Ballet, Richmond Ballet, and Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago.

The Inwood Dance Company gives back to the community and provides artistic leadership through educational outreach programs. For the past ten years local students have been attending The Nutcracker and theatre etiquette workshops. Thousands of students have been enriched by these performances and workshops preparing them to be the audiences of tomorrow.

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