‘Inner City Dreams’--and Energies : St. Joseph Ballet Company Offers Benefit Concert

Many a young gosling has dreamed of growing up into a balletic swan, but Sister Beth Burns is one of the few people trying to make that dream a reality for youngsters in low-income families.

Burns founded the St. Joseph Ballet Company in 1983 to provide dance training for inner-city young people in Orange County. Since then, the Santa Ana-based troupe has gotten support from private individuals, major corporations and the California Arts Council.

Her troupe will offer its annual concert, “Inner City Dreams,” at 8 p.m. today and Saturday at Rancho Santiago College in Santa Ana.

More than 70 young dancers, ages 9 to 19, will appear in five new works she has choreographed.

Burns hopes to raise about $15,000, about the same as last year’s effort, she said. The troupe’s annual budget is about $115,000, according to Burns.

“Young people have a lot of raw energy,” Burns said. “In my choreography, I try not to tame the energy of these young people . . . spontaneous energy that sometimes we can lose when we grow up.”

One work on the program, “Imagine,” attempts to show the training Burns provides, “the progression in the discipline” of dance, she said.

“In the final scene, there is this energetic release when you marry dedicated work (with) disciplined effort, and when you exceed your capabilities and apply all that energy to one’s dreams,” Burns said.

Other works range from “Sing It, Frank”--a “really lighthearted” ballet set to a medley of Frank Sinatra songs--to more serious works, such as “The Other Side of Me” and “With This Faith.”

“The Other Side of Me” shows how “in our society, how frenetically it’s paced, our spiritual side can fall asleep,” Burns said.

“With This Faith” incorporates excerpts from speeches by Martin Luther King Jr. and music, sung by gospel singer Marcille Block and the Star Light Baptist Church Choir.

“It’s really challenging for these young people I work with to grow up in our world right now,” Burns said. “So many problems can be so overwhelming. How does one still have a dream?

“And yet when Martin Luther King talked about his dream and the faith through which the rough places will be made plain . . . our actions can be transformed.

“That spirit is something all of us need to connect with,” Burns said.

The St. Joseph Ballet Company will dance at 8 p.m. today and Saturday at Rancho Santiago College, 17th and Bristol streets, Santa Ana. The Saturday performance will be a benefit for the company. Tickets: $15 on Friday; $25 on Saturday (includes reception). Information: (714) 541-8314.