Dance Delight for Children : 200 San Diego Youngsters Taking to Stage in Production

The long, squat, nondescript exterior of the 10th Avenue Garage building hid something quite different inside Saturday.

Kids in red, orange, purple, pink and green T-shirts twirled huge gears and gizmos in front of mirrored walls inside this former garage that has been converted into a rehearsal space. Percussive music blared, voices called, friends chattered. Hundreds of pairs of shoes and satchels were stashed among painted props. At the far end of the spacious studios, a giant red hat with blue pointing fingers bobbed on a dancer’s head.

“That’s the mayor,” a bemused parent informed.

The mayor of Echoville joined scores of other townsfolk characters for final rehearsals of the CityMoves production “The Dancing Man of Echoville.” The dance extravaganza, inspired by Dr. Seuss books, opens at the San Diego Convention Center on Friday and runs through Sunday for five performances.

CityMoves, the community outreach and dance education project begun in 1990 by the San Diego Foundation for the Performing Arts, has involved more than 6,000 students at San Diego area schools and community centers.

Written and directed by CityMoves artistic and administrative director Bill Conrow, “The Dancing Man” is the project’s second dance-theater production. Local choreographers, visual artists, composers, designers, a production crew and more than 200 children--ages 8 to 18--have been preparing and practicing for months.

The commitment, for many of the children and their parents, began last fall at the beginning of the school year.

Luci Bennett, one of several rehearsal managers and mother of 11-year-old Michelle Bennett, who also danced in last year’s CityMoves production, said she has been driving to rehearsals from Scripps Ranch three times a week since September. And she missed only once.

“I had to get to the Padres game,” she said, laughing. “It’s been a lot of fun, we’ve made friends, but now that we are coming to the end, it’s a relief.”

For Michelle, dancing in CityMoves has meant less time with her friends, but she’s becoming a better dancer, she said. “It’s really hard work, but you get to do a lot.”

“Michelle’s more into dance now,” her mother said. “She and her friends dance around the house and try to make up their own choreography.”

Nicole Ries is also improving as a dancer since she’s been in CityMoves. While she rehearsed amid the Saturday hubbub, her mother, Vivian Ries, talked about the project and its impact on her daughter.

“It was the first time she, on her own, practiced and committed herself to doing something, and it changed how she viewed herself. She’s not going to be a professional dancer--none of these kids are--but it does change their lives.”

Ries said her daughter has learned a sense of accomplishment, and that people saw in her a beauty that Nicole didn’t know she had.

“For all the kids, I think, it brings out part of them they didn’t appreciate. Kids that aren’t involved in something or don’t have a passion for something get into trouble. This gives kids a focus they wouldn’t have otherwise. Here they’re going somewhere, having a good time and learning something about themselves.”

Both Nicole and Michelle auditioned last fall for the Children’s Dance Theater, a group of CityMoves participants who have a more developed sense of movement. The Dance Theater kids have the roles of schoolchildren and the homeless Roam-abouts in “The Dancing Man.” In the story, these two groups work together to save the day, to keep the sky from falling on Echoville. In real life, they get intensive training over the months from Conrow.

As a dance called “The Put It Back Up There and Keep It There Thing!” was rehearsed, Conrow broke from the dancers to describe the goings-on in Echoville and the massive production effort involved.

“The townspeople are all working to create an enormous machine to try to keep the sky from falling. At the Convention Center, we’ll have a parachute canopy for the sky that during the course of the show gets lower and lower. There will be a hydraulic scissors lift with a big hand on it that starts to push the sky back up.”

Props and sets for “The Dancing Man” were conceived by scenic designer Mike Buckley and visual artists Alber DeMatteis, Margaret Larlham and Mario Lara. The show features 16 dances set to music and songs by local composers Christopher Penney and Cara Freedman. San Diego choreographers Amelia, Terry Berliner, Melissa Cottle, Margaret Marshall, Patrick Nollet, Donald Robinson, George Willis, Terry Wilson and Carl Yamamoto worked over a period of 20 weeks with the students, twice as long as last year, according to Conrow. Nancy Jo Smith designed bold-colored costumes with silly touches a la Dr. Seuss, and hundreds of parent volunteers helped with pretty much everything.

The repeat participation of adult and children dancers and parents has helped establish CityMoves. Bruce Fraer, a calm third- and fourth-grade teacher at Martin Luther King Elementary and a member of the adult cast, has returned this year, having gained a greater appreciation of what dancers have to go through to learn their steps.

He’s noticed a similar appreciation among the kids, but even more important is the concept that dancing requires concentration.

“There was one boy I worked with last year who was really wild, and as the year went along, he focused more on what we were doing and began to have more self-control. He’s in again this year, and he’s better at participating.

“The kids at my school who were in it last year, and the ones in it this year, we’re friends. There’s a bond there.”

Conrow pointed out that having the 10th Avenue Garage as a rehearsal home for CityMoves throughout the year has been a boon. “I’ve been able to rehearse the whole project in these two warehouse studios. It has let us set up the program the way we needed to, and has let the program take root.”