Newly expanded nonprofit The Wooden Floor readies its 35th annual dance concert

By Richard Chang

May 24, 2018 4:25 PM PT

“Unifying Catalysts.”

That’s the name of The Wooden Floor’s upcoming 35th annual concert from May 31 through June 2 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre.

For nearly four decades, the youth-serving nonprofit arts organization has helped thousands of Orange County kids benefit from The Wooden Floor’s dance programs, as well as its academic, college and career readiness tutoring.

“Our approach to dance is about challenging children to think about the world around them in very complex ways,” said Dawn Reese, chief executive officer of The Wooden Floor. “They learn how to collaborate, how to critically think. They test themselves in the studio. They learn about themselves. They sometimes succeed, they sometimes fail. They seem like they take that courage into all parts of their life.”

Founded by Beth Burns, then a sister with the order of St. Joseph of Orange, The Wooden Floor was originally known as Saint Joseph Ballet. It started as a summer pilot dance program for at-risk youth. The organization changed its name to The Wooden Floor in 2009.

Today, the Santa Ana-based organization helps nearly 500 children per year with its innovative, long-term dance, academic and social-emotional programs and strategies. Students typically enter when they are in third or fourth grades, and stay until they graduate from high school. Since 2005, 100% of Wooden Floor students have graduated from high school and enrolled in higher education, according to Reese.

Participants generally come from low-income families of $35,000 per year per household, Reese said. About 96% go through the program free of charge. Others pay a nominal tuition of $20 to $70 per month. The Wooden Floor is supported by individual, private and family foundations, including the Weingart Foundation and the Surdna Foundation.

Over the years, the nonprofit has won awards, including honors from the National Endowment for the Arts, the 2015 Leadership Circle Award from the PIMCO Foundation and a 2012 Afterschool Innovator Award from the Afterschool Alliance and the MetLife Foundation.

The kids make a commitment, and they’re well-trained. They’re quite good.

— Jerry Mandel, president of the Irvine Barclay Theatre.

“It’s a remarkable organization, and we’re really proud to have them at the Barclay,” said Jerry Mandel, president of the Irvine Barclay Theatre. “The kids make a commitment, and they’re well-trained. They’re quite good. The Wooden Floor touches our heart.”

On May 12, The Wooden Floor opened a long-anticipated second location at Depot at Santiago, a mixed-use development in Santa Ana for working families with incomes that range from 30 to 60% of the area’s median income.

The 4,000-square-foot facility, which includes a dance studio, an education and community center and a family resource center, allows The Wooden Floor to serve about 100 more students and their families. Previously, the nonprofit was only able to serve 375 children annually, and was forced to turn away about 80% of children who lined up to enroll each of the past five years, Reese said.

The Wooden Floor already is looking to expand to a third location over the next several years, Reese said. The organization is also licensing out its programming and curriculum to another nonprofit, City Dance Dream in Washington, D.C.

For “Unifying Catalysts,” The Wooden Floor is collaborating with three accomplished choreographers and professional dancers.

Seán Curran, chair of the dance department at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, has worked with the students to expand a performance called “Reaction Yield.”

Mark Haim, an NEA and New York Foundation for the Arts awardee, will work with 60 dancers, who will perform “Cavalcade,” set to orchestra and chamber music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Amy O’Neal of the National Performance Network and the National Dance Project, has choreographed a piece set to rhythmic, futuristic soul music. “Unafraid” focuses on street dance and reflections of the community.

“Our faculty are all professional dance educators and they’re also artists,” Reese said. “Every year, we bring the top choreographers together with our students to co-create a new work. The students are very involved in the artistic process.”

Prior to the June 1 performance, a black-tie dinner is planned to help raise funds for The Wooden Floor. Tickets start at $350. A free, pre-performance chat with the cast and choreographers is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. June 2.