Collage Dance Collective holds festival with performances of ballet, jookin' and more

The Collage Dance Collective held an outdoor family festival Saturday afternoon, National Dance Day. Thousands of people braved the 85-degree heat and cloudless sky to enjoy a wide range of performances and types of dance from across the nation.

As the smell of freshly cooked food-truck cuisine filled the air, the sound of music and the performers who danced to it gathered on the stage. Whether festival-goers came to see ballet from New York City Ballet, Memphis jookin from the legendary performer Charles "Lil Buck" Riley, the new 2023-24 Grizz Girls, or simply grab some good food, there was bound to be something for everyone to enjoy, and good vibes all around.

The festival hosted a wide range of local groups like Ballet Memphis, the Grizz Girls, Studio 413, Grind House Dance, Kindred Spirit, and Company d, a dance company of young adults with Down syndrome.

National groups joined as well, from the Grammy Award-winning Rebirth Brass Band of New Orleans, to SOLE Defined in Washington, D.C., as well as New York City Ballet, and Nashville Ballet.

Known as a Southern cultural treasure, Collage Dance has a mission is to inspire the growth and diversity of ballet.

Memphis native Lil Buck and Adji Cissoko of Alonzo King LINES Ballet in San Francisco performed a duet that combined Lil Buck's signature Memphis jookin style with Cissoko's more traditional ballet performance.

Finally, Collage's own from Collage Youth Ensemble and Collage Dance Collective performed.

Romey Walkley and her mom, Kelsea, invited some friends to Collage, where Romey has been a student for about nine years.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the Collage Youth Ensemble, because a lot of my friends are in that," Walkley said. "And the Grizz girls."

Laura Engbretson her husband both danced ballet in college, and now their children dance too. Naturally, "New York City Ballet, and Ballet Memphis," is what Engbretson said she enjoyed the most.

Amanda Johnson was at the festival with her daughter, Ava Jay who is a student at Collage.

"We actually live an hour and 20 minutes away," Johnson said, "and we drive up here three times a week so she can take dance classes here at collage."

"It's really important for her to see dance as a dance student," "It's always a fun time being in the big city and enjoying Black dance."

Johnson said dance was something her daughter always wanted to do.

"She really wants to do dance en pointe in ballet, so in order to do that we had to come to Memphis" it's really fun to see a lot of dancers who have excelled at ballet who look like her."

Jazmin Withers brought her daughter Ava Grace, who also does dance, to the festival. Ava Grace just recently began learning ballet at Collage.

"I've always been a fan of Collage, and I was just waiting for her to be a little bit older to join their program," Withers said.

Like Johnson, Withers said it's important to her that her daughter recognizes that other students who look like her can succeed and to amazing things with dance.

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"We actually came to their open house a couple months ago and she saw all their new marketing and promotions, and she's just like 'I want to be like her, I want to be like that lady,' Withers recounted. "I love the fact that she's able to see dancers and other young ladies that look like her and everything that they do, so it's just wonderful."

Julie Niekrasc, a rehearsal director at Ballet Memphis, said she always enjoys coming to Collage for the festival.

"We love this celebration of dance because it brings dance all over the country to Memphis, and it's also shedding a light on dance in Memphis, which is really wonderful."

Ben Delony, another rehearsal director with Ballet Memphis, echoed that sentiment.

"The dance community is small, especially the ballet world, so we're all here to support each other, and all know each other by various degrees so it kind of feels like a mini reunion, which is really exciting."

Steven McMahon, artistic director at Ballet Memphis said the great turnout at this year's festival is a good sign that interest in dance in the city is growing, and the dance community is thriving.

"In the past ten years or so there's been a lot more community around dance, and it's really inspiring for us, having danced her for so long, to see that shift in the dance ecosystem," McMahon said. "So yeah I think it's really positive, it's a great community building event."

Jacob Wilt is a news reporter for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at jacob.wilt@commercialappeal.com.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Collage Dance Collective holds third annual Dance Festival