As an educator and founding director of Francisco Gella Dance Works,, Francisco Gella At almost 30 years of experience in teaching in colleges, conservatories, studios, competitions and conventions. Now it combines the best aspects of all these various environments Roots Dance Summit. “I created Roots Dance Summit in a way hybrid,” explains Gella. “I want dancers to have an opportunity for competition, but also let better understand who they are as an artists.”
Founded in “The Six C” (community, courses, competition, criticism, celebration, college / career), Roots Dance Summit is more than a competition or a convention; It is a holistic and all-in-one experience designed in a unique way to ignite students' passion for dance and help them trace a path to the achievement of their goals. The first inspiring, educational and performance weekend will take place next year Phoenix, Arizona, January 24-26, and the second in Montgomery, Alabama, February 7 to 9.. And this is only the beginning; Gella plans to extend to more weekends in additional cities as the program develops.
Provide something useful to everyone
Gella designed the Roots Dance Summit study program to hire dancers, teachers, directors and parents. “All dance lessons are open to the observation of teachers, and we will also have sessions dedicated to teachers on a range of subjects, motivation strategies and technical training in the rehearsal management,” explains Gella. “We also want to educate parents with seminars on the planning of the future, management of expectations and the preparation of the college.” All sessions will be directed by Estimated faculty of roots dance summit: Professional directors and choreographers who are devoted to the mentoring of the next generation of artists. Participants will also be able to hear representatives of colleges, as well as main health and well-being experts on subjects relating to each age category at the top, from juniors (10-12 years) to adolescents (aged 13 to 15) and elders (16-18).
Construction community
Gella structured Roots Dance Summit to be both a great environment to meet new dancers, as well as for the studios to attend together and bind and develop as a team. “We want them to use the comments and strategies they learn from roots as a powerful supplement for the rest of their competition season,” explains Gella. The event will also allow students to connect through the limits of the studio, blurring the boundaries between competition and camaraderie. “On Saturday evening, we plan to organize exciting social events, where participants can get out of their” bubble “studio and establish precious links,” explains Gella. “The community is a fundamental principle of the roots, and therefore every turn of the summit, we want to demonstrate the importance of rooting for everyone's success, whatever the team you are.”
Disrupt the status quo
The competition part of Roots Dance Summit is reflected to attribute a wide range of achievements – but it is refreshing. “We reward the 5 best soloists of each kind of dance and age group, as well as the global routines of the group of best 10,” explains Gella. “These 10 best routines are all invited to recuperate during our last gala for the bronze, silver or gold medal in each category.” In addition to medals, students will have the opportunity to win scholarships for programs estimated at university and summer, including the events of Francisco Gella Dance Works. “We will also have distinct judges prices that recognize dancers and teachers for artistic talent, rehearsal management, exceptional training, label and more,” adds Gella.
Retrieve the curtain
High levels of invaluable criticism and feedback are at the heart of the experience of the top of the Dance of the Roots. By limiting the number of participations in the competition and overall attendance, each participant is guaranteed to receive very personal and usable comments from judges. In addition to giving participants recorded criticism from each judge, Roots Dance Summit will offer an open feedback forum which breaks down the fourth wall between judges, artists and observers. “After the end of the competition session, the panel will have the possibility of directly communicating the trends or the problems they observed and answering the questions of the dancers and the public,” explains Gella.
Young professional guides, who are either university dance students, or recent graduates, will help Roots Dance Summit teachers will offer Relat mentoring dancers. “In this way, students get a perfect balance between instructors who have shaped this industry during the decades and young professionals who have been in the shoe of dancers recently and who have their finger on the pulse of what is going on now,” explains Gella.
Celebrate
The innovative programming of Roots Dance Summit bases the construction of the community, competition and education in a single experience that raises dancers to their full potential – and Gella hopes that industry as a whole. “Our goal is to combine the best aspects of competition and concert dance, which are often opposite sides of the field until the dancers arrive in the professional world,” he said. “Competition is part of the pleasure, but beyond that, we want to help dancers discover aspects on themselves and their studios that make them unique.” Roots Dance Summit will inspire students to define their own artistic talent and their own voice and, above all, feel really seen and accepted.
The recording of the two Roots Dance Summit sites in 2025 (Phoenix, Arizona and Montgomery, Alabama) will open on July 31, 2024. Register here To receive updates by email.
