Update! Thank you all so much for your support—we hit our Kickstarter goal of $7,000 a few days early! As our fundraising continues we need to raise $13,000 in total to cover our expenses. Below are how the funds are being used.  Lets keep it going!

• $7,450 Theatre Space
• $2,000 Set/Tech Crew
• $1,200 Running Crew
• $900 Costumes/Set Design
• $600 Marketing and tickets to select High Schools
• Kickstarter 5% Fee
• Amazon Payments 5% Fee

Young Dance Collective is

“A rigorous, thought-provoking and beautifully inventive movement from these insightful New York City kids- they are our leaders in this new century. Do NOT miss it, you will leave with tears in your eyes and quite a few ‘aha’ moments lodged in your heart and brain.” —Elizabeth Streb

“There is a time when the imagination is so rich and fear is so far away. These teens create fearless beauty and it’s such a joy to watch.” —Larry Keigwin, Artistic Director, Keigwin+Company

Ten years ago, a group of eight year olds formed the Young Dance Collective. Every Sunday, they met to explore their emotions, dreams, hopes and struggles through dance. Collaboration, self expression, transformation, and friendship—YDC was built on these cornerstones, and the result has been unlike any other in dance. On Friday, April 20th through Sunday April 22nd, these seven teen choreographers and dancers present their farewell show—Sunday. Please help them celebrate a decade of dance and their final body of work.

Who we are

We are a socially conscious modern dance group of seven teen choreographers and dancers. Dance is our art form, and our mission is to express who we are, and where we are in our lives, through dance. 

Our works are entirely collaborative. Together, we create something very powerful.  Our movement expresses our thoughts about communication (or the loss and absence of it); about love, and how love manifests itself in friends, relationships, and the world around us; about loss—individually, and as a society; peer pressure; death; loneliness; and self definition.

Our discussions — every Sunday for the past decade —transform into our art.  As we dance, we continually react to, and interact with the world around us—all while supporting one other, existing in the moment, sharing a common identity and purpose, and diving into the core of the struggles and pressures we face and the joys we share. Our shared experience and expression has been a catalyst for our growth as individuals.  We hope our programs provoke thought in our audiences, especially teenagers, as we explore our daily reality in a post 9/11 world.

We have grown from performing in one-room spaces—altering our movements so we don’t run into the audience!—to performing at the Citigroup Theater Joan Weill Center for Dance.  As an independent, nonprofit company, we work diligently to produce our work and no creative endeavor has ever been compromised.

Sunday—The Farewell Show!

We believe our final program will be a powerful forum for sharing our message with other teens—teens who may be inspired to deal with their own struggles in a more productive way as a result, and possibly to choose a path that allows for their own expression and healing. We will be drawing from the pieces we've performed in the last decade, including Breathe Me, Stay with Me, and Right Here, Right Now, through to our final body of work. We have planned a special outreach campaign for New York City public schools in order to celebrate our retrospective.

Please help us fulfill our dream!

In total we need to raise $7,000 for the performance and expenses. By funding this project, you enable us to secure our performance space at the 3-Legged Dog, and fund our our rehearsals, sets and costumes, promotional materials (posters and postcards), and special invitations to New York City high schools. If we raise more that $7,000 the remainder of the money raised will go to the next generation of young dancers.

Each backer will receive a reward as listed on this page. Please make sure to include with your donation the performance date and time you request.

Performance Dates and Times

Friday, April 20, 2012 (8pm)
Saturday, April, 21, 2012 (8pm)
Sunday. April 22, 2012 (2pm and 6pm)
Three Legged Dog
80 Greenwich Street (corner of Rector Street)

Because the Young Dance Collective is a 501 (c) 3 non profit, your donation will be tax-deductible (minus the $25 ticket cost) unless you donate anonymously.

Other ways you can help

Please spread the word about our project. You can view rehearsals photos and keep up with our progress on our Facebook page. The more people know about the Young Dance Collective and our Retrospect "Sunday" the more effective our performance will be in using dance to educate teens.

The Young Dance Collective

Hannah Cullen 
Sophia Orlow
Lev Ratnofsky
Isa Reisner
Cosmo Scharf
Kassandra Thatcher
Kalei Tooman

Kim Cullen Artistic Advisor

What people are saying about The Young Dance Collective

When you see their work, because they are not only professional dancers but also choreographers, you see their minds at work. They have a deep intention to communicate ideas through movement and their work is speaking to you. It will make you feel like the future is wide and large full of unexpected potential. —Noemie LaFrance

“I thought I would be mentoring these kids and they ended up mentoring me.” —Brian Brooks

“This group of young choreographers and dancers are remarkably advanced for their age, and they defy expectations.” — Misnomer

About The Young Dance Collective

Young Dance Collective is an independent nonprofit company for young people.  We explore the history and future of dance as an art form while discovering what motivates us to create movement. Our mission is to foster the growth of balanced individuals who think critically about their lives, their art, and the world around them.

Founded in 2002, The Young Dance Collective has performed at P.S. 122, Dance New Amsterdam, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, the More Art Benefit, Avant-Garde-A-Rama, the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater, and in Agora I and II. It has also had the privilege of working and dialoguing with such notable artists as Brian Brooks, Taye Diggs, Larry Keigwin, Noemie LaFrance, Andrew Palermo, Pascal Rioult, Gus Solomons Jr., Johannes Wieland and Nicole Wolcott.