BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — This Thursday a local dance group is performing at the Morrison Center for the first time.
Open Arms Dance Project is a multigenerational and inclusive modern dance company.
They welcome people of all ages with and without disabilities.
"We have dancers as young as 7 and no upper age limit. Currently, our oldest dancer is 76," Megan Brandel, Open Arms Dance Project founding artistic director said.
Brandel formed the dance group in 2008.
"We have people with seen and unseen disabilities. So some people you can definitely tell they are in a wheelchair or use a walker and other people it's something more like ADHD or OCD or something that's unseen and some of us dont have disabilities," Brandel said.
Made up of around 20 dancers, the group performs five to six times every season.
"We perform sometimes on street corners or we flash mob across crosswalks downtown and other times we perform on formal stages," Brandel said.
One of those dancers is a 14-year-old Alice, who joined the group four years ago.
"I saw open arms perform and thought it was beautiful and I asked my mom about it and she knew Megan, the director, and I started dancing with them," said Alice Brown, a dancer at Open Arms Dance Project.
On Thursday, the group is performing at the Morrison Center for the first time. The performance will feature multiple dance numbers including a 'dancing through the decades' performance.
"There is a dancer that was born in every decade from 2014 to the 1940s and we do a dance through our decades so a popular dance move from every decade," Brandel said.
Alice is looking forward to performing her dance called 'strength'.
"We pick up one of our dancers, who is in a wheelchair, out of her wheelchair and put her on the fabric we use, and I think it's beautiful how we all connect," Brown said.
Megan says the goal of the performance is to create greater joy and compassion through the art of dance.
As a reminder, the performance is Thursday, April 28 at 7 p.m. at the Morrison Center. There are still tickets available. Click HERE for ticket information.
ncG1vNJzZmihlJa1sLrEsKpnm5%2BifK%2Bx1qxmpaeTlrlwudSlq6KflaOys63ToqanmZxirq%2BwjKKlnKSlqLa3sYympp2doqN6pa3NnJxmn6KkwrF506hkqZ2im7yzuYyaq2aln6e%2Fqr%2FOp2ScnZ6psrM%3D