MOVE Dance began in 2001 as a youth outreach program of Dance Alliance in collaboration with Skidmore College’s dance department. Its mission was to provide free weekly hip hop dance classes where all participants shared one commonality: a love of dance regardless of talent or socio-economic status. The program began with 15 dancers from Saratoga Springs Junior High School led by our first choreographer/teacher Melissa Ngrailmesang, a dance major at Skidmore. The group quickly grew to 40+ dancers of all ability levels and eventually became a sanctioned club of the school district. That connection remains intact today. When COVID began, Mary Anne Fantauzzi contacted all current and previous members of the club which began meeting weekly on Zoom. In Fall 2021, Fantauzzi approached the new SPAC School of the Arts with the concept of a community collaboration that would allow MOVE ON!, the older dancers (ages 20-45) to meet weekly in one of its studios. That program now has 32 dancers, many alumni of SSHS.
The entire troupe (41 dancers total) will kick-off its 25th anniversary year with a
Free performance at SSHS Teaching Auditorium on Monday, May 4th at 6:30pm.
Doors open at 6:20.
Guest artists include Skidmore’s The Wave, Rhythm & Sole tap, and cameo virtual appearances by former Skidmore choreographers. Choreography by Fantauzzi, Lydia Huibregtse (Skidmore 2018 and longtime MOVE teacher), Meredith Mobyed (Skidmore ’26), and Hannah Geller (Skidmore 2020) will be featured along with Family Freestyle and an alumni reunion finale.
Other opportunities to see MOVE perform:
April 30 6pm Student Voices, Geyser Road Elementary School
May 9 10am-12pm Spring SOTA-bration, SPAC School of the Arts
May 31 Festival of Young Artists 2-5pm (specific time TBA), SPAC grounds dance tent.