KAILUA-KONA — For 10 months out of the year, students at Kona Dance and Performing Arts work toward perfecting their skills in dance and musical theater. And next week, those months of hard work will pay off in the form of the program’s spring concert.
The Kona Dance and Performing Arts’ second annual song and dance concert will take place at Kahilu Theatre in Waimea at 6 p.m. April 28, and at 2 p.m. April 29. Musical theater, contemporary dance, breakdance, tap, jazz, hip hop, ballet and singing will be performed by 126 of the nonprofit organization’s students, whose ages range from 3-18.
Amanda Trusty, the artistic director and a teacher for Kona Dance and Performing Arts, hopes this year’s concert is rewarding not just for the students, but for the audience members as well.
“I think that it’s an opportunity to change people,” Trusty said. “People are so moved when they watch a performance; they are either shocked that someone has the guts to get up there and do that, or it’s a song that they love so much or it’s a statement piece that moves them.
“Performing is a way for communication for those of us that need a bigger platform to do so. We have so much going on inside, that we can’t keep it in, so it’s a way of lifting that up and sharing it. It’s a vehicle for change sometimes.”
Last year’s concert took place at the Aloha Theatre, but Trusty said that the high number of students and audience members called for a bigger venue this time around.
“We’ve grown. Last year, we were at the Aloha Theatre and we just barely fit backstage,” Trusty said. “This year, we needed the dressing rooms, we needed the space on stage and the team up (at the Kahilu Theatre) has been really supportive of that.
“Last year we had so many families, and we knew we would sell out we had to do three shows just to reach 1,000 people,” Trusty said. “This year, we only have to do two shows to reach 1,000 people, and it takes a big load off our families that they just have to do Saturday and Sunday and they don’t have to do a third show.”
Besides the venue, Trusty believes that the variety of dances, the bigger student body and the new choreographers that were added this year will make the concert a different viewing experience from the last.
Every genre of dance the studio offers will be showcased at the spring concert, and Trusty said the concert is set up so that the types of dance on display are mixed from one performance to the next.
“We like to encourage our students to go watch if they are only involved in one or two numbers so that they can be inspired next year,” Trusty said. “That’s why we like to mix it up.”
Trusty said that because Kona Dance and Performing Arts is a nonprofit, and money from ticket sales to the spring concert go directly back to supporting its various programs, she hopes that community members who don’t have children involved in the spring concert will still see the value of attending.
“If they’re not a relative of a student, but they have kids, this is the one of the greatest family activities they can do,” Trusty said. “When you bring your kids out to see other kids perform, not only can you inspire your own kids to get involved in a new extracurricular activity, but they can see the benefits of the arts. Even if your kids play soccer, and they’re not interested in dancing, it’s important to expose them to arts and culture. It’s important for them to know that this kind of thing exists and to have a healthy respect for it.
“If you’re a community member without kids, your support of these kids matter so much because when the audience is full, we are telling those kids that what they like to do, what they are passionate about and what they’ve made a commitment to for 10 months of their year is important and that we support that.”
Trusty also wants the children involved in the show to be able to take the lessons learned from performing and apply them to every day life.
“It’s not only the thrill of performing, it’s all the life skills they get from doing it,” Trusty said. “What they learn from having to be under pressure, and also having to be professional and be respectful and all those things, at the end of the day it’s a reward for them as well getting to showcase all the hard work they’ve done all year long.”
Information: For tickets, visit kahilutheatre.org or call 885-6868.