Portland Youth Dance Company & Crew: PYD promotes creative excellence by providing diverse educational, volunteer, and performance opportunities for youth in the greater Portland area. Auditions are held each spring for dancers ages 10-18 years. Participation in PYD requires regular attendance of all weekly rehearsals and weekly technique classes from the start of the season in September through its completion in mid-June. Accepted dancers have the opportunity to learn choreography from a wide variety of professionals from Maine and away, perform in several professionally staged performances, festivals, and sporting events, attend several masterclasses and professional performance and participate in PYD’s community teaching program. PYD has all-inclusive tuition, which covers rehearsals, guest choreographers, costumes, masterclasses, a ticket to a professional dance performance, educational opportunities such as travel, etc. Participation in PYD’s fundraising efforts is mandatory for dancers. Need-based scholarships are available. Click here for more information.
Community Outreach Programs: PYD launched a successful partnership in 2015 at the Riverton Boys & Girls Club with classes in the Riverton Park Community Center. Dancers filmed a video to submit to a national contest. Since 2017, we’re excited to be bringing the Riverton Park BGC dancers to Casco Bay Movers Dance Studio. The program has grown exponentially over the years. PYD partners with The Boys and Girls Clubs, Mayo Street Arts, and Learning Works. In the past 6 years, over 1,000 students have benefited from programs lasting from 3 months to a year. Click here for more information on available programs.
Scholarship Programs: Funded entirely by donations, the program provides need-based scholarships to youth for one dance class per week from September through June. This totals 380 hours of dance plus the opportunity to perform during our end-of-year concert. We currently have six scholarship students and will increase this to 10 for the 2020-2021 school year. Scholarships applications are due in June before the Summer session. We are happy to report that we have surpassed our goal for the 2021/2022 & 2022/2023 seasons!
Our goal is to deepen our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion by involving the PYD family and the community at large in our discovery. We invite members of our community to have a voice in the conversation.
Portland Youth Dance does not discriminate by race, gender, color, national origin, religion, or sexual orientation. This is expressed in equal opportunities for participation and involvement. We believe in a diverse world and know that our community is stronger when our doors are open to all.