Contract negotiations. Flight reservations. Venue selections. Itineraries. Sponsors. Fruit baskets.
Putting together the annual Laguna Dance Festival is never a smooth sail, but the finished project is worth all of the bumps, founder Jodie Gates said.
She brings in top talent from around the county, state, country and world for the annual event, which opens Saturday in Laguna Beach.
“Coordinating the schedule just takes my breath away,” Gates said. It’s very, very complicated, and requires a lot of organizational skills, but fortunately I’m pretty good at multi-tasking, and I thrive on the challenge. It’s like a puzzle.”
The week includes free events, a gala dinner, master classes with top dancers and choreographers, and performances featuring dancers and companies from around the country.
“I feel it’s my mission to educate and entertain,” Gates said. “As I get older, I try to be open to opportunities and not have expectations. I’d like to continue this vision and keep building it, because I think this festival is special.”
She also credits her board, which helps her put the event together each year.
“I was a professional ballerina for 25 years, and now am a professor of dance at UCI. Having this nonprofit organization has taught me loads about how to run a business,” Gates said. “It wasn’t that long ago that I was on tour, so I remember the things that make a difference: a nice meal after a performance, and a nice hotel room to go home to.”
Gates said the small boutique feel of the venues, pre-show talks, master classes and parties during the week serve to break down the “fourth wall” between the performers and their audience.
“It’s electrifying, because there’s beautiful athletes dancing to awesome music, and it’s incredibly entertaining. Why do people go to a film festival, or a movie? You go for escapism, and that’s what this is,” Gates said. “It’s escapism at its best, and we all need that, right?”
Popular free Main Beach events include a swing class and live performance.
“Opening night, I’m doing something that hasn’t been done in Orange County before,” Gates said.
She will bring in ABT II and Hubbard Street 2, the prestigious companies’ junior-level groups, in a dual bill; each will perform four pieces.
