Twenty years after a handful of Seattle high schoolers rented gym space to keep dancing, New Vision Dance Company is marking its anniversary with a retrospective show featuring 16 pieces pulled from its history, performed twice on Saturday at New Albany's McCoy Center. The company founded by Melissa Gould in 2006 has grown into a registered nonprofit with its own youth theater branch and a board of directors.
Gould started the ensemble while teaching at the Washington Academy of Performing Arts in Seattle, where students began performing her choreography in borrowed gym spaces, according to New Vision Dance Company. Over six years in Seattle, the group worked with more than 30 dancers before the Gould family relocated to Columbus in 2012, as reported by 10TV. Gould, who earned a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from San Jose State University and built an international performing career with contracts in Japan, South Korea, and Las Vegas, has said she idolized Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater as a young dancer and dreamed of one day choreographing for a company of her own, per 10TV's reporting.
A Family Affair Behind the Curtain
The anniversary celebration is as much a family story as an institutional one. Gould's daughter, Jess Gould, now dances and choreographs for New Vision and recalled being about 5 years old when the company first started, according to the same 10TV account. Jess also manages the company's website and teaches workshops for the organization.
Jess's younger brother, Joe Gould, dances with New Vision and composes original music for the company's publicity videos. He has said New Vision is the source of his artistic inspiration and has shaped who he is, 10TV reported. Melissa Gould has credited the broader Columbus arts community, along with donors and volunteers, for the company's continued success over two decades.
What's Onstage at Retrospective IV
Saturday's milestone production, titled Retrospective IV, brings together the current New Vision cast for two performances at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at New Albany's McCoy Center.
General admission tickets are available through the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts box office, with both showtimes and ticketing details listed at New Vision's website. Local florist Sunshine Patch Co. has partnered with the company for the anniversary weekend, pledging 10 percent of every bouquet pre-order to the nonprofit, with bouquets available for pickup at the theater before curtain.
Beyond the Stage: Festivals and a New Theater Branch
New Vision's local footprint extends well past its own performances. The New Albany Dance Festival offers more than 30 free community classes.
This year the organization also expanded beyond dance, launching New Vision Performing Arts and opening an inaugural theatrical season in September with Alice in Wonderland, Jr. A follow-up production, Elf, Jr., is scheduled for December.
New Vision Dance Company includes donors, volunteers, and a board of directors as part of its organizational structure, and continues to point audiences to its website for programming updates. For a company that began with teenagers dancing in a rented Seattle gym, Saturday's two shows at the McCoy Center stand as a marker of how far that small effort has traveled.
