Naperville's Concert Dance Ensemble announces new name and fall season highlights

The Naperville Park District's Concert Dance Ensemble announces a new name—Élan Dance Company—and the beginning of new, creative pursuits for the 2011-2012 season.

The Concert Dance Ensemble was founded in 1996 at the Naperville Park District as a performing company for advanced dancers in its recital dance program. Today's Élan Dance Company has grown to include approximately 70 members and is open to young dancers of mixed abilities who are committed to artistic excellence and growth. Dancers are placed in one of three companies within the organization: Junior, Apprentice, or Senior Company.

“The motivation to change our name came first from our dancers,” said Élan's artistic director Melissa Sallée. "We saw the need for modernization in response to the change and growth in our company's reputation as a regional, pre-professional dance company," she said.

The word, élan, is a French word with the definition, “enthusiastic vigor and liveliness; distinctive style or flair.” "The name, Élan, embodies our artistic pursuit," said Sallée.

“Élan's mission to be a creative, accessible, and inclusive dance company fits well with our core values as a park district,” said Director of Recreation Brad Wilson. “Élan offers our young people an opportunity for personal growth and enrichment as participants in the dance company,” he said.

The fall season will include diverse projects that will break new ground for the company, including an experimental dance piece choreographed to convey the scientific concept of String Theory. The String Theory piece will be presented at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts in Michigan City, Indiana on Friday, November 4. This project is part of a larger event demonstrating where science and art intersect.

Closer to home, Élan will perform at the Chicago Toy & Game Fair at Navy Pier November 19-20; this is the world's largest gathering of toy and game makers. Pumpkin season brings the company to one of their favorite venues, Butterprint Farm, in Monee, Illinois. The October 15 performance at Butterprint Farm will include early American folk pieces with Illinois Artist Rick Pickren, who toured with Johnny Cash.

Élan Dance Company is supported, in part, by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council. This grant enables the company to fund creative choreography by Illinois artists and to extend its performances to include outreach to audiences that otherwise might not experience the art of creative dance.

For more information on the Naperville Park District and its programs and services, please visit www.napervilleparks.org or call 630-848-5000.