Dance to showcase last 10 years

Whether they still practice at the Libertyville studio or have gone onto college or a professional career, young men and women who belong to Forum Jazz Dance Theatre call themselves one family.

Current members will come together with alumni as the dancers celebrate the company's 10th anniversary Saturday night.

"It's a fun reunion because everyone is so close," said current member Leah Fiore.

The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the College of Lake County James Lumber Center for the Performing Arts in Grayslake. Tickets cost $20 for the public and $15 for students.

The celebration will follow at 9:30 p.m. at the Country Squire Restaurant on Route 120 west of Route 45 in Grayslake.

Forum Jazz Dance Theatre started as a non-profit organization within Talent Forum. Created by artistic director Kelly Hayes, the group started with five dancers and was an opportunity for dancers to do more sophisticated work. The group only presented a March recital.

When Eddy Ocampo took over, he had no plans to change the group. Using his connections in dance, he brought choreographers from companies such as Joffrey Ballet and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago to teach the dancers.

"It never planned to be any bigger than it was," he said.

But when Ocampo retired from the Giordano Dance Center, his vision changed. He wanted the program to be where young dancers train to go on to college and start a professional dance career. He said dancers who first joined the group considered it something to do socially.

"Now a large percentage, almost everybody in the company wants to be a professional," he said.

Forum Jazz Dance Theatre now is divided into three divisions, including Forum Jazz Dance Theatre II, which is celebrating its fifth season, and a trainee program.

Ocampo, along with second company director Richard Smith and ballet master Brent Caburnay, offer various performing opportunities to the dancers.

"It's a growing plant that constantly needs nurturing," Ocampo said.

Morgan Tripp, who began dancing jazz at age 8, traveled from Antioch to join the company in 1999. In addition to the chance to perform, she also gained a closeness to the teachers and dancers.

"These people became a second family to me," said Tripp, now 18.

Fiore first joined the company in eighth grade. She said Smith gave her a strong ballet background and emphasized technique. Now a high school senior, she is thrilled to study contemporary jazz with Ocampo.

"We've learned so many ways of moving that so many never get to experience," said Fiore, 17, of Libertyville.

Forum Jazz Dance Theatre has performed at events such as Dance Chicago, Youth in Action, the Midwest Dance Collective, Dancescapes and their own annual showcase, Jazz Forum.

Last year, Ocampo said the company performed at the Jazz Dance World Congress Chicago. As part of the event, they joined a choreography competition among 200 applicants from around the world. They performed a routine he had prepared two weeks before the event. And they won.

"It was amazing to perform in front of so many of our idols," Fiore said.

Tripp said one of her most memorable performances was sharing a performance with a group that came from Russia in 2001.

"It was not only amazing to dance with these people but also to learn about their culture," she said.

Ocampo hopes one day the company can perform abroad, although travel costs prohibit it now. But being able to accept invitations they have received from Austria and Russia would be a learning experience.

"It is important to understand how dance is different in all parts of the world," he said.

For Tripp, the company served as a stepping stone to pursue a dance degree at Arizona State University and one day a professional career.

But she adds the company taught her skills she will apply throughout her life.

"You learn to be a leader, something I have taken with me and still use today," she said.

Saturday's performance will feature new premiers and works done the past 10 years. Among them will be "Zero," performed at Jazz Dance World Congress where it received the silver shoe award for the Leo's Choreography Competition. There also will be a re-staged work by Hayes.

Now living in Gilbert, Ariz., Tripp looks forward to performing Saturday. While she awaits coming together with her dancing family, she also wants to honor Ocampo and his work to make the program a success.

"Eddy Ocampo has been a role model, a mentor, a father figure," she said. "It's a thank you to Eddy and Kelly for making us the people we are today."