MADCO in partnership with The Luminary presents its Spring Concert titled, “Bound,” April 19 & 20, and 26 & 27, 2024, 8pm. “Bound” features premiere choreography by Arianna Russ and CJ Burroughs.

The lights flicker off as Kayla Montgomery takes the stage of COCA’s Berges Theatre. At just 14 years old, Kayla had been chosen to perform a solo she created as part of MADCO’s Emerging Student Choreographer Program, in partnership with St. Louis Academy of Dance (SLAD). As the music swells, Kayla emanates a poise and assuredness about her presence on stage. She effortlessly oscillates between multiple movement qualities within a single phrase, capturing the range of a leg extension that then melts to the ground and allows the weight of the floor to sink into her hips and torsos. She uses her spine to punctuate the subtle riffs of Otis Redding’s Try a Little Tenderness, before gliding over the stage with a turn that fills the entire room. Her intuitive musicality and ability to seamlessly transition from one style of movement to the next made Kayla’s performance one of the most striking of the evening, and perhaps most evident of what MADCO’s Dare To Dance Festival is all about. A festival, led by Artistic Director Arianna Russ, to showcase the immense amount of innovation and collaboration that exists in the St. Louis community and beyond.