{"id":20465,"date":"2024-01-24T00:47:55","date_gmt":"2024-01-24T07:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=20465"},"modified":"2024-01-22T14:51:48","modified_gmt":"2024-01-22T21:51:48","slug":"a-force-for-the-artistic-community-footlight-dance-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/24\/a-force-for-the-artistic-community-footlight-dance-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"A Force For The Artistic Community: Footlight Dance Centre"},"content":{"rendered":"

By MIKE MCKENNA<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\" If you know anyone who has danced in the Wood River Valley over the last four decades\u2014from ballet to hip-hop, modern to jazz or tap\u2014he or she likely has Footlight Dance Centre to thank.
\nHilarie Neely is the heroine behind Footlight Dance. Ever since fate first brought her to Sun Valley in 1980, Hillary has been a tireless and impassioned force for the dance community in the Wood River Valley.
\n\u201cWe provide the spark and help people pursue their passions,\u201d Hilarie said. \u201cWe also help provide educational enrichment through dance and support opportunities for everyone to see and enjoy dance as an artistic expression.\u201d
\nHilarie first came to Sun Valley as a member of the Portland Dance Theater. She had recently graduated from Southern Methodist University with a degree in Dance and had no idea that a tour stop in Idaho would change her life.
\nAfter spending a day running a dance program in a Quonset hut for the then-Sun Valley Center of the Arts & Humanities, Hilarie was asked to accompany a fellow dancer on a blind double date. She met a local guy, Steve Job. \u201cWe fell in love and the rest,\u201d as she says, \u201cis history.\u201d
\nHilarie moved to the Gem State shortly thereafter and immediately immersed herself in the region\u2019s dance community. She helped found an ensemble that toured Idaho and Wyoming, became involved with the Idaho Commission on the Arts, and in 1984 she founded Footlight Dance Centre.
\n\u201cI am extremely passionate about dance and I work 24\/7,\u201d Hilarie said. \u201cI try to run our program like what you\u2019d find in a big city. We work with everyone from four-year-olds to aspiring professionals. So kids can move on for here if they want and have a good foundation to do anything.\u201d
\nHilarie has taught thousands of local kids over the decades, but one of her favorite things to do is to share her art form with local schools each year.
\nFor 35 years now, Hilarie has led School Enrichment Performances, free for all Blaine County students. This winter, the touring troupe from Footlight will be performing \u201cWater Is Life.\u201d The performances will use different styles of dance to express the lifecycle of water.
\n\u201cWe show how the arts can bring new ways to think about and see things,\u201d Hilarie explained. \u201cIt\u2019s a great way for us to give back to the community and make sure local kids can experience dance at least once a year.\u201d
\nInterestingly enough, boys tend to have the strongest reactions from these annual performances and how athletic the dancers are. \u201cThey will come up to me afterwards or see me around town,\u201d Hilarie said, \u201cand they\u2019ll say, \u2018You\u2019re the dance lady. That was awesome!\u2019\u201d
\nThe dance scene has been pretty awesome locally ever since Hilarie landed here. But as much as she has done for our community, she feels like the lucky one.
\n\u201cI feel really blessed that I could pursue my passion in such a beautiful place and be able to positively impact so many people over the years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWater Is Life\u201d will take place from January 23\u2013February 1, including a free public performance at the Community Campus in Hailey at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, January 31. Find out more at FootlightDance.com.<\/p>\n

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By MIKE MCKENNA If you know anyone who has danced in the Wood River Valley over the last four decades\u2014from ballet to hip-hop, modern to jazz or tap\u2014he or she likely has Footlight Dance Centre to thank. Hilarie Neely is the heroine behind Footlight Dance. Ever since fate first brought her to Sun Valley in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10323,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,38],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-20465","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chamber-corner","8":"category-sponsored"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20465"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20467,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20465\/revisions\/20467"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}