BYU Dance students from the ’20 – ’21 Kinnect troupe share their experiences from performing and creating this past year. The Artistic Director of Kinnect, and inspiring professor and mentor of these students, is Angela Rosales Challis, a renown dance videographer, choreographer, and international dancer.
In their own words:
Solana Armitage: BYU Sophomore, Dance BA Major from Glendale, AZ
What is Kinnect to you? Even though a major part of Kinnect is teaching and inspiring elementary kids, our reach goes further to people and dancers of all ages, including ourselves. Everyone can find their own inspiration from Kinnect, but I have developed creativity, dance technique and leadership from this team.
What do you love best about it? My favorite part about Kinnect is that even though we are a performing team, our work is not solely performance based. We also focus on the creative process of choreographing, teaching, and working together as a team which benefits us as individuals and as a group. It is this blend of specialties that has given me the opportunity to grow not only as a dancer, but as a creator.
How did you hear about Kinnect? By being a dance major, being involved in the department, and connecting with others who are involved, it lead me to audition for Kinnect, and I am so grateful I did!
What would you tell other dancers about it? Starting the first day of practice, we have worked on creating an environment of trust, respect, and support that has not only made me feel welcomed as a team member, but also as a friend. Some of the best relationships I have made at BYU have been through dance!
How has it changed you? I feel more confident in my decision to study dance and in my areas of interest. Diving into the creative process with Kinnect has pushed me in realizing my love for dance and its development. Kinnect has also given me new experiences such as being on real film sets and discovering my interest with that.
Camille Winn: BYU Sophomore, Dance BA Major from Chandler, AZ
Kinnect to me is a collaborative and creative place to enhance my problem-solving skills and learn from other talented dancers and students who all bring unique abilities and insights to the company.
I love the environment of excitement and energy that is created by so many dancers who all see dance differently and have been introduced to dance in a variety of settings and chapters of life.
I was asked to audition at the callbacks for Kinnect at the end of 2019 for the 2020 Winter/Spring semester. Before I was asked to attend callbacks, I had not known what Kinnect was because I was only finishing my first semester at BYU. I wish I had known what Kinnect was before that audition. My hope is that Kinnect can become more known and appreciated for its commendable mission and goal to create, perform, and teach not only the children we visit in the schools, but also our fellow company members and peers!
I would share with other students that Kinnect offers opportunities to create inspiring movement and pieces of art, perform technically and artistically centered choreography, and teach eager children the joy of creative dance!
Kinnect has enlightened my understanding of learning and exploration. Although I have learned much from our director, Angela Rosales-Challis, and my fellow company members, no one has taught me more than the children I was privileged to teach once in early 2020. Before the pandemic sent BYU students home, I was able to teach one class at an elementary school and the beaming little faces of those children as they confidently learned and explored through their individual movement was so inspiring and touching that I could not wait to visit them more. We are praying we will have that opportunity again this coming Spring term because Kinnect would not be Kinnect without the children we teach.
Spencer Waddell: BYU Sophomore, Dance BFA Major from Oregon City, OR
What is Kinnect to you? Kinnect is a place for me to come together with other dancers and connect with them as well as others through dance.
What do you love best about it? I love the wonderful friendships I have made because of Kinnect and that I am able to be a part of the creative process of several different dances.
How did you hear about Kinnect? I heard about it on the BYU Dance Department website, but Angela (Rosales Challis) came to my modern class last semester and told us dancers about Kinnect.
What would you tell other dancers about it? Kinnect is a wonderful opportunity to be a part of the process that makes a dance team function. For example, this year we are creating dance films, so we dancers are part of the creative process, the location scouting, the performing, the filming, the directing, and the editing. It is a well-rounded experience, and totally worth it.
How has it changed you? Kinnect has helped me to gain more confidence in my ability as a dancer because the people are very supportive and loving.
Morgan Wadsworth: BYU Freshman, Elementary Education Major from Snoqualmie (Seattle), WA
Kinnect 2021 is doing things differently than any other year! They are preparing 6 pieces to film and send to Elementary Schools in Utah. One piece is a collaborative piece with BYU’s Living Legends, three of them are student choreographed, and the remaining two were choreographed by astounding choreographers Adam Dyer and Marc Cameron.
Two weeks ago Kinnect finished filming their first piece. The title is “Stronger Together” which will be printed — frame by frame — and sent out to thousands of elementary school students to color and create a dance animation with!
Kinnect is also preparing teaching resources to send to teachers at elementary schools all around Utah. These resources are an exciting way for the Kinnect dancers to connect with the students and teachers. Stay tuned for the BYU Dance Live Stream on May 7th, 2021, at 5:00 p.m. when Kinnect will showcase some of their work! Follow them on Instagram at @Byu_kinnect to see what they’re up to next!
Watch Kinnect’s latest promo video here:
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