When Director Alden LaPaglia self-produced her first concert at the Merce Cunningham studio in 2007, the dance world was fragmented by style, and concert dance seemed to hold limited mainstream appeal. She envisioned forming a repertory company that would draw forward choreography reflective of a blending of the styles within dance and contemporary pop culture as well. Over the last two decades, social media has increasingly encouraged this blending of style while also drawing new interest in dance, and LaPaglia has expanded her vision to include a school where every child can cultivate their inner dancer.

Through the last 10 years of working with these budding dancers, LaPaglia has striven to create work that connects with students and with audiences. Gravitating towards immersive performance events--like her annual Nutcracker and those that bring concert dance into the community at large--she reaches through the proverbial fourth wall, creating memories and community through shared experiences. Heavy or light, her work sparks the human connections we need to temper a digital world, inviting us to come off our screens and into the moment. By appealing to the humanity in us all, it shows that we are more alike than we are different and that the most effective way to change minds is by changing hearts.

Under her direction, ALDEN MOVES Dance Theater inspires new generations of artists and audiences at their playground for the arts in Prospect Park South, where students mingle with professionals and the whole family can discover--or revisit-their joy of movement, music, and dancing.