High aspirations at new downtown dance center

A young dance company has big plans for its new downtown home.

MOvMNT Dance Center opened Jan. 23 at 702 Second Ave. SE in a huge upstairs space with wooden floors and a stage that has housed everything from teen clubs to martial arts studios over its long history. It's an outgrowth of the 33-member MOvMNT Dance Co., which began a few years ago in Cedar Rapids.

Company founder Lover Kidd said the center aims to provide an outlet for those who might otherwise miss the opportunity to learn dance.

The center offers “combo” classes for students from preschool to adult levels to learn the basics of several different styles. It also hosts specialized classes in Pilates, zumba, salsa, belly dance, hip hop, yoga, and break dancing.

That's all in addition to the regular rehearsals of the three different age categories of MOvMNT Dance Co., which specializes in modern dance and hip hop.

Kidd, a performer in Edgeworks Dance Theater in Washington, D.C. He started MOvMNT a few years ago when he moved back to Cedar Rapids from the Los Angeles area. Kidd grew up blocks from McKinley School in a lower income area of Cedar Rapids and became involved in performance at Washington High School. He studied dance at the University of Iowa.

Kidd said many nearby residents don't have a lot of extra income to spend on dance, so the center strives to be affordable. Classes cost only $60 for an eight-week session and do not include recitals, so parents or students don't have to invest in costumes or extra recital fees.

Students who want to perform often can audition for the MOvMNT Dance Co., Kidd says.

“I had a decent number of friends who were looking for a dance outlet,” he said. The mixed group included dancers with training and street dancers, many of them interested mainly in break dancing. But all were interested in expanding their abilities and performing together.

The group started in 2006 by performing at a show in conjunction with Arts Farm at the Jane Boyd Community House that was well received. It then performed at the downtown Farmers Market in Cedar Rapids and a global dance festival at CSPS. Momentum was growing, and Kidd decided to incorporate the group as a non-profit so it could apply for grants to teach dance to low-income children and young adults.

Kidd wants to see the center become a destination not only for local dancers but for dance graduates of Iowa's universities and colleges who want to teach and perform.

“We want to become the only professional hip-hop and contemporary dance company in Iowa to pay dancers to dance for us, rather than having them pay us to be part of a dance company,” said Kidd, who is professionally known as L.D. Kidd.

The center's only other employee is administrative assistant Lezlie Callaway, a University of Iowa dance graduate who was hired on as administrative assistant.

Kidd and Callaway see possibilities for growth in the old building, which has space for a yoga studio, weight training room and a future showering facility. They installed a wall of mirrors and repainted for the dance center, but don't want to invest too much in the space until they find out about its future.

The building was acquired in 2008 by St. Martin Land Co. for possible future redevelopment. It's across from one of the sites proposed for a new Cedar Rapids Public Library.