Company of Dance Arts

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The Company of Dance Arts (CODA), a 501 (C) (3) nonprofit corporation, was founded in 1985 under the direction of Jennifer Church, A.I.S.T.D., Adv., making its debut and performing Octoberfest at the Citicorp Building in New York City. Ms. Church cultivated the first small group of 12 dancers to its present size of over 150 company dancers. As Artistic Director, her aim has been to expose pre-professional dancers to "the real life rigors of a professional dancer! ... it’s not just tutus and diamonds," says Ms. Church. CODA continues this tradition as exemplified through our mission statement: "The Company serves first and foremost to provide young dancers with performance opportunities that meet professional standards of artistic development, performance values and production qualities."

Dancers for each production are normally chosen from open auditions. They range in age from 6 to 18 years with the average age of the corps de ballet dancers being 14. Daily training is essential for the corps dancers to be technically prepared and all rehearsal time, approximately 12 hours each week, is strictly in addition to class time. At the corps de ballet level, the dancer is at the studio perhaps 15 to 22 hours each week for class; at the junior corps de ballet level, the student is training an average of 10 hours weekly. Most of our young children study classical ballet at least 2 hours weekly, with many studying much more.

CODA dancers have rehearsed and performed alongside guest dancers from New York City Ballet, American Repertory Ballet, New Jersey’s Garden State Ballet, Alvin Ailey, Catanach Ballet Theater, and the Joffrey Ballet. Working with such renowned choreographers as Peter Anastos, Frank Ohman, Yvonne Lamb Scudiery and Daniel Catanach give the young dancers the experience they can put to full use later in their careers.

The Company of Dance Arts has mounted successful productions at regional venues including the the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, Monmouth University’s Guggenheim Theater in West Long Branch, Rutger’s University, Camden, the historic Strand Theatre in Lakewood, the Mary B. Burch Theater in Newark, Red Bank Regional High School, Red Bank, the Park Theater in Union City, and Montclair High School in Montclair. Our repertoire includes:

The Company of Dance Arts is administered by an all-volunteer Board of Trustees. Many aspects of the production - including set design and construction, advertising and promotion, ticket sales - all aspects of bringing a production to life are generated in-house by volunteers. Our total operating budget is approximately $160,000 and does not include "in kind" services from our volunteers. Our revenues are earned through ticket sales, grants, and long difficult hours fund raising. Our productions have gained the recognition of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. In addition, we have received grants from the Bell Atlantic Foundation, Citicorp, the Monmouth County Arts Council, the Charles E. and Joy C. Pettinos Foundation, and the John Day Funeral Home, Red Bank.

CODA is proud of its statewide reputation for the professional caliber of our performances. Our pre-professional dancers have gone on to study (with many receiving full scholarships) and perform with such noted institutions as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Alvin Ailey School, Ballet Lubbock, Boston Ballet, Boston Conservatory, Catanach Ballet Theater, Dance Theater of Harlem, Garden State Ballet, New York City Ballet, North Carolina School of the Arts, Ohio Ballet,  Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet, Purchase University, School of American Ballet, Staten Island Ballet, The Juilliard School, The Washington Ballet School, Urban Ballet Theater, and the Wolfgang Bocksch Company.