Fidèle Youth Dance Company to finish 10th season with the stage premiere of “Bring Her Home”
It all started with a 310-page PDF.
“I got to read ‘Bring Her Home’ as a rough draft, and I was immediately excited to bring it to the stage,” Fidèle Youth Dance Company Director Mimi McKinnis said.
This weekend, FYDC will perform its 10th annual production at the Wasson Academic Campus Auditorium, bringing Australian author Hannah Currie’s take on “The Prodigal Son” to life through ballet, worship and, for the first time, ballroom dance. Another first for the company? A royal love story, complete with plenty of sword-fighting knights, secret-keeping princesses and feuding kingdoms to keep audience members on the edge of their seats.
“I love that we’re still coming up with new ways to show His message on stage,” McKinnis, who has served as director since the company’s inception, said. “That’s not an easy feat after creating a decade’s worth of original productions.”
In that case, it all started with lunch at Il Vicino.
That’s where the company was first set in motion, in the spring of 2014, when Turning Pointe Dance owner Tina Cook proposed the idea following the successful debut of the studio’s musical theater company that January.
“I loved that we were providing an additional performance opportunity for our musical theater kids and a way to connect to the community, but I also started dreaming about this kind of opportunity for our dance students,” Cook said. “Not necessarily performing ballets that we all know like ‘The Nutcracker’ or ‘Swan Lake,’ but something that is unique and shows that would bring in Biblical stories to bring hope to the community.”
In the spring of 2015, FYDC performed its first show titled “Firebird,” based on the children’s book of the same name, and the company began creating a legacy of gospel-driven theater within the studio. Since that first production, the company has seen its share of challenges, from a late spring blizzard that threatened to strand cast members during production weekend, to a water main break that threatened to close the production venue the day of a show’s premiere, and a global pandemic that threatened to change the performing arts as we knew them for years.
“It’s a crazy decade to look back on for sure,” McKinnis said. “But God always knew the potential of FYDC, even when it was hard to see. This season, with this story for our 10th year in particular, I think of the crown jewels on the Raedonleith royals, and how they started off as lumps of coal. It takes time and energy to dig them up and spot their potential, and an elite craftsman to create what we see in a king’s crown. Even when things were rough, we continued to put in the work and give Him our best, knowing that He’d refine the lumps of coal and use them in His masterpiece.”
Now heading into their Decennial season, FYDC has a lot to celebrate. Their 2021 production of “Lionheart” was the most successful to-date, topped only by 2022’s adaptation of “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” which is currently being studied by a Professor of Theology at Biola University in Southern California.
“If you had told me that a year after navigating a pandemic, the author of ‘The Lady and the Lionheart’ would post a video raving about our company and production to 1.16 thousand subscribers, I don’t think I would have believed you,” McKinnis said. “It’s just so amazing to see the ripple effect of His work in this company, from the dancers it’s grown to the creators it’s connected.”
FYDC’s 2023 season saw the creation of a historical romance, adapting “Bring Her Home” with the goal of using dance to show that the King will always show up to fight for His children. Traditionally, the Royal Standard is that, when you see a flag flown at a palace, it means that the Sovereign is present. It indicates to others that the King is in residence. This season, as FYDC prepared to tell a royal tale, they made a commitment to raise the flag. Not just on the stage in November, but in the studio every single week, and throughout the city every single day, staying true to the mission they established at that fateful lunch nearly a decade ago.
“We actually have a little FYDC flag that we put up in the studio during rehearsals, and another one that’s been passed around to go home with different cast members week to week,” McKinnis said. “It’s a great reminder to invite Him into the process, and who we’re really dancing for. He is present in our dreams for this company, and we have big ones. This year we're creating a completely original production to tell a story no one has ever told on stage before. Since 2014, we've dreamt our big dreams, and asked God to shape them, scrub them, and steward them, like the verse that’s always been etched in our logo: ‘Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory.’”
“I am so thankful for the dream of FYDC that He planted in mine and Ms. Tina's heart so many years ago, and for the many hearts we've reached on the stage and in the studio over the last 10 years," McKinnis continued.. "As we head into our next 10 years, even when this royal season is over, we're going to keep raising the flag.”
Audiences have three chances to see a live performance of “Bring Her Home,” Saturday, November 11, at 2 or 6 p.m., or a Sunday matinee November 12 at 2 p.m. at the Roy J. Wasson auditorium (2115 Afton Way). The company will celebrate its 10th season with a special alumni performance prior to the Saturday 6 p.m. performance, and honor the seniors who will graduate this year prior to the Sunday matinee. Tickets and information are available now at FideleYouthDanceCompany.com, or can be purchased directly here: https://28948.danceticketing.com/r/events/