Dancer, educator and choreographer Lacey Bates is the founder of a brand-new Charleston-based dance company, Collective SC, which will host its first event and fundraiser, the Holy City Dance Festival, at South of Broadway Theater in North Charleston on June 22.
Bates told the Charleston City Paper she is excited to present a stellar lineup of local and guest choreographers in this showcase-style production.
“The idea for this festival is to give emerging choreographers a space to present their work,” Bates said. “For the Collective as a whole, the aim is to give dancers more professional opportunities here in Charleston. All of my dancers are paid hourly — professional opportunities here are not common; usually you have to go to a bigger city to find professional work. So making space for dancers here in Charleston really is the goal.”
Bates is a South Carolina native who grew up in Myrtle Beach, attended the College of Charleston and, during her time here, danced with Annex Dance Company and Dance Lab’s Entertainment Company.
Then, she spent five years in the vibrant dance community of San Francisco and was a co-founder of a company there, called Collective S.F. When it closed during the Covid lockdown (plus, Bates was missing her home state), she decided she wanted to bring a piece of California back with her.
So Bates took a leap of faith and started Collective SC at the end of 2023. In places with bigger dance communities, like New York and California, there are a lot of these kinds of dance festivals and open applications for emerging artists, Bates explained.
“My goal is to create more opportunities for not only dancers but choreographers as well,” Bates said. “I felt like I needed to move 2,000 miles away to have a dance career.”
Collective SC is her response to that feeling.
“Charleston has so much going on arts-wise. I think the potential for dance is there, too, but we have to just make it happen.”
Showcasing choreography
Audience members can look forward to an evening of contemporary dance where seven local choreographers will present new work, plus one out-of-state guest choreographer. Those presenting work include Bates, Izzy Byers, Kandyce Gardner, Lucy Dillon, Jessie Natusch (Charleston Modern Collective), Taylor Rice, Tiara Scarlett (Scarlett Rose), Allie Boyd (The Dance Space) and Tori Kabernagel.
“My goal is to bring audiences a fresh perspective on contemporary dance by welcoming a sense of collaboration,” Bates said.
Working with South of Broadway Theater, Bates put out an open call in the fall of 2023 for choreographers in the area. The resulting showcase will present 11 different dance pieces, mostly contemporary.
“For the first production, I wanted to make it more of a community event that gives opportunities to emerging artists and choreographers in the area, because I find that’s a real need here,” she said.
Tickets start at $20 through citypapertickets.com for the 7 p.m. show on June 22. Collective SC invites its audience to join with the dancers and choreographers for drinks and conversation after the show.
“I want to do anything I can to make people feel welcome, to have fun and feel relaxed,” Bates said. “I really want to connect with the audience members and community as a whole — talk to them about what they liked, what they didn’t like. I want to create a sense of fellowship, and fun, really, in addition to seeing some awesome dance.”
She aims to expand the festival next year and make it into the Collective SC’s annual fundraising event. Bates will also begin offering a class series, starting in July, after a trip up North to present her own choreography at New York City’s Emergent Dance Festival.
Learn more at collectivescdance.com and @collectivescdance on Instagram.
Find tickets for the Holy City Dance Festival at citypapertickets.com.
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