Unearthing movement as a vital form of expression for all people everywhere.
We believe high quality, cutting edge dance education should be made more accessible to everyday people
because dance is for everybody.
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SOMA began as an idea to make dance education more approachable to everyone from kids to adults, new learners to professional dancers. We believe in the power of movement to strengthen and heal the body and to give us new language for communication and appreciation of one another’s unique voices and experiences.
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We also believe that high quality, expert art education has the power to take learner wherever they desire to go in the world. We aim to heighten the quality and expectations of dance education in a place lacking access to high quality dance education and overall performance opportunities. We want to train students who want to go places— and wherever you want to go, we want to help get you there.
SOMA was started by director and co-founder Trevor Edwards while he was living in Nashville and performing with a professional company there. Earlier that year, he had been touring nationally with another company and questioning the direction his career was taking. Towards the end of his year there, he knew he needed to do something different and more impactful with his time and experiences.
Having had experience with the many directions a career in dance can take, Trevor’s strongest desire was to be an educator and to have the flexibility and freedom to continue creating his own works. Glasgow was an ideal place to get out of the oversaturated city while also bringing a level of dance education that was lacking.
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SOMA Center for Dance was born the summer of 2019 in a tiny studio we quickly outgrew. Together with his partner Chris and colleague from the dance program at Western Kentucky University, Abbey Lutts, Trevor began laying a foundation for a new style of dance education that was far more expansive and inclusive than anything Glasgow had seen.
Now having produced two full shows (one being a full-length dance film festival!) and sprouted a sister organization, Glasgow Dance Theatre, SOMA is well on its way to being the premier dance community in Southern Kentucky.
But our horizons aren’t limited. By founding GDT (Glasgow Dance Theatre) as a locally-focused dance performance and outreach organization, we hope to continue inspiring our local community. However, we are also globally minded in our approach to providing highly accessible dance education and aim to expand our online educational programs through SOMA over the next years.
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We hope you’ll choose to join the growing dance community at SOMA and help us continue building something truly beautiful. Whether you are a new mover or a career dancer, we hope to provide you with the tools you need to stay sharp and become more expansive in your movement vocabulary and training.
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