Mission Statement
Odyssey Dance Theatre’s mission is to provide quality entertainment and artistic excellence in theatrical dance as a professional dance company; to provide employment for Utah’s talented dancers; to exercise and maintain fiscal responsibility and be debt free; and to make theatrical dance more accessible to a wide audience by utilizing current social themes and music, as well as creating and re-creating classical and full-length works that are exciting to all demographics.
Odyssey Dance Theatre operates within the following context:
- 1. Historical – reflecting ballet’s ancient roots and history.
- 2. Aesthetic – reflecting dance’s evolution into one of the most refined, energetic, and entertaining art forms.
- 3. Contemporary – commitment to performing works by the world’s best and most innovative choreographers.
- 4. Popular – reflecting its commitment to making dance more accessible to a wide audience.
Odyssey History
Founded in 1994 and directed by Derryl Yeager, former Ballet West Principal, Broadway, Television, and Film veteran, Odyssey Dance Theatre explodes with world-class bravado, passionate charm, and choreographic invention, combining the classical virtues of ballet with the attack of jazz; the freedom of modern dance; the raw energy of hip-hop; the syncopated rhythms of tap; the fluid partnering of ballroom; and the spirit of Broadway and Vaudeville to create a fresh dance vocabulary and entertainment genre that engages audiences across the country and around the world. The use of contemporary, popular music, along with classical, makes it exceptionally appealing to a broad based demographic.
Odyssey employs 24 dancers, more than half of whom are Utah born. The company gives these highly proficient dancers a chance to make their home here (when they could dance anywhere they choose) and to still realize their dreams of dancing with one of the pre-eminent dance companies in the field. Odyssey Dance Theatre dancers are equally proficient in every style of dance, including ballet; tap; jazz; modern; Irish; ballroom; and funk/hip-hop. Odyssey’s creative repertoire, versatility and multi-talented and spirited dancers give the company a sustainable, competitive advantage. The company has carved a unique niche in the local, national and international dancescape and has, in fact, created a whole, new market for dance.
You may ask what we’ve done over the past 30 years…
- Employing hundreds of Utah’s talented dancers
- Nurturing emerging artists through the Company’s Odyssey 2 Pre-Professional Scholarship Program
- Giving hundreds of dance students the opportunity to perform with a professional company in Thriller, ReduxNut-Cracker and It’s a Wonderful Life
- Winning Best of State Best Dance Company 18 times and Best of All Arts & Entertainment, not once, but twice
- Making Utah a better place to live and attracting businesses to the State
- Providing live performance art access to thousands of at risk youth in our community, by donating free tickets and delighting them with free school performances
- Producing over 60 original, innovative works, including seven full-length productions and thereby creating a unique niche in the local, national and international dancescape and a whole, new market for dance
- Touring Europe 15 times to standing room only and standing ovations and receiving the Best Show of the Year and Season Award in Unterfoehring, Germany
- Garnering world wide recognition when 9 Odyssey dancers made it to the top 10 of Hit TV Show So You Think You Can Dance
- Earning 80% of its revenue from ticket sales
