How do we do this? 

 

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Provide a Platform.

Since the festival’s inception in 2016, PSIDF has commissioned over 30 dance companies and choreographers from around the world in Palm Springs. PSIDF not only encourages artists to create dance works, but provides them an audience to learn about the presented company’s organization, opportunities to educate and engage with youth, and network with other producers to sustain work for their future. 

 

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Enhance our Community.

It is said that only 3% of Americans witness concert dance. We aim to change this by exposing the communities found within the Coachella Valley, and all those who visit this great land and allowing them an opportunity to witness, analyze, and share their thoughts about dance. 

 

PSIDF acknowledges that we gather on the traditional lands of Indigenous peoples, namely the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. We give honor to the land itself and the people who have stewarded it throughout the generations. NRD gives much gratitude to these traditional stewards of the land we work, play, and live in.

 

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Comprehensive Education.

PSIDF curates a line-up of 8 - 24 masterclasses in all styles of dance from classical, commercial, cultural, and experimental.

 

PSIDF works directly with Palm Springs, Desert Sands, and the Coachella Valley Unified School Districts to provide either no or low-cost opportunities for youth to be exposed to a higher caliber of concert dance not found in the desert. Although, at this time only 1% of the dance institutes here in the Coachella Valley participate in the festival’s programming. By 2020, we began to see a positive change in the desert's involvement.

 

The majority of the 400 students that attend PSIDF travel to Palm Springs from other towns, states, and even countries. These students during the festival are provided a performance opportunity and access to all professional programming produce during the festival. 

 

 

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Diversity & Culture.

The backbone of PSIDF is highlighting the wide range of cultures found in dance. 

 

From the 1500s where Ballet is found in the royal courts, the contemporary exploration in the 1900s that lead to American Modern Dance, to how the earliest forms of dance found in Africa lead to Jazz, Tap, and Hip-Hop as we know it today. Dance has always been here, and with each form of dance we present, there is a different story revealed about our world’s culture. We leave it to the community of artists, the general public, and the children within the public to absorb these stories and be guided into tomorrow with a great understanding of humanity and how we are all connected. 

 

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What is the definition of culture?

 

The customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social groups.