DancEgypt's summer program is a confessional through dance

DancEgypt wants you to come witness a confession.

The group, which has been performing different styles of Middle Eastern dancing in the city for the last 31 years, is preparing for its summer program, Confessions of a Dancer, allowing a peek into the world behind the curtain and at the motivations and personalities behind each performance.

“It’s quite a wide range of women who dance together,” said Stephanie Chandran, one of the group’s newer members, who has been with DancEgypt for three years. “You’re going to get a lot of different insights into the dancers because there are a lot of different stories.”

In the weeks leading up to the performances on July 15 and 16, each dancer had a confession or two videotaped to be played on screen before each dance.

No one is sure exactly which confessions will make it into the show, but many shared confessions of sisterhood, acceptance, support, love of dance — and more costume malfunctions than can be counted.

“We’ve really included a small part of everyone,” said Chandran.

This program is focused on creating an intimate setting between dancer and audience. The group even decided to move from the Remai Modern Arts Centre’s larger mainstage, where they have been dancing for the last two years, to the more intimate and interactive backstage — a better choice for the more personal theme, said DancEgypt founders Elaine Mantyka and Monica Kreuger, both of whom have been dancing for well over three decades.

“What Middle Eastern dance is, is really about that person to

CONFESSIONS OF A DANCER Presented by DancEgypt Dance Co.

When: July 15 at 7:30 p.m.; July 16 at 2 p.m. Where: The Backstage Stage at the Remai Arts Centre Tickets: available online for $30 (adult) $25 (student/ senior) $10 (child)

person. It’s very interactive, very personal, and if you remove it to a stage you lose that,” Mantyka explained. “We wanted to get back to that more personal setting.”

It was also an opportunity for some dancers, like Lindsay Deslauriers, to learn more about herself and also the people she has spent 15 years dancing with.

“Partly I didn’t think people would want to hear what I have to say,” she said, laughing. “But it’s been really good, just talking to the other dancers and finding out we all had the same worries. So it’s been kind of fun, getting to know the people I’ve danced with for years a little better.”

With the company’s mix of rookies and experienced dancers, there is no shortage of performance day jitters, but Kreuger said the group’s drive to interact and connect with the audience always helps to push those feelings aside.

“You want to make sure that the audience is able to feel even part of your passion for this dance form. You want to be in the moment, you want to be right there willing to share everything you could possibly share in that moment. Yeah, there are absolutely some nerves that go with that, but as soon as you hit the stage they disappear.”