Ballet West dancers help raise money for yoga nonprofit InBody Outreach

It's not every day you can watch the beauty of dance and help someone at the same time. But next Sunday, you can.

Unity, an evening of dance performances, will present an emotional collage of dance, video testimonials and a pitch by former Ballet West soloist Kate Crews Linsley.

Linsley is the director of InBody Outreach, a nonprofit organization that brings the benefits of yoga to victims of trauma or abuse. It is a labor of love because it runs strictly on volunteers. And Linsley is the most passionate volunteer-in-chief.

Linsley has enlisted the talent of dancers from Ballet West and Ririe-Woodbury Company to put together a fundraiser for InBody Outreach. "We're using the dance as a platform to show the wide range of people who can be helped through [yoga] therapy," she said.

At present, InBody has 75 volunteers who work with some 60 programs, including Volunteers of America, the Rape Recovery Center, Youth City Summer Program, Rivers of Recovery (for vets with PTSD) and the International Rescue Committee. "Each organization is different," Linsley said.

For example, when they go to the YMCA to work with kids, the yoga teachers/volunteers go outside. They might hold a group class for teens. If working with PTSD or rape clients, they make sure to teach in a calm, safe environment.

Each organization has procedures that InBody volunteers must follow while providing therapy to the clientele. And there's the rub.

InBody has to provide training for its volunteers so they can work with a specialized population. For victims of PTSD, alcohol abuse or rape, InBody volunteers use guided meditation and breathing, aimed at making students feel safe in their own bodies and in their own environments. To provide that kind of training translates to teacher training programs.

"Certifications cost money, and that's why we need the fundraiser," Linsley said. "We want to keep the yoga free."

As for the concert, "the idea is to have the dancers pick what emotion they want to portray," she said.

Michael Bearden, of Ballet West, will present a new piece he's choreographed called "Hand in Hand," about the "struggles faced by people and how two individuals can work through things together moving forward hand-in-hand."

Trisha McBride will be performing a belly dance, while John Cottrell will present "a yoga-based tribal journey."

But there will also be classical, passionate ballet. In all, there will be six pieces by Ballet West dancers.

In addition, Brad Beakes, of Ririe-Woodbury, will dance a pas de deux. —

InBody Outreach Fundraiser

Join dancers from Ballet West for Unity, dance performances in support of InBody Outreach. The nonprofit is designed to bring yoga instruction and meditation and breath awareness classes to trauma victims. The organization also trains volunteers to teach yoga and breathing to at-risk populations.

When • Sunday, Aug. 5, at 4 p.m.

Where • Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, Rose Wagner Black Box Theater, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City

Tickets • $18.50; arttix.org