Strictly Seattle

As a veteran of the dance-recital scene, I can testify that three weeks is a scarily short amount of time to design and learn a performance piece well enough for a paying audience. It’s doable, but daunting--one of those “only the brave or the insane go there” type of endeavors. That’s precisely the point of the “Strictly Seattle” dance intensives, which cater to the brave and the insane (and the flexible). Essentially you sign up to be swallowed by dance for three weeks. During those weeks, professional choreographers and producers—here including Tiffany Mills, Paige Barnes, Maki Morinoue, and others--put together a piece for you to perform in the two final recitals. It’s one thing when it’s your mom and dad in the crowd. Tonight’s ticket buyers here will demand to see more than what they get at your little cousin’s ballet class. Broadway Performance Hall, 1625 Broadway Ave., 325-8773, www.velocitydancecenter.org. $18. 8 p.m. Fri., July 25-Sat., July 26.EMMA BREYSSE
Fri., July 25, 8 p.m.; Sat., July 26, 8 p.m., 2008