Yellowknife (Aug 04/06) - Complex movements. Beautifully synchronized participants. Ornate costumes. Confused and entertained onlookers.

Modern dance evokes many images, and it's about to give us another: more than a dozen recruits put through the wringer in a dance boot camp of sorts.

For the second year in a row, the Crazy Legs Contemporary Dance Company is holding its summer school at the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre, running from Aug. 14-19. The program is an intensive one-week crash course in modern dance, open to all comers, which will culminate in a free performance at NACC Aug. 19.

"Our mandate when we started was to try to promote and develop the dance community in Yellowknife," said organizer and Crazy Legs co-founder Darha Phillpot.

With help from the GNWT, she and co-founder Karen Johnson secured funding for two years of classes.

They said over a dozen people came out for last year's school and nine hung on for the final performance.

"We had high-schoolers all the way up to 50-plus. It was a great mix," Johnson said. "We had so much fun last year."

They said the school consists of five eight-hour days (from 1-9 p.m.) including training in dance technique, theatre (with Murray Utas) and developing new pieces, all of which will be on display on performance day.

"For me, it's the pure pleasure of physical expression; the joy in movement," Phillpot said of her love of dance. "There's not a feeling like it."

Johnson said a new development this year was interest from male participants, something she and Phillpot would like to see more of.

"If guys only knew how much girls like a guy who can dance, they would be knocking down the door," Johnson said with a laugh.

"It's very athletic," Phillpot added.

"It's not your stereotypical tutus and pointy shoes."

She said she is excited to see the outcome of this year's performance and hoped people could be convinced to try something a little different - particularly those in the artistic community, looking to "try something in a new discipline."

"You'll get a work-out, too," Johnson added.