LEWISTON – Auburn elementary school students are invited to attend a dance concert free. When asked why she was willing to give away tickets to Art Moves Dance Project’s premiere of “Life After Cynicism,” on Saturday, Aug. 25, Debi Irons replied, “I want them to experience something they have never seen before.”

During the 2006-2007 school year, Irons combined her experience of jazz, ballet, funk, hip-hop and Jamaican dance hall for an artist residency in the East Auburn, Fairview, Washburn and Park Avenue schools, supported by L/A Arts and the Auburn School Department.

If students e-mail Irons ([email protected]) giving their full name, age, address, grade, homeroom teacher and one of the dance moves they learned during the residency, Irons will send them a free ticket to the 7:30 p.m. show at the Franco-American Heritage Center.

Part of Art Moves Dance Project, the dance residencies started in 1999 when L/A Arts was looking for a dance teacher for Auburn Middle School. Irons created Art Moves into the Schools, which places a dance professional or a pair of teenagers trained in dance in weekly after-school programs to lead grades kindergarten to 12 students in building awareness and appreciation of self-expression and the creative process through dance.

In addition to regular classes, Art Moves into the Schools gives one-time workshops in schools that allow the students to be part of the action. This spring, Irons and her teen dancers gave workshops at the new Park Avenue School in Auburn and the new Paris Elementary School in South Paris.

At the start of the workshop, Irons teaches a group of students her Jamaican dance hall steps that the students perform the same day in front of their peers.

Irons said, “When I go into the schools, I am always amazed at how fast the kids learn the steps. It’s as though the music and space opens them up to receive information at an accelerated pace. The joy on their faces and the delight and amazement of their teachers and administrators is such a gift. It seems like magic, but it’s really just collaboration at its best.”

While the residencies are a venue for students, the collaboration, titled, “Life After Cynicism,” evolved from the project’s venue for professional dancers, Art Moves Dance Company. Niles Ford of Urban Dance Collective in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Irons met at the Bates Dance Festival and decided to continue their collaboration throughout a year of workshops, master classes and rehearsals.

Their first full ensemble performance premieres the weekend of Friday and Saturday, Aug. 24 and 25. Performances will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 24, at One Longfellow Square in Portland and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 25, at the Franco-American Heritage Center.

Tickets for Friday’s performance are available at the door. Tickets for Saturday’s performance are available at the Franco-American Heritage Center Box Office, 689-2000, Books-N-Things of Norway and Books-N-Things of Bethel. Prices for all performances are $15/adult, $10/student w/ID. Visit www.artmovesdance.com for more information.