Iowa is not traditionally known as a center of the arts or culture. However, a new dance company created by ISU dance faculty is trying to change that by bringing more attention to modern dance.

The Iowa Dance Collective will premiere during a performance titled “Embody the Elements” in the Betty Toman Theater in the Forker Building on Saturday and Sunday.

The show will feature works by the founding members of the group, with each piece focusing on either the earth, wind, fire or air.

“Each piece shares a sense of identification with one of the elements,” Laurie Sanda said. Sanda is an assistant professor of health and human performance and founding member of the Iowa Dance Collective.

Sanda said the group was formed to showcase art and modern dance in central Iowa but also to support one another.

“We wanted to support each other and show the community how much there is here,” Sanda said. “We wanted to break through the isolation we feel as artists and foster community.”

Kathleen Hurley, a founding member from Des Moines, said Iowa is “47th out of 50” in terms of funding for the arts in the United States. Forming the Iowa Dance Collective combined resources business-wise for the group, but also made it “artistically more interesting for the audience” with the combination of the different choreographers, she said.

“We are all creative and have lots of ideas, but it’s hard to work by yourself,” Sanda added.

In addition to the faculty and professionals that will be featured in the show, many Iowa State students will also be dancing. The addition of students helps to give more exposure to the new group, Hurley said.

“This is quite an exciting and new endeavor,” Hurley said. “There will be so much going on.”

Vernon Windsor, a dance accompanist at Iowa State, will be playing improvisational music as a “bookend” to the show, Hurley said. The dancers will be opening and closing the show with improvisational dance to Windsor’s compositions.

Hurley said that modern dance is “more expressive and open to individual interpretation” than a more formal style of dance, such as ballet.

“It is the difference between a pencil drawing and abstract art,” Hurley said. “Ballet would be the pencil drawing and modern dance would be the abstract art.”

The Iowa Dance Collective hopes to eventually have one show a month featuring professionals and students from the area. The group will be performing at the Des Moines Art Festival in July and at the Showmotion performance in August. The group is also planning performances throughout the summer and fall.