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Ashley Anderson spent her youth dancing with the Children's Dance Theater, which emphasizes creativity and personal efficacy. So it's no wonder that when Anderson returned home to Salt Lake City in 2009, after graduating with an MFA in dance from Virginia's Hollins University/American Dance Festival program, she wasn't looking to just fit in.

Most dance performances in town are affiliated with established companies or the University of Utah. "I wanted to extend an opportunity to anyone to show work, develop as a choreographer, and to create an easily accessed forum for the exchange of information about dance," Anderson says.

Creating the nonprofit Ashley Anderson Dances/loveDANCEmore, she took a three-prong approach to democratizing the local dance scene.

She modeled the presenting arm after the famous Judson Church movement, which gave rise to the postmodern dance scene in 1960s New York City. Searching for a space with a similar feel, Anderson found the large open Banquet Hall in downtown's Masonic Temple — a place where she could create her own aesthetic.

For the monthly forum, she sets up work lights to delineate a stage, while informal entrances and exits give permission to show work that's in process. Anderson hopes the feedback choreographers receive while conversing over coffee after performances will help shape the work toward performance in more formal settings.

Also under her artistic umbrella is the online blog lovedancemore.org, with videos, articles and reviews. Anyone can submit a review or comment, and a few have already created heated debate. "We care about open and critical dialogue," she says.

This month, there's also a free newspaper version of "learning to loveDancemore," which includes reviews and additional articles.

Her upcoming project is even more ambitious: The "dance-dance: a gallery of video" festival runs Jan. 25-30, concurrent with Sundance, at Trolley Square's Hive Gallery. The festival will screen 30 dance films from across the country.

If Anderson has her way, someday site-specific, improvisational movement will be seen in the atrium of Library Square, and it will hold the same importance as perfected masterpieces performed on the Capitol Theater stage.

Ashley Anderson, 26, Salt Lake City, is the founder of the Ashley Anderson Dances/loveDANCEmore nonprofit. —

dance-dance: a gallery of video

Screenings of 30 dance films from local and national filmmakers.

When • Jan. 25-30; Tuesday-Thursday, noon-9 p.m.; Friday-Sunday, noon-11 p.m.

Where • Hive Gallery, second floor, Trolley Square, 700 East between 500 and 600 South, Salt Lake City

Info • $10 general, $5 students; more information at http://www.lovedancemore.org or http://www.ashleyandersondances.com.