BYU Alum and International Dance Arts Collective Founder Alexandra Shadle Empowers Students to Be Peacemakers Through Dance
When Alexandra Shadle first stepped onto BYU campus as a student, she planned to double major in dance and French. Although she ultimately chose to complete her degree in French, it was her time in the BYU International Folk Dance Ensemble (IFDE) that shaped the trajectory of her professional and personal life.
“The best experience of my college career was performing with the BYU International Folk Dance Ensemble,” Shadle said. “Through cultural dance and music I felt deeply connected to my brothers and sisters of the world. I knew that our lives looked very different, but we shared this special human connection through cultural dance and music where I felt nothing but love and unity.”
Shadle credits her BYU mentors — Delynee Peay, Ed Austin and Jeanette Geslison—for inspiring her to carry forward the motto “Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve.” Their influence ignited her passion to preserve and share cultural dance with future generations.
That passion led her to found the International Dance Arts Collective (IDAC) in 2021, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting and preserving cultural dances by teaching them to youth and sharing the message of peace through dance. Under her direction, IDAC students have performed in schools, festivals and community events and this year they represented the United States at an international folk festival in Vatra Dornei, Romania.
The Romania festival carried special meaning for Shadle. More than twenty years earlier she had toured with BYU IFDE in Belgium and France wearing a brilliant blue clogging costume affectionately known among dancers as “Big Blue.” Recently, when IFDE cleared out old costume storage, Shadle gratefully received a set of those same dresses. In Romania, she watched her daughter and her team perform in the very costumes she had once worn on tour.
“It was a full circle moment,” Shadle reflected. “My heart was bursting with joy to see my students — my daughter included — having life-changing experiences in the same way I did at BYU.”
Shadle’s work with IDAC has also taken her students to stages at the Junction City Scandinavian Festival in Oregon, where they performed a Danish Suite choreographed by BYU IFDE Director Jeanette Geslison. Several of her students, many with Scandinavian heritage, cherished the chance to connect with their culture through dance.
Looking back, Shadle sees her BYU education as foundational to her life’s mission. “Studying cultural dance at BYU opened my eyes to the beauty of diversity — of belief, tradition and culture,” she said. “It has led me to be more open-minded, empathetic and filled with love. It has solidified my belief that we are all beloved children of God. My hope is that my students also become peacemakers in their communities through the power of dance.”