SMAG Dance Collective is a contemporary fusion dance company founded by Michael  Groomes in 2003. Michael saw an opportunity to create an organization that would  appeal to a non-traditional as well as traditional dance audience and provide an  opportunity for dancers who otherwise would not get the chance due to economic, time,  parental, and training needs. SMAG’s mission is to provide opportunity for dancers and choreographers, educate and  entertain diverse audiences and to bridge the gap between artists, arts organizations and  the community.  SMAG has performed regularly in Dayton, Ohio at many events. Urban Nights,  Masquerage, Octoberfest, Tuesday Tales, First Fridays to name a few. In addition to  making appearances at events SMAG also produces several shows through our  performing season. Seasonal events such as SMAGMare, which occurs in October and is a haunted house/nightmare a la dance. An Urban Nutcracker, which is done in December and is an “urban” take on the original Nutcracker and our Spring Fling that is purely  devoted to the art of dance, challenging, physical, dynamic and insightful works are  performed. The Spring Fling also serves as a showcase for emerging choreographers. SMAG is a company that will perform in unique venues and spaces. Some of the places  SMAG has performed are restaurants, nightclubs/bars, street corners, fields, a pit, on  scaffolding and in the street. SMAG has a history of working with other artists that are not traditional pairings for  dance. Painters, clothes designers and spoken word artists are a few of the people that  SMAG has collaborated with. SMAG continues to collaborate with other organizations  and as a part of our mission SMAG has spearheaded the effort to dialogue with other arts producing organizations on developing more collaborations to push the impetus of the  region towards being an Arts and Cultural destination. SMAG’s style is the contemporary dance genre, which is a combination of training in  ballet, modern and jazz dance techniques to create a more diverse dancer and a fusion of  ethnic and social forms of dance, such as hip-hop, house, Latin, African, Middle Eastern  and Eastern. This combination of styles produces a dynamic, entertaining and engaging  presentation. SMAG is a not-for profit organization that is funded by grants, fundraisers, donors and  appearance fees for performances.