Despite cuts that have decreased the number of annual performances the group puts on, Children’s Dance Theatre is scheduled to present its showcase Saturday.

The event will run from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the Osterhout Concert Theater in the Anderson Center.

“This year, the dances include two hip-hop pieces, a tap, a Broadway, two modern, two barley dances, belly dance and many more,” Kate DeMarco, a junior majoring in English with a theater minor, and one of the group’s student managers and choreographers, said.

The Saturday matinee performance gives CDT, an Student Association-chartered group, the opportunity to raise funds for future performances, and also to cater to Greater Binghamton families and youth groups.

“We normally do them [the shows] on Thursday, Friday and one on Saturday for friends and family on campus,” DeMarco said. “But this year unfortunately there will be only two shows because of budget cuts in local elementary schools.”

DeMarco said that the elementary school students are a significant segment of the audience, and that budget cuts in schools mean that the kids go on fewer field trips. Knowing that schools would be attending in fewer numbers, the CDT cut the number of shows.

“The reason why we are called Children’s Dance Theatre is because children from elementary schools come and watch our performances,” DeMarco said. “Not only do we do dance … we do volunteer work in the neighborhood.”

The group is made up of choreographers and dancers who are all students at BU.

“Children’s Dance Theatre has served the Broome County area for 34 years, and it is one of the oldest dance groups in Binghamton University,” said Rhaeann Hawkes, faculty director of CDT.

Over the years, the group has traveled to elementary schools in Binghamton and other parts of Broome County to perform and teach dances, DeMarco said. This is in addition to the group’s free performances for school children held on the BU campus.

Since CDT began in 1975, the group’s purpose is to expose the art of dance and theater performance to children from kindergarten up through either sixth or seventh grades, according to DeMarco.

Hawkes added that it is also the aim of the group to further educate children about the benefits of dance and theater performances.

Tickets for this dance showcase are available and will also be sold at the door on Saturday. The concert costs $5 for adults, including BU students, and $2 for children 12 years and under.

There are also special advance prices for groups who plan to attend as a unit. For more information on the show and on rates contact Rhaeann Hawkes at (607) 777-6951.