“It is getting more and more difficult each year to get bodies to work,” Groomes, a former member of Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. “It is time to walk away before I start disliking dance.”
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The company has struggled to retain its volunteer dancers since 2008, he said. The dancers are unpaid.
SMAG’s last show, “Good Tidings,” will begin at 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16 at the Dayton Playhouse, 1301 E. Siebenthaler Ave., Dayton.
“It’s been long overdue,” he said. “It was just me not wanting to let go.”
SMAG’s costumes and equipment will be sold after Dec. 17 and the company will shut down for good in May 2018.
Next week's free show will include guest preformances from Funk Lab, Kip Moore, Mama Renee and McClendon Institute Dancers and Brittany Lewis.
Groomes said the SMAG troupe is down to two dancers and a youth.
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At its height, the company had nine dancers who were selected by audition.
Groomes said he was disheartened when he was not able to assemble enough dancers for SMAG’s annual presenation of “An Urban Nutcracker.”
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The dedication from dancers simply is not there, he said.
"It is really getting to be more of a frustration than a love and joy of my heart," he said.
“I needed to step back from it, give myself a chance to do something to for me.”
Groomes said that may include teaching and more choreography.
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He said he started SMAG to give dancers who otherwise would not have had an opportunity to dance a platform to express their craft.
He pointed out the single moms who have danced for SMAG in past years and how he would hold their children while they rehearsed.
He said he wanted the fusion aspects of dance — hip hop and modern dance, in particular — and to bridge the gap between artists who often live in isolated worlds.
“You can multitask with a lot of different arts organizations and still come up with a nice, entertaining product for people,” Groomes said. “There are all kinds of people on stage with us at one time.”
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