In the Space of Us isn’t the typical dance production staged in Bermuda.

Dominique Willis intends it as a gift to the community — rehearsals are open for public viewing, workshops are free to attend, and local dancers are being paid for their work.

“I am very grateful for all of the scholarships and sponsorships that I got as a student here. The Peter Leitner Arts Scholarship and the National Dance Foundation [of Bermuda] and the Ross Blackie Talbot scholarship and all of those organisations that funded my education are very much a part of the reason why I am doing this,” she said.

“I hope that they can see the ripple effect of funding me 20 years ago, the ripple of that to the next part of the community.”

Ms Willis performed with Wonderbound Ballet Theatre, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, Bodiography Contemporary Ballet and Gaspard & Dancers before retiring from full-time performing last year to concentrate on choreography.

She is based in Colorado, where she teaches at the Denver Academy of Ballet and works with Movement Migration Dance Company. She also serves on the board of the National Dance Foundation of Bermuda.

In the Space of Us has been in development for three years. The production is presented by Ms Willis in collaboration with Honor Minors, Krystal Lowe and the Bermuda Society of Arts.

The show is made up of seven separate works that explore themes of community, intimacy, loss, conflict, resilience and survival.

Set across two acts, personal stories and imagined worlds examine how relationships with others, with communities and within ourselves develop, come under strain and change over time. Some of the pieces have evolved over the past three years, while others were created specifically for the dancers now rehearsing in Bermuda.

In the Space of Us also includes collaborations beyond dance. One new work exploring the weight of adult life, responsibility and the demands that come with it combines Ms Willis’s choreography with poetry by Ms Lowe and visual art by Ms Minors.

“The purpose of each piece is to invite the audiences to reflect on the relationships that shape our lives,” Ms Willis said.

Ava-Joy Moreno, Skye Minors and Arielle Lee Ming will join her, Ms Minors and Ms Lowe onstage at the Earl Cameron Theatre on Friday and Saturday.

Dancing with them will be artists Ms Willis has worked alongside during a 20-year career that has taken her to Italy, Mexico and the United States: MJ Edwards, Maxx Reed, Morgan Sicklick, Samuel Mayer, Emily Poli, Edgar Kawoq Aguirre, Deniz Erkan Sancak and Danielle Lieberman.

“One thing I love about Bermuda is that we're so diverse. People come from different places, our families are super mixed, and you don't get to see that everywhere else,” Ms Willis said.

“I value that in art, and this cast is so diverse — in their training, their backgrounds, what part of the world they're from, what they believe in.”

While the international artists volunteered their time, Ms Willis said it was important that the Bermudians — some of whom are only just beginning their professional careers — experienced the professional standards they should expect in the industry.

“They should know what a contract looks like and what a conversation of negotiations should sound like,” she said.

“I want them to know what they're worth, so that when they get into a situation where it doesn't feel like they're being valued, that they know when to walk away …. I want to [show them] what a positive experience looks like.”

Through her work on the National Dance Foundation board, Ms Willis has watched many young Bermudians pursue careers overseas. She hopes In the Space of Us will become the first of many opportunities she provides for talented dancers on island.

“It was important to me that this concert, and all the ones that come after this, that Bermudians have work on the island,” she said.

“We have a lot of professional dancers, but all of us have spent all of our careers overseas, myself included, and so I want to now, as I've retired from the stage in a full-time capacity and really transitioned as a choreographer, want to make sure that I'm providing that place for them.”

• In the Space of Us runs at the Earl Cameron Theatre on Friday and Saturday at 7pm. Tickets are available throughbdatix.comanddominique-creates.com