Performances and Events

Time Piece is a moment of convergence between Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre, the Flying Foot Forum, and Katha Dance Theatre bringing the punch, power, and poetry of the human heart and human nature to the matter of time. Each company brings its earthy folk roots and deep connections to their forms while expanding and expressing a creativity that still rings true in these complex modern times. The evening will also include collaborations between these three remarkable percussive dance powerhouse companies, finding new flavors and powers within this melange.

May 15-18: Final weekend!
Thursday-Saturday at 7:30pm, Sunday at 2:00pm
Location: Park Square Theatre — Andy Boss Thrust Stage
Tickets: $20-$30 plus fees

World premieres include Flying Foot Forum’s “Dandelions or How to Love Your Life”—a romantic, poetic, musical, meditative, extravaganza in nature with live music by Joe Chvala, Karla Grotting, Molly Kay Stoltz, Brandyn Tapio, and Anthony van de Ligt. Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre will premiere “Amor de Dios”, about the stolen babies of Spain, with live flamenco music by Ben Abrahamson, Alfonso Cid, and Tessa Nichols-Meade. Zorongo Flamenco’s Company will also re-stage a favorite traditional flamenco piece, “Jaleos”, choreographed by La Conja. Katha Dance Theatre’s “Rhythms of the Soul: A Kathak Odyssey” is a captivating performance that celebrates the art of Kathak, a classical Indian dance form. Katha Dance Theatre brings its mesmerizing, precise, and pulsating footwork, working against its graceful and detailed carriage, articulate hands, and expressiveness to create peak storytelling in this vibrant and bold evening of thrilling percussive dance works.

Photo Credit: Bill Cameron

Sway through the streets of 1950s Paris with Peter Davison’s An American in Paris. This ballet is inspired by the musical starring Gene Kelly and set to memorable George Gershwin melodies, such as “I Got Rhythm.” Follow along as Jerry, our aspiring American painter, works to succeed in both art and love.

Choreographed by Peter Davison and performed by The Company and School of Ballet Co.Laboratory.

Friday, May 16 at 7:00pm
Saturday, May 17 at 2:00pm and 7:00pm
Sunday, May 18 at 2:00pm

Tickets:
Adults: $40
Seniors: $35
Children/Students:$30
Group (15+ tickets to the same performance): $35

ORACLE is an awe-inspiring outdoor theatrical experience transporting audiences to a realm where nature, myth, and art collide. Experience the myth and majesty of Ancient Greece as critically acclaimed Vox Medusa, in collaboration with Infiammati FireCircus, ignites the stage this May with ORACLE! This mesmerizing fusion of mythology, dance, music, theatre and fire performance is set against the enchanting backdrop of Caponi Art Park’s Theater in the Woods.

Rediscover the Oracle’s tale through a modern lens, as ORACLE reimagines the story of Delphi’s High Priestess on the fateful day Apollo lays siege to her temple. The Oracle’s voice, once a channel of wisdom and prophecy from Mother Earth (Gaea), is challenged by Apollo’s ambition. This epic tale, told from the Oracle’s perspective, follows her courageous fight to preserve her power, her legacy, and her role as a symbol of feminine strength.

ORACLE is a stunning outdoor theatrical experience, blending haunting electronic music, riveting contemporary dance, electrifying breakdance, soul-stirring choral arrangements, vibrant light design, and heart-pounding fire performance. This outdoor spectacle revives the ancient traditions of the Oracle of Delphi through six spellbinding performances, created by a stunningly talented 28-member ensemble​, where every moment unfolds under a canopy of lush trees.

Do you have a burning question for the Oracle? Your questions may be drawn by the Oracle and included in the show! Audience members may also create an offering of what they wish to let go of. These offerings will be burned by the Priestesses during the performance.

For 30 years Vox Medusa continues to find an endless well of inspiration from feminist mythology, in both muse of creativity and mission to bring awareness to domestic violence and assault. All survivors of Domestic Violence and or Assault  and those who have benefited from Minnesota women’s shelters, please contact Vox Medusa at voxmedusadance@gmail.com for a VIP experience at ORACLE.

ORACLE is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

Join us for TU Dance’s annual Spring Showcase featuring students from The School at TU Dance Center, dancers from CULTIVATE, A Trainee Program, and students from TU Dance partner school, Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists.

The program will include CULTIVATE trainees’ self-choreographed solos as well as a work entitled “ALLHIMOD” by Yusha-Marie Sorzano. Students from the Children and Teen and the Pre-Professional Programs will share technique demonstrations in modern, ballet, hip hop, and African dance as well as perform in works by TU Dance Center teaching artists Sa’Nah Britt, Davente Gilreath, Suzette Gilreath, Tumelo Khupe, and Anna Pinault. Please join us in celebrating these inspiring dancers and their dedication!

Friday, May 16 at 7:00pm  
Saturday, May 17 at 1:00pm and 6:00pm
Sunday, May 18 at 1:00pm 
In Studio 100 at the Barbara Barker Center for Dance.
In-person, general admission tickets: $22 for adults; $12 for children 3 and older

Matinee performances will include all students from the Children and Teen Program (except Creative Movement), Pre-Professional Program, CULTIVATE, A Trainee Program, and students from TU Dance partner school, Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists.
Evening performances will include Teen, Pre-Professional Program, and CULTIVATE, A Trainee Program.
Saturday’s performances will be accompanied by a bake sale; all proceeds help support the production of the Spring Showcase.

A major new work from Minnesota-based choreographer Mathew Janczewski interrogates binaries and asks how creative repression changes us. After receiving a diagnosis of leukemia, Janczewski learned that his condition was caused by the mutation of a single chromosome. For him, the experience brought new resonance to artist Matthew Barney’s epic five-film Cremaster cycle (1994–2002), which considers the embryonic stages of sexual differentiation—another biologically determined process that shapes our lives. Only the perverse fantasy can still save us takes inspiration from Barney and features a score by Minnesota-based composer Joshua Clausen.

May 16-17 at 7:30pm
McGuire Theater
Tickets are $15-$35, fees included.

Only the perverse fantasy can still save us is commissioned by the Walker Art Center.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

Photo by Galen Higgins

Step into a space where visual art comes alive through movement. Reconstructing the Self / Figure in Motion is a powerful, one-night-only event that fuses contemporary dance with visual art in a site-specific performance. Set within Jessalyn Finch’s exhibition, Reconstructing the Self, the evening features a modern dance performance that responds to and reflects the artwork’s emotional and visual themes.

Saturday, May 17 at 7:00pm
Tickets: Free with suggested donation

Evening Program
Opening Remarks: Introduction by Jessalyn Finch
Dance Performance: Choreographed and performed by Mary Mailand Schlichting—this piece physically explores and responds to the artwork in the gallery.
Intermission: Time for reflection and exploration of the exhibition.
Artist and Dancer Talkback: A discussion on the interplay between visual art and dance.
Mingling and Networking: An informal chance to connect with the artists and fellow guests.

1804-2025
We did it and we will do it again!
L’Union fait la Force, with Unity there is Strength.

Join us on Saturday, May 17 at 3:00pm to celebrate Ayiti—Haiti Flag Day. Haitians and social justice advocates around the world celebrate Haiti National Flag Day expressing their national pride, honoring the nation’s ancestors and the first independent black country!

Located at New Branches Church in Minneapolis, our program includes live performances, dance and drumming workshops, face painting, storytelling, Haitian costume contest, games, activities, DJ, vendors, Haitian food and more. This event is open to all ages, religious beliefs and backgrounds.

For more information, visit our website at www.afoutayidmaco.com. If you are interested in volunteering, donating, and/or selling, please email us atafoutayidmaco@gmail.com.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. Many thanks to New Branches Church and Arthur Murray for making it possible for Afoutayi to celebrate Haitian Flag Day 2025 and cultural heritage.

Red Eye Presents: New Works 4 Weeks Festival
May 22-June 14, Thursday-Saturday

A cornerstone of the Twin Cities arts landscape, Red Eye’s New Works 4 Weeks Festival is an annual gathering for performance works that challenge dominant culture. Each year, artist cohorts engage in mutual support and dialogue that culminates in this public sharing.

This year’s works meet our current moment: journeying, unraveling, and remembering, asking how we might stomach the horrors as well as how we might tend to seeds. The 2025 festival extends the sharing of process and emphasizes connection, with an expanded group of festival producers, an embedded writer, and post-performance engagements each week.

May 22-24: Works-in-Progress with Bri Blakey, snem DeSellier, D Hunter, Jess Kiel-Wornson, and Taylor West
May 29-31: J.H. Shuǐ Xiān and Charles Campbell
June 5-7: aegor ray and Margaret Ogas
June 12-14: Rachel Sadie Lieberman and Akiko

More information and tickets at www.redeyetheater.org.

Pay as you wish, suggested $17-70. If cost is a barrier, please email boxoffice@redeyetheater.org for discount ticket options. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Off-Leash Area’s newest original production, The Oldest Deer – The Longest Path – The Highest Bough, invites audiences on an imaginative journey of transformation: set at the edge of a darkly mystical forest, a ghostly herd of deer emerges from another time and space to deliver an invitation to transformation. Off-Leash Area builds an immersive space of projection art and physical performance drawn from world mythology.

In this, the company’s 36th original production, Off-Leash Area combines dance, physical theater, and original music, all performed within an installation of projection art for a most creative and immersive experience. This production also continues Off-Leash Area’s partnership with Young Dance, whose mission is “transforming lives through movement.” The Oldest Deer – The Longest Path – The Highest Bough will continue Off-Leash Area’s long run of presenting singular, imaginative, and uncompromising performance works. 

Friday, May 30 at 7:30pm
Saturday, May 31 at 7:30pm
Admission is by sliding scale with a $10-$30 suggested donation.
At the fully accessible Barker Center. Captions are integrated into the projection design.

All-Abilities, Multi-Generational Cast: Jim Lieberthal, Christine Maginnis, Piper Rolfes, Lexi Samara, Jesse Schmitz-Boyd, Julie Warder, Jennifer Ilse, and Paul Herwig
Direction and Choreography: Co-Artistic Director Jennifer Ilse in collaboration with the cast
Projection and Installation Art: Co-Artistic Director Paul Herwig
Original Music and Sound: Reid Kruger
Poetry: Athena Kildegaard

Do you love to dance but can’t stand the club scene or can’t stay up late? We’ve got the event for you!

Free Early Bird Dance Party for 21+
Saturday, May 31, 7:00-10:00pm

Come, bring your friends, party like it’s 1999, and then go to bed at a reasonable hour.
We will have great music and fancy lights to get you in the mood.

Please register as we have limited space although drop-ins are welcome too!

Combining aerial arts, floor acrobatics, and dance, five artists follow the journey of a white pine from germination to decay, reminding us that everything is connected. Line in the Dirt invites us to reimagine our relationship to our natural environment, our place within it, and how we can create new rituals to connect to the world around us.

Run-time of Line in the Dirt is 30-40 minutes and we will be joined by two other artists, Josie Hoffman and Cecil “Virgo” Neal, performing works of their own.

Saturday, June 7 at 7:00pm
Sunday, June 8 at 2:30pm

Come early to have a picnic or explore the 60 acre sculpture park!

Bring your own seating or blanket. There is a 1/4 mile walk from the parking lot to the seating and stage area. Golf cart shuttles are available upon request.

The SOTA Movement is Minnesota’s premier street dance festival—a dynamic celebration of dance, culture, and community rooted in the powerful traditions of Hip Hop. This multi-day event unites artists, creators, and supporters to honor the vibrant spirit of street dance.

Friday, June 13 at 6:00pm
Saturday, June 14 at 10:00am
Sunday, June 15 at 10:00am
Located at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul.

From the empowering Celebration of Women in Hip Hop to high-energy battles, award winning performances, and immersive workshops, the SOTA Movement offers a platform for expression, connection, and cultural exchange. Join us in celebrating the artistry and resilience of the street dance community.

Experience the movement. Be part of the culture.

For more information and to stay updated, visit sotamove.com.

Strategize. Optimize. Synergize. —with us!

In this dance and theater show, performers move through a crumbling world exploring the tension between chaos and control; innocence and responsibility. It’s your first day of work, turned water cooler gossip, turned birthday party, turned breakdown. A beautiful mess of movement where we ask: what if we never figured it out?

June 20-June 23, Friday-Monday at 7:30pm
Monday show is pay-as-able.

Created by: Lily Conforti
Collaborators/Dancers: Addie Smith, Erin Evans, Juliana Johnson, Lilly King, Nieya Amezquita, Rachel Holmes, Sudarsna Mukund
Lighting: Alice Endo