Performances and Events

Tap artists and jazz musicians share the stage with a seated audience for an interactive performance that elevates the rich history of tap dancing.

Born in The Bronx and raised in Puerto Rico, Ayodele Casel is hailed as a “tap dancer and choreographer of extraordinary depth” (The New York Times). A Doris Duke Artist known for her skilled and imaginative improvisation, Casel’s projects include her concert and Bessie Award-winning film Chasing Magic, and her Drama-Desk-nominated work as tap choreographer for the Broadway revival of Funny Girl.

September 27, 7:30pm
September 28, 7:30pm
September 29, 7:30pm

The Neighborhood Garage Tour continues a fantastic run, with full houses (garages) all over the Twin Cities metro. This weekend is your last chance to come and see our new all-ages show: The Medicine Show of the 25th Century.

The Neighborhood Garage Tour is Off-Leash Area’s grass-roots arts access program, creating original all-ages work and bringing it directly into metro neighborhoods. This year’s tour features an all-abilities cast of dancers and movement actors, with numerous access services throughout the tour.

September 29-30 at 7:00pm; October 1 at 2:00pm
Jen and Steve Terry’s Garage!
8850 Deer Ridge Lane, Bloomington

Reserve now and pay when you come!

Come celebrate Twin Cities Ballet of Minnesota’s new season and welcome its new professional company members and apprentices! Learn about the exciting performances coming up this season, meet and mingle with the Artistic Directors, board, staff, and dancers, and watch a preview performance by the company!

There will be many opportunities for you to support TCB throughout the night, including a silent auction, handmade items for sale, and information about tickets for upcoming performances.

Families, friends, supporters, and the curious are all welcome!

Saturday, September 30 at 7:30pm
Suggested donation: $10

Join us in celebrating RGK Dance Academy’s 20th Anniversary Gala production, Pursuit of Happiness!

Witness our dancers’ graceful movements and expressive storytelling through dance!

The 20th Anniversary Gala Production – A Bollywood Dance Drama Show is a captivating Bollywood dance drama that continues our tradition of giving back. Following the massive success of our previous annual benefit shows like Raftaar (speed) 2022, in which we supported breast cancer research, and Khushi (happiness) 2021 during which we aided Covid-19 relief funds; we are thrilled to contribute once again, this time benefiting Asian Women United of Minnesota (AWUM).

Saturday, September 30
4:00-8:00pm

Schedule
4:00-5:00pm: Social Hour
5:00-7:00pm: Performance
7:00-8:00pm: Dinner
At the CMS Performing Arts Center

Be part of an evening filled with the enchantment of Bollywood as our skilled dancers bring stories to life on stage! Indulge in Indian cuisine that delights the palate and warms the heart, all while supporting a noteworthy cause. Watch the trailer!

Purchase tickets
Advance Purchase: $40.
$50 at the gate.
VIP: $100
VVIP: $250

Spread the word and extend the invitation to family and friends. This exceptional show unites entertainment with meaningful impact. Let’s stand together to support AWUM and relish an unforgettable evening. Secure your tickets now!
RGK Dance Academy is Non-profit 501(c)(3).

Floorwork: a communal conversation and shared meal.

Every first Saturday! Floorwork was developed to hold conversations, knowledge sharing, and supportive space for dance artists and people who like to move.

The next Floorwork is being hosted at The Arena.
Saturday, October 7
12:00-2:00pm
RSVP by Friday, October 6

This October Floorwork will focus on grant funding overviews and sharing artist insights on the application process and evaluative practices – conversation assisted by Dana Kassel (Program Director of McKnight Fellowships for Choreographers and Dancers), Eleanor Savage (Jerome Foundation President), Kathy Moucheupao (Executive Director of Metro Regional Arts Council), and Annick Dall-Desbois (Outreach and Accessibility Coordinator for the Minnesota State Arts Board). Other funding organizations are welcome to join.

Conversation will be held over a communal meal – bring your own dish to share in our potluck! ARENA DANCES will supply beverages, plates, napkins, and utensils.

Young Dance invites you to celebrate community at the third annual Fall Fling:

Saturday, October 14
2:00–6:00pm
Free

This outdoor celebration is fun for the whole family! Enjoy performances and interactive demonstrations by Young Dance, The ARC Minnesota, Auntie Bec’s Boutique, CAAM Chinese Dance Theater, Element Gym, Ripple Effect Community Fitness, Smiling Drum, St. Paul Ballet, St. Paul Pilates & Fitness, Youth Performance Company, and other Fairview Business Center tenants.

Again this year, we are including a family-friendly makers’ market with 
Kimmie’s Illustrations, SuperPatch, Mrs. E.’s Teacher Treats, The Munchies, and more. The first hour of the event will be a community dance party followed by games, art, performances, and—of course—more dancing!

Can’t make it but still feel passionate about Young Dance?
Donate here!

Audio description and an ASL interpreter provided.
Parking is wheelchair-accessible, and seating will be available.
Please let us know if any other accommodations are needed to participate in this event.

In the event of rain, the event will continue inside at each partner’s location.

Schedule of Events: Coming soon!

Twin Cities Flamenco Collective inspires audiences through its passionate and soulful expressions of Flamenco music and dance along with special guest artists. This is part of TCFC’s monthly residency at Icehouse MPLS.

Artists
Alfonso Cid (Special guest singer from New York City)
Amanda Dlouhy (Guest dancer)
Sachiko “La Chayí” (TCFC, Flamenco dancer)
Ross “El Vecino” (TCFC, Flamenco guitarist)
Debra “La Gaviota” (Guest dancer)
Michael Ziegahn (Guest guitarist)
Eva Makiko (TCFC, Flamenco dancer)
Wang Ping (Guest dancer)

October 15 at 5:00pm
Price: $20-25

A multi-artist collaboration of independent choreographers from around the Twin Cities, giving their voice and visions.

October 19-21
7:30pm
Tek Box Theater

Featuring:
Davente Gilreath – Healing • Love  |  Gerry Girouard – Honest • Energetic  |  Alarica Hassett – Weird • Liberated |  Jim Lieberthal – Mystical • Dynamic  |  Jennifer Mack – Creatively Resilient  |  Christine Maginnis – Swashbuckling-Swan  |  Alys Ayumi Ogura – Appropriately Inappropriate   |  Rebecca Tanner – Embodied • Collaborative  |  Julie Warder – Influenced • Supported  |  Mary Willmeng – Devoted • Magnetic

Tickets: $20 for general admission, $15 for students, seniors and children under 12.
Get your tickets!

Minnesota International Dance Festival is featuring México as their 2023 Guest Country. Friday and Saturday night MNIDF presents Los Colores de México, a vibrant performance that brings together many voices of Mexican culture. Join us for the closure of the MNIDF workshops with a unique performance by the workshop participants and an artist panel with featured choreographers during the Saturday matinee. Celebrate the vast diversity that Mexico has to offer through all dance styles from pre-Hispanic to contemporary. We invite you to join us and enjoy the talented voices of local and international artists with roots in México.

Celebrating nine different dance artists across three fantastic weekends
Talents collide onstage as our diverse dance community showcases an assortment of genres across this momentous festival. Each weekend features a new roster and a variety of experiences from percussive footwork to physical feats to modern expressions and more!

Saturdays at 7:30pm
Sundays at 2:00pm

Week One: October 21–22
Concerto Dance‘s Ode to Opus Jazz navigates the challenges of an explosive and turbulent world through resilience, friendship, and young love utilizing vernacular and classic jazz dance with theatrical flair. Kaleena Miller Dance premieres an interplay of minimal maximalism that abstracts inherent footwork patterns in response to the intricate sonic landscape. Afoutayi Haitian Dance, Music, and Arts Company’s Ti Sonson and the Power of the Drums, extracted from the trilingual children’s book of the same name, is a bright spark, highlighting joy and resilience in Haitian culture.

Week Two: October 28–29
Ballet Folklorico Mexico Azteca’s celebration of Día de los Muertos unites the past and present by honoring the departed and the vitality of life with a hint of contemporary dance. Discover STRONGmovement’s unique dance and art philosophy through three original works spanning recent years: You Think You Know, Kwôren,tēn, and a new solo, The Artist. Yuki Tokuda presents a ballet based on Japanese folklore called Yuki-Onna (The Snow Woman) with Piano Sonata in B minor by Franz Liszt, played by Rie Tanaka.

Week Three: November 4–5
Katha Dance Theatre’s PRAKRITIR PRATISODH – Nature’s Revenge depicts the natural forces that are now threatened due to humanity’s choices and the hope to conquer these challenges and move forward with harmony! Shapiro & Smith Dance’s Burning Air tells of the Great Hinckley Fire of 1894. Ominous skies are again in front of our eyes as today’s fires foretell what’s to come in a world of continued inaction on climate change. In We Are Cosmic, Alternative Motion Project connects black holes, dream states, multiverses, and theta waves through stunning visuals, rigorous physicality, and sound by Dameun Strange.

Amidst the fall colors and falling leaves, dancers Sarah Baumert, Suzette Gilreath, Erika Hansen, and Leslie O’Neill perform in the site-specific Fall Sound Garden performance installation along the wooded trails at Wargo Nature Center in Lino Lakes, MN. Nestled amidst the Rice Creek chain of lakes, not far upstream from where the Fall Sound Garden first premiered in 2018.

This year’s Fall Sound Garden is part of Wargo’s annual Fall Fest, which also features a cider press, storybook trail, a Dakota language scavenger hunt, and fall games.  Directed by composer JG Everest, the Fall Sound Garden will also feature embedded sculpture and poetry throughout the site, with live storytelling by poet / storyteller Lisa Yankton, and live roving musical accompaniment by members of the Free Range Orchestra & Choir.

The Fall Sound Garden event is a free, family-friendly, self-guided event that features a sound installation of 60+ small, wireless speakers, distributed throughout the park, with live accompaniment by roving musicians and dancers. Each small speaker is playing a different part of the whole piece of music, creating a unique, immersive experience that is described as “a concert you can move through.”

Event is free, but registration requested in order to send weather updates and possible program changes.

Concerto Dance shares the stage with Afoutayi Haitian Dance, Music and Arts Company, and Kaleena Miller Dance in the Cowles Center Fall Forward Festival Weekend One!

October 21 and 22
Afoutayi Haitian Dance, Music and Arts Company promotes Haitian cultural heritage through dance, songs in Creole and French, and live drumming. Utilizing jazz and modern expressions, Concerto Dance creates vibrant dance works driven by musicality and virtuosity aiming to uplift the human spirit. Kaleena Miller Dance creates tap dance works that invite performers and viewers to participate in deep listening.

Concerto Dance will be performing our signature work Ode to Opus Jazz, inspired by Jerome Robbins’ work Opus Jazz, Ode to Opus Jazz navigates a threatening and explosive world through resilience, friendship, young love, and the “coolness” of classic jazz.

Tickets on sale now: Get tickets

Come out to Threads Dance Nexus for some family-friendly Halloween fun!

Our annual fall fundraiser will take place Saturday, October 21 from 3:00-5:00pm at Threads Dance Nexus. Come dressed in your Halloween best for festive games, a costume contest, treats, and of course, dancing! This year’s event will support Threads’ NextGen/Youth Dance Project and General Operations.

Saturday, October 21
3:00-5:00pm

Tickets: $10/advance, $15/day-of, free for kids under 5

Frankenstein, zombies, and characters of Edgar Allen Poe come to life in this family-friendly performance steeped in spooky delight and tragic majesty.

Anchoring the performance is a new choral ballet titled Unfashioned Creature, featuring Twin Cities beloved artists Timothy C. Takach (composer), Penelope Freeh (choreographer), and the MPLS (imPulse) choral ensemble. The work is poetically rooted in Shelley’s Frankenstein, and explores key aspects relating to personhood: otherness, abandonment, despair, and hopeful yearning. Music includes cello, percussion, and the stellar singers of MPLS who will perform a fractured libretto comprised of Shelley’s text.

Also on the program, remounts of two Sewell fall favorites: excerpts from “Takes on Poe” (2012); and “Grave Matters” (2011), which combines undead charm and morbid wit in a playful zombie ballet.

Saturday, October 28
2:00pm and 7:30pm

Tickets: $5-34