Archive: Other Dance News

ARENA Dances Announces Our 2026/27 Season

ARENA is thrilled to share our 2026/27 season with you—save the dates to your calendar.

This fall, ARENA DANCES returns to Luminary Arts Center on September 25 and 26 with a dynamic repertory evening featuring one of Minnesota’s most celebrated choreographic voices, Morgan Thorson, sharing her acclaimed work Deluxe Edition. Known nationally for her interdisciplinary and deeply human approach to choreography, Morgan’s work explores the body as a complex site of expression shaped by community, space, imagination, and emotion. Her many honors include Guggenheim and McKnight Fellowships, a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, and a National Dance Project Production Grant.

The evening will also feature a remount of Mathew Janczewski’s highly praised trio excerpt from One Room, set to the music of Nils Frahm, alongside a brand-new creation by New York-based artist Elinor Kleber Diggs. Originally from Saint Paul and now emerging as a compelling multidisciplinary voice in New York City, Elinor’s work merges choreography, photography, sound, and visual fragmentation into richly textured performance worlds. Recently recognized through the Dancing While Black Fellowship, the Baryshnikov Arts Fellowship at Kaatsbaan, and multiple residency programs across New York and Minnesota, Elinor represents an exciting next generation of innovative dance artists.

The season continues April 2 and 3, 2027, again at Luminary Arts Center, with another extraordinary repertory program pairing Minnesota choreographer Chris Schlichting with nationally and internationally recognized artist Kate Weare.

Together, these artists represent the future we are working to build: a contemporary repertory company that supports sustained artistic relationships, invests in both emerging and established choreographic voices, and positions Minnesota as a vibrant home for ambitious contemporary dance.

CANDY BOX 2027 will take place for its 11th annual community dance festival May 3-8, 2027 at The Southern Theater—artists will be announced at a later date.

As ARENA continues moving forward, we invite you to continue alongside us — by attending performances, sharing our work, and helping sustain this vision through your support. Your belief in ARENA makes it possible for artists to create boldly, audiences to gather meaningfully, and contemporary dance to continue thriving within our community for years to come.

With gratitude,
Mathew Janczewski – Founder/Executive Director

ARENA Dances Announces Our 2026/27 Season

ARENA is thrilled to share our 2026/27 season with you—save the dates to your calendar.

This fall, ARENA DANCES returns to Luminary Arts Center on September 25 and 26 with a dynamic repertory evening featuring one of Minnesota’s most celebrated choreographic voices, Morgan Thorson, sharing her acclaimed work Deluxe Edition. Known nationally for her interdisciplinary and deeply human approach to choreography, Morgan’s work explores the body as a complex site of expression shaped by community, space, imagination, and emotion. Her many honors include Guggenheim and McKnight Fellowships, a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, and a National Dance Project Production Grant.

The evening will also feature a remount of Mathew Janczewski’s highly praised trio excerpt from One Room, set to the music of Nils Frahm, alongside a brand-new creation by New York-based artist Elinor Kleber Diggs. Originally from Saint Paul and now emerging as a compelling multidisciplinary voice in New York City, Elinor’s work merges choreography, photography, sound, and visual fragmentation into richly textured performance worlds. Recently recognized through the Dancing While Black Fellowship, the Baryshnikov Arts Fellowship at Kaatsbaan, and multiple residency programs across New York and Minnesota, Elinor represents an exciting next generation of innovative dance artists.

The season continues April 2 and 3, 2027, again at Luminary Arts Center, with another extraordinary repertory program pairing Minnesota choreographer Chris Schlichting with nationally and internationally recognized artist Kate Weare.

Together, these artists represent the future we are working to build: a contemporary repertory company that supports sustained artistic relationships, invests in both emerging and established choreographic voices, and positions Minnesota as a vibrant home for ambitious contemporary dance.

CANDY BOX 2027 will take place for its 11th annual community dance festival May 3-8, 2027 at The Southern Theater—artists will be announced at a later date.

As ARENA continues moving forward, we invite you to continue alongside us — by attending performances, sharing our work, and helping sustain this vision through your support. Your belief in ARENA makes it possible for artists to create boldly, audiences to gather meaningfully, and contemporary dance to continue thriving within our community for years to come.

With gratitude,
Mathew Janczewski – Founder/Executive Director

ARENA Dances 2026/27 Season Announcement

ARENA is thrilled to share our 2026/27 season with you—save the dates to your calendar.

This fall, ARENA DANCES returns to Luminary Arts Center on September 25 and 26 with a dynamic repertory evening featuring one of Minnesota’s most celebrated choreographic voices, Morgan Thorson, sharing her acclaimed work Deluxe Edition. Known nationally for her interdisciplinary and deeply human approach to choreography, Morgan’s work explores the body as a complex site of expression shaped by community, space, imagination, and emotion. Her many honors include Guggenheim and McKnight Fellowships, a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, and a National Dance Project Production Grant.

The evening will also feature a remount of Mathew Janczewski’s highly praised trio excerpt from One Room, set to the music of Nils Frahm, alongside a brand-new creation by New York-based artist Elinor Kleber Diggs. Originally from Saint Paul and now emerging as a compelling multidisciplinary voice in New York City, Elinor’s work merges choreography, photography, sound, and visual fragmentation into richly textured performance worlds. Recently recognized through the Dancing While Black Fellowship, the Baryshnikov Arts Fellowship at Kaatsbaan, and multiple residency programs across New York and Minnesota, Elinor represents an exciting next generation of innovative dance artists.

The season continues April 2 and 3, 2027, again at Luminary Arts Center, with another extraordinary repertory program pairing Minnesota choreographer Chris Schlichting with nationally and internationally recognized artist Kate Weare.

Together, these artists represent the future we are working to build: a contemporary repertory company that supports sustained artistic relationships, invests in both emerging and established choreographic voices, and positions Minnesota as a vibrant home for ambitious contemporary dance.

CANDY BOX 2027 will take place for its 11th annual community dance festival May 3-8, 2027 at The Southern Theater—artists will be announced at a later date.

As ARENA continues moving forward, we invite you to continue alongside us — by attending performances, sharing our work, and helping sustain this vision through your support. Your belief in ARENA makes it possible for artists to create boldly, audiences to gather meaningfully, and contemporary dance to continue thriving within our community for years to come.

With gratitude,
Mathew Janczewski – Founder/Executive Director

DanceMN Honors and Celebrates the Life of Toni Pierce-Sands

The DanceMN community honors and celebrates the life of Founder and Artistic Director, Toni Pierce-Sands, who sadly passed away last week. Toni’s lifelong commitment to dance enriched our community, and her absence will be felt in many ways. DanceMN sends condolences to her family, friends, peers, everyone with TU Dance, and the community who loved her. Toni was a kind and talented soul who inspired generations of dancers throughout the contemporary dance community, both in Minnesota and abroad.

Shared by TU Dance on social media: “Toni’s life was dedicated to dance and her deep passion for dance education shaped generations of artists, and will continue to do so. Her gift for bringing people together and creating space for deepening our connections will continue to echo through our work and mission. We are profoundly grateful for the love and support you have shown during these past several months. Plans to celebrate Toni’s life and legacy will be shared soon. TU Dance extends our deepest love and care to her family and loved ones during this time.”

Sprung Studios for Rent at Curio Dance

Curio Dance has a beautiful, new, state-of-the-art building with four brand new studios for rent.
Daytime and evening hours are available for rehearsals, classes and performance space.

Details
Two studios are 30′ x 40′ and two studios are 40′ x 50′ which can be opened to a large performance/rehearsal space.
Includes large windows with natural lighting and sprung harlequin floors—great for all forms of dance!

Please contact Giselle to inquire about rental fee and scheduling.

Give to ARENA DANCES and Your Other Favorites

Your support helps us dream big!

Early giving is open! This is the time to support all the non-profit organizations you love! ARENA has set a big goal of $25,000 for the 2024 Give to the Max Campaign on November 21. While this may seem ambitious, ARENA DANCES has big visions and dreams for the future, needing to raise $100k by May to be able to announce! We invite you to be a part of this journey with us.

Explore all that ARENA has to offer with our upcoming performances, educational outreach, and community initiatives on our GiveMN page.

If you would like to assist in avoiding all the GiveMN fees to ARENA or other organizations, we encourage you to donate directly to those you support. For ARENA DANCES, you can donate here.

Cheers,
Mathew Janczewski

Collide Theatrical’s 24/25 Season

Tickets are now on sale for Collide Theatrical Dance Company’s 11th Season, which will feature an exciting lineup of innovative dance theater! All shows this year will be at the Luminary Arts Center.

In the fall, watch America’s most notorious outlaw couple come to life in our electrifying production of Bonnie & Clyde. These two small town kids were a pair of daring bank robbers and fugitive lovers destined for a date with death.

Collide’s “exhilarating adaptation” of Romeo & Juliet returns in February 2025 with fresh faces. Witness the intoxicating high of passion descend into brutal chaos in the greatest romance of all time. 

And taking off from last year’s sold-out limited run, the second installment of Broadway Dancin’ will feature new dances from some of Broadway’s biggest hits, including Pippin, Chicago, Carousel, An American in Paris…and more!

Collide will also bring back its hit production of Wonderland and tour the mental health–themed production to middle and high schools throughout Minnesota, in addition to having a gala performance in November.

Individual tickets are on sale now. Get your season tickets, save money and get amazing perks like free ticket exchanges and invitations to special events! For questions, please email grace@collidetheatrical.org or call 651-395-7903, ext. 1.

Collide Theatrical’s 24/25 Season

Tickets are now on sale for Collide Theatrical Dance Company’s 11th Season, which will feature an exciting lineup of innovative dance theater! All shows this year will be at the Luminary Arts Center.

In the fall, watch America’s most notorious outlaw couple come to life in our electrifying production of Bonnie & Clyde. These two small town kids were a pair of daring bank robbers and fugitive lovers destined for a date with death.

Collide’s “exhilarating adaptation” of Romeo & Juliet returns in February 2025 with fresh faces. Witness the intoxicating high of passion descend into brutal chaos in the greatest romance of all time. 

And taking off from last year’s sold-out limited run, the second installment of Broadway Dancin’ will feature new dances from some of Broadway’s biggest hits, including Pippin, Chicago, Carousel, An American in Paris…and more!

Collide will also bring back its hit production of Wonderland and tour the mental health–themed production to middle and high schools throughout Minnesota, in addition to having a gala performance in November.

Individual tickets are on sale now. Get your season tickets to save money and get amazing perks like free ticket exchanges and invitations to special events! For questions, please email grace@collidetheatrical.org or call 651-395-7903, ext. 1.

Introducing the MN Dance Task Force

The Minnesota Dance Task Force (MNDTF) emerged from the momentum generated during several community gatherings convened following the announced closure of the Cowles Center for Dance in February 2024. Led by the Minnesota Dance Community (MNDC), two of the meetings were supported by the Minneapolis Department of Arts and Cultural Affairs, with participation from Minneapolis City Council members, Mayor Jacob Frey, and staff from local foundations. Additional meetings were organized by the MN Arts Coalition (MNAC) to advocate for inclusion and equity in meetings/gatherings moving forward.

Officially launched in July 2024, the MNDTF holds bi-weekly meetings open to all community members.

Focus and Intent
MNDTF is focused on generating a framework and implementation steps for the creation of a service organization to support Minnesota dance artists and intentionally move toward an equitable dance ecosystem.

Core Values and Principles

  • Support: Provide the local dance community with a trustworthy, accessible, and equitable support ecosystem.
  • Advocacy: Advocate for and encourage the growth of dance, of a variety of genres, throughout MN. This includes uplifting the voices, ideas, and experiences of youth, underrepresented communities (like LGBTQIA2S+, disabled persons, BIPOC, low-income individuals, and others), underrepresented traditional and cultural dance genres, smaller organizations, companies, and leaders currently doing the work.
  • Transparency and Inclusion: All efforts are committed to openness and inclusivity, ensuring that every voice in the community is heard.

Sign up for email updates, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Collide Theatrical’s 24/25 Season

Tickets are now on sale for Collide Theatrical Dance Company’s eleventh season, which will feature an exciting lineup of innovative dance theater! All shows this year will be at the Luminary Arts Center.

In the fall, watch America’s most notorious outlaw couple come to life in our electrifying production of Bonnie and Clyde. These two small-town kids were a pair of daring bank robbers and fugitive lovers destined for a date with death.

Collide’s “exhilarating adaptation” of Romeo and Juliet returns in February 2025 with fresh faces. Witness the intoxicating high of passion descend into brutal chaos in the greatest romance of all time. 

And taking off from last year’s sold-out limited run, the second installment of Broadway Dancin’ will feature brand new pieces from some of Broadway’s biggest hits, including Pippin, Chicago, Carousel, An American in Paris, and more!

Collide will also bring back its hit production of Wonderland and tour the mental health-themed production to middle and high schools throughout Minnesota, in addition to having a gala performance in November.

Individual tickets are on sale now, as well as season tickets. Season subscribers save money and get amazing perks like free ticket exchanges and invitations to special events!

For questions, please email grace@collidetheatrical.org or call 651-395-7903, ext. 1.