Archive: Performances and Events

Celebrate Off-Leash Area’s twenty-fifth anniversary with its eighth annual Neighborhood Garage Tour!

This year’s tour brings back their energetic and imaginative family-friendly production, The Medicine Show of the 25th Century, to St. Anthony, Bloomington, and Stillwater.

The Medicine Show of the 25th Century is set in the distant future and follows a troupe of technology-hybrid humanoids as they travel from town to town, hawking a cure-all elixir for solutions to the world’s toughest problems. Filled with raucous slapstick, whimsical beauty, and plenty of winks and nudges, The Medicine Show of the 25th Century is Off-Leash Area’s thirty-fifth original production.

Tickets are by suggested donation of $5-30.

The tour runs from September 6 through September 22, with eight performances over three weekends:
Friday, September 6 – ASL Interpretation
Saturday, September 7 – Audio Description
Sunday, September 8
Friday, September 13
Saturday, September 14
Sunday, September 15 – Audio Description
Friday, September 20
Sunday, September 22 – ASL Interpretation

Ray Terrill Dance Group presents the 22nd annual Dances at the Lake Festival — two free concerts at the Rose Garden at Lake Harriet, open to the public.

Friday and Saturday, July 19 and 20, 7:00pm

The festival features a variety of dance forms performed by both professional adult and youth companies. The “stage” for the shows is the large grassy area between the two fountains near the Rose Garden at Lyndale Park Gardens. Audience members are invited to bring a lawn chair or blanket and some snacks, drinks, or a picnic to enjoy the unique opportunity of seeing dance performed at the Rose Garden.

This year’s festival showcases professional artists and youth dance groups originating from Minnesota:

Alys Ayumi Ogura and Anna Andaházy Salazar, Saint Paul, MN — Alys Ayumi Ogura, Artistic Director
Ashley Ballet Arts Academy, Ballet Arts Youth Ensembles, Golden Valley, MN — Ashley Burkland, Artistic Director
Christopher Watson Dance Company, Minneapolis, MN — Christopher Watson, Artistic Director
Jawaahir Dance Company, Minneapolis, MN — Vanessa of Cairo, Artistic Director
KASM Dance Collective, Twin Cities, MN — Sarah Hauss, Artistic Director
Keane Sense of Rhythm Youth Tap Ensemble, Saint Paul, MN — Cathy Wind, Artistic Director
Kinetic Evolutions with Walter Chancellor Jr., Minneapolis, MN — Sarah LaRose-Holland, Artistic Director
Minnesota Ballet Collective, Lakeville, MN — Isabella Rubietta, Artistic Director
Nritya Kalakshetra Academy of Performing Arts, Woodbury, MN — Sivanuja (Anu) Balaji, Artistic Director
Ray Terrill Dance Group, Saint Paul, MN — Ray Terrill, Artistic Director
Sansai Yonsei Kai, Japanese Dance Company, Saint Paul, MN — Linda Hashimoto, Artistic Director
Youth Dance Ensemble, Burnsville, MN — Dixie Rairamo, Artistic Director

Karma – A Bollywood Circus celebrates the beauty of neurodiversity through breathtaking aerial acts, vibrant dance routines, and heartwarming narratives. Watch as our diverse cast of performers dives into a world that shines a spotlight on the incredible talents and inspiring stories of individuals on the neurodivergence spectrum!

South Asian Arts and Theater House (SAATH) is excited to present the upcoming production collaboration with The Queer Circus to bring Karma – A Bollywood Circus, with a cast of 60+ diverse performers.

We cordially invite you to attend Karma – A Bollywood Circus and extend your support to this meaningful endeavor. Your presence would mean a lot to us, as it not only appreciates the artistic efforts of SAATH but also contributes to raising awareness about the importance of neurodiversity in our community.

Tickets
Kids and Students: $17
General Admission: $25
VIP General Admission: $40

Tueday, August 6, 7:00pm
Wednesday, August 7, 7:00pm – Pay-What-You-Can and Sensory-Friendly Performance
Thursday, August 8, 7:00pm
Friday, August 9, 7:00pm
Saturday, August 10, 7:00pm
Sunday, August 11, 2:00pm

Freshwater Dance Collective presents Dances on the Lakewalk 2024 – A Festival of Dance
Two free outdoor dance concerts at Gichi-Ode’ Akiing, formerly Lake Place Park

Friday and Saturday, July 12-13
7:00pm

This year our choreographers from Duluth and the Twin Cities gather to share dances expressing relationships of all kinds.  Journey through relationships of abstract patterns to the relations of romance, friends, and family with dash of jazz, folk, modern, and lyrical dance. The Tamarack Dance Association will again follow the show with audience interactive folk-dance lesson. Audience members are invited up to Gichi-Ode’ Akiing to enjoy outdoor dances along the stunning background of Lake Superior and the Sculpture Garden. The park entrance is next to Zeitgeist

DanceCo returns to the stage this summer with free, interactive, family-friendly performances. Wolf Tales is a mashup of the familiar fairy tales Peter and the Wolf, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Three Little Pigs. The story is told by the Wolf, who is not big or bad, just misunderstood — and wants to set the record straight!

The show starts with an exciting, kid-focused workshop where audience members can learn and practice interactive parts of the show. Then, the DanceCo Artists take the stage for a 45-minute performance with opportunities for the audience to join the dancers on stage! Get ready to be a part of the magic. 

Saturday, July 13, 10:00am and 11:30am
Lyndale Gardens Amphitheater

All shows are free! Please check the website or our social media channels for weather-related performance updates.

DanceCo is a professional performance company creating original, interactive dance narratives for young people ages 3-103! Directed by Matthew and Brittany Keefe and Karla Nweje. Performed by Emily Compaan, Cassie Edlund, Matthew Keefe, Jennifer Mack, Karla Nweje, Emily Pitts, Leeah Schuhwerck, Zachary Tuazon, and Maria Vitelli.

Join Concerto Dance for the Summer Arts in the Parks Series at the Lake Normandale Bandshell in Bloomington for a free outdoor performance!

Tuesday, July 16, 7:00-8:30pm

Concerto Dance presents Syncopated: Cool Rhythms of Jazz for a Hot Summer Night. Join us for an evening of dance celebrating our signature style that blends vernacular, theatrical, and classical jazz dance in a virtuosic, high-energy, and highly musical performance. The night features audience favorites In Brubeck Time, a medley from Girls in the Band, a section of our latest work On Our Way, and more!

After the performance, we invite the audience to stay and join us for some swing dancing – short lesson included.

Seating is outdoors on a grassy hill. Bring your own blanket or lawn chair, and don’t forget your bug spray!

Ray Terrill Dance Group presents the 22nd annual Dances at the Lake Festival — two free concerts at the Rose Garden at Lake Harriet, open to the public.

Friday and Saturday, July 19 and 20, 7:00pm

The festival features a variety of dance forms performed by both professional adult and youth companies. The “stage” for the shows is the large grassy area between the two fountains near the Rose Garden at Lyndale Park Gardens. Audience members are invited to bring a lawn chair or blanket and some snacks, drinks, or a picnic to enjoy the unique opportunity of seeing dance performed at the Rose Garden.

This year’s festival showcases professional artists and youth dance groups originating from Minnesota:

Alys Ayumi Ogura and Anna Andaházy Salazar, Saint Paul, MN — Alys Ayumi Ogura, Artistic Director
Ashley Ballet Arts Academy, Ballet Arts Youth Ensembles, Golden Valley, MN — Ashley Burkland, Artistic Director
Christopher Watson Dance Company, Minneapolis, MN — Christopher Watson, Artistic Director
Jawaahir Dance Company, Minneapolis, MN — Vanessa of Cairo, Artistic Director
KASM Dance Collective, Twin Cities, MN — Sarah Hauss, Artistic Director
Keane Sense of Rhythm Youth Tap Ensemble, Saint Paul, MN — Cathy Wind, Artistic Director
Kinetic Evolutions with Walter Chancellor Jr., Minneapolis, MN — Sarah LaRose-Holland, Artistic Director
Minnesota Ballet Collective, Lakeville, MN — Isabella Rubietta, Artistic Director
Nritya Kalakshetra Academy of Performing Arts, Woodbury, MN — Sivanuja (Anu) Balaji, Artistic Director
Ray Terrill Dance Group, Saint Paul, MN — Ray Terrill, Artistic Director
Sansai Yonsei Kai, Japanese Dance Company, Saint Paul, MN — Linda Hashimoto, Artistic Director
Youth Dance Ensemble, Burnsville, MN — Dixie Rairamo, Artistic Director

Join choreographer Zoë Koenig, composer Nora Nygard, and a cast of seven performers for a showing and discussion after the first six-month development stage for a new dance collaboration, Physical Prizes.

Saturday, July 20
7:30pm
Register
The free event will include a 45-minute performance and a discussion of the work shown.

The finished work will premiere at the Southern Theater October 24–26, 2025.

Zoë Koenig is a fiscal year 2024 recipient of a Creative Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature; and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Come enjoy good drinks, good tunes, and good company while supporting Rhythmically Speaking! Join us for our third annual Rhythmically Speaking Happy Hour Dance Party Fundraiser.

Thursday, July 25, 5:00-7:00pm
Summit Brewing. RSVP to the Facebook event.

If you love to go out dancing but find it difficult to rally the required energy at 10:00pm, come! If you love Summit and wanna enjoy their beverages, come! If you think Rhythmically Speaking does some really cool work and you wanna support, come! Enjoy a brew, support our work, and dance your booty off: we’ll be providing music curated by all of our dancers as a part of our Dressing Room Playlist!

Here’s how you can support:

• Request your favorite dance tunes for $5
• Donate $20 to shut down what’s playing and play your request immediately
• Buy a $10 raffle ticket for a chance to win sweet prizes, including Rhythmically Speaking swag and tickets to our upcoming show The Cohort 2024, Summit Brewing Company swag, Saint Paul Saints tickets, and more!

At Rhythmically Speaking, we believe in the power of moving and grooving together to connect us – tell your friends to come too – and we look forward to sharing the joy and building support of our work with you at this event!

The sixteenth installment of our beloved annual summer show, The Cohort 2024, is almost here!

The Cohort 2024 program was built to share four different perspectives on and via the vibrancy of jazz and American social dance ideas. This year’s production features a cohort of excellent art and artists – featuring works by two local and two visiting choreographers, and danced by the 10 Rhythmically Speaking company dancers.

This year’s choreographers are:
Eboné Amos – Visiting Artist from Clarksville, TN
Erinn Liebhard – Rhythmically Speaking Artistic and Executive Director
Jake Nehrbass – Local Artist and Company Dancer
Maurice Watson – Visiting Artist from Greensboro, NC

Amos will revisit her work Welcome to Soulsville, which celebrates the music, dances, and soul stirrers of the 1950s and 1960s. Liebhard will create a new work titled Conversation Piece, exploring historical dance step instructional diagrams and records as visual and auditory allegories for how conversation can unfold. Nehrbass will be creating a funk-inspired tap/jazz piece titled Sonic Leather. Watson will be restaging his work Chasing the (1) = One, which explores individuality and artistic expression in one’s social community.

August 15, 7:30pm
August 16, 7:30pm
August 17, 2:00pm and 7:30pm

Come join us and feel your shared humanity through experiencing groove-forward dance – you won’t regret it!