Archive: Performances and Events

Come see the Black Label premiere of Riding The Maelstrom during the third weekend of The Cowles Center’s Fall Forward Festival.

RTM is a non-linear work that visualizes the dynamic energies released from the poisons of chemotherapy during Flink’s mother’s fight with cancer. This work, commissioned for St. Louis’ MADCO had a 2020 postponement/2021 premiere in Missouri – and we’re eager to share this work in our community this fall.

Welcome to Wonderland, a premier psychiatric hospital. Dr. Knight has the difficult task of treating a man who refers to himself as a “White Rabbit” who suffers from a severe anxiety disorder, a young woman named Alice with body dysmorphia, and a Queen figure suffering from narcissistic rage. But as the doctor digs deeply into the causes and roots of their disorders he begins to ask: what does “normal” really mean?

Collide brings its newly improved hit production onto the stage in a co-production with Artistry Theater. For tickets visit www.artistrymn.org/wonderland. Seating is general admission.

Open rehearsal for James Sewell Ballet’s upcoming show Breathe on Friday, September 30 from 1:00-2:00pm!

Come see excerpts from upcoming new works by choreographers Michael Walters, Arimee Gambill and XINA as well as James Sewell’s work, Grey.

Masks required for visitors.
Light refreshments will be provided.
Q&A and mingling with the dancers and choreographers to follow the sneak peek.

Seating is limited and RSVPs are required. Please send a note to deirdre@jsballet.org to reserve your spot!

Ananya Dance Theatre explores betrayal, dispossession, exile, and the desperate global resistance against great odds that fuels hope and survival in a new piece that premieres at The O’Shaughnessy, Friday-Saturday, September 30-October 1, at 7:30pm. ASL-interpreted on Friday, September 30.

Taking the 1978-79 massacre of 10,000 refugees on the Marichjhapi Island in West Bengal, India, as its point of departure, Nün Gherāo: Surrounded by Salt tags and stimulates different sites of memory through meditations on dancing in salt water, where one’s tears meet the rising and warming oceans of our world.

Choreographed by Ananya Chatterjea and performed by the artists of Ananya Dance Theatre, Nün Gherāo (“noon ghey-raow”) becomes activated through shared breath and rhythms, practices of mourning, overlapping time cycles, ritualized movement, dances of liberation, and personal connection.

The choreographic language of Yorchhā employs movement principles of Odissi, Mayurbhanj Chhau, and Vinyasa Yoga to articulate a contemporary feminist consciousness and aesthetic.

This world premiere features the work of an exceptional team of collaborators, including sound artist Spirit McIntyre (performing live), stage director Marcus Young, lighting designer Kevin A. Jones, costume designer Annie Cady, scenery designer Chelsea Warren, properties designer Kezia Florence, writer Mimi Mondal, and filmmaker Darren Johnson.

Ananya Dance Theatre and The O’Shaughnessy are implementing Pay What You Can for these performances with a suggested ticket price of $30.

Learn more about Nün Gherāo.

Join The Cowles Center on Friday, October 7 from 7:00-11:00pm for our annual dessert and dance party fundraiser to celebrate our wonderful education programs!

With Ricci Milan as the night’s emcee, enjoy the party by indulging in decadent drinks and desserts, showing off your beautiful smile at the photo booth, connecting with fellow dance lovers, funding our Arts in Education programs, and living it up at the late-night dance party led by Rhythm Street Movement.

7:00pm: Social hour with hosted bar and desserts from The Copper Hen
8:00pm: Program and performances featuring our fund-a-need for Arts Education programs
9:00pm: Dance party on stage, prizes, and fun led by Rhythm Street Movement

Learn more and get tickets here!

Amidst the fall colors and falling leaves, dancers Sarah Baumert, Suzette Gilreath, Erika Hansen, Megan Mayer, and Leslie O’Neill perform in a new, site-specific Sound Garden installation at Texa-Tonka Park in St. Louis Park, along the majestic North Cedar Lake Trail, next to Victoria Lake. This premier performance directed by composer JG Everest will also feature site-specific poetry by Chavonn Shen, Lisa Yankton and many more, along with site-specific photography and natural sculptures created in a community workshop by sculptor Jim Proctor.

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, and live poetry and site-specific visual art. 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 is required due to limited capacity and possible program changes.

Join us Saturday, October 8, 2022 from 4:00 – 7:00 pm at the Ballet Co.Laboratory studios for our first performance of the 2022/23 season, Dirty Dancing – a benefit performance for Ballet Co.Laboratory.

You’ll have the time of your life at Ballet Co.Laboratory’s fifth annual benefit performance and celebration. Take in a Dirty Dancing-inspired performance that will make you want to sway your body and move those hips. Proceeds will directly benefit the company dancers, students, and outreach efforts of Ballet Co.Laboratory.

Enjoy a performance by dancers of Ballet Co.Laboratory, themed sips and bites, as well as mix and mingle with the company of Ballet Co.Laboratory.

Saturday, October 8, 2022
4:00-7:00pm
At the Ballet Co.Laboratory Studio Theatre

Learn more or purchase your tickets here: https://bit.ly/BCL5thanniversaryseason

Sidekick Theatre opens its season with the Twin Cities debut of DANCING LESSONS, a celebrated play by Mark St. Germain at the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center in Bloomington from October 12-November 6.

A wonderful combination of comedy and drama, DANCING LESSONS tells the story of a geoscience professor and a professional dancer who live separate, solitary lives in the same New York City apartment building. Impaired with an injury that threatens her career and identity, Senga is surprised when her socially awkward neighbor, Ever, knocks on her door in desperate need of dancing lessons. He is determined, and offers to pay an exorbitant fee. These two mismatched souls engage in a series of funny and poignant dance lessons that quickly lead both out of their comfort zones.

“DANCING LESSONS is the perfect play for this moment in time,” says director Tim Stolz, “and a delightful antidote to the feeling of isolation many have experienced during COVID. It’s about two people who have been living remote lives to learning how to connect with each other in ways that are surprising. Charming, touching, funny and life-affirming, you’ll find yourselves laughing and moved – often in the same moment in this tender-hearted sweet comedy.”

Requiem: Fire in the Air of the Earth

Visionary choreographer and MacArthur Fellow Kyle Abraham and pioneering producer/electronic music composer Jlin have come together to create a reimagining of Mozart’s Requiem in D Minor through abstracted themes of afterlife, reincarnation, mythology, and folklore. In collaboration with costume designer Giles Deacon, and lighting and set designer Dan Scully, ten dancers from Abraham’s company – A.I.M by Kyle Abraham – take the stage to the music of Jlin, who has transformed Mozart’s score into an electronic opus that memorializes ritual and rebirth.

Celebrate 35 years of Young Dance! Play and build community at the Fall Fling on Saturday, October 15 from 3:00–6:00pm.

This outdoor celebration is fun for the whole family! Enjoy performances and interactive demonstrations by Young Dance, CAAM Chinese Dance Theater, Smiling Drum, St. Paul Ballet, and Youth Performance Company. Visit the family-friendly makers’ market including addis, NordEast Cookie Co., and more! Play games, blow bubbles, make art, eat cake, dance, and more.

We will provide audio description and an ASL interpreter. Parking is wheelchair accessible and seating will be available. Individuals with and without disabilities regularly engage with the organizations at the Fairview Business Center. We value access and continue working to improve our programming and space to meet people’s needs better. Please let us know if any other accommodations are needed to participate in this event.

Activities will be outdoors, but in the event of rain, the event will continue inside at each partner’s location.

This event is free! 

The schedule of events will be posted in early October and more information can be found on the Facebook Event page.