Archive: Performances and Events

Christopher Watson Dance Company (CWDC) presents ALIGHT, a showcase of modern concert dance. Guest artists include Kinetic Evolutions Dance Company, KASM Dance Collective, Ray Terrill Dance Group, Thern Anderson, and Erin Thompson. 

Accompaniment for the dances includes selections from Antonin Dvorak, Gabriel Faure, Yo-Yo Ma, J.S. Bach, local singer/songwriter Matt Marka of Ada Jane, “punk poet laureate” Patti Smith, and poetry by Muriel Rukeyser. 

CWDC embraces the diverse and multigenerational composition of its artists whose ages range from 20-something to 70-something. This is the company’s 33rd season of performances.

Friday, March 1, 7:30pm
Saturday, March 2, 2:00pm
Saturday, March 2, 5:00pm

It’s only a matter of time before they all fall down, one by one.

Growing tension stacks onto high drama as the visceral ensemble blindly selects who among them undertakes the role of The Con. When identities collide, the 13 unique personalities clash as a story of hierarchy, vulnerability, and influence develops in real time. Anyone could be the villain. No one knows who it will be. And every performance will be different.

Saturday, March 2, 7:30pm
Tickets: $35, fees included.

Sunday, March 3, 2:00pm
Tickets: Pay-as-you-are. Market value: $35, fees included.

Everyone’s favorite charismatic cat pounces off the page and onto the stage for a balletic re-imagination of Puss in Boots. Adventure with our fearless feline in an attempt to get a paw up in the world.

Puss in Boots is specially created for our youngest audience members – toddlers and preschoolers. With a pre-show craft, 45-minute performance, post-show movement class, and a chance to meet a few kittens from Feline Rescue, it’s the purrrfect event for the entire family.

Warning – tomfoolery guaranteed!

Choreographed by: Anna Betz, part of Ballet Co.Laboratory’s Laboratory II: Emerging Choreographer Program
Performed by: The upper-level students of The School of Ballet Co.Laboratory

Saturdays and Sundays, March 2–3 and 9–10
Saturdays, March 2 and 9 at 2:00 and 6:00pm
Sundays, March 3 and 10 at 2:00pm

Tickets
Adults: $30
Seniors: $28
Children/Students: $25
Groups 10+ to the same performance: $25

A call to action for all Minnesota dance community members to organize!

Town Hall
Monday, March 4 at 6:30pm
Women’s Club of Minnesota – Ballroom
Calling: Anyone and everyone invested in the future of Minnesota dance, movement, and performance!
Please RSVP

Join us as we chart a path forward to ensure the resilience and vitality of our local dance scene. This meeting will be attended by Ben Johnson, Minneapolis Director of Arts and Cultural Affairs and city officials, for the dance community to provide directed options from the recently circulated survey findings. We will discuss supportive ways the city can turn support the local dance community in the wake of the news of The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts closure of the Goodale Theater and its Educational Outreach Programs.

If unable to attend in person, you are invited to participate via Zoom. A link will be provided at a later date. Your virtual presence is highly valued.

Thank you to Kevin Winge of the Women’s Club for the generous gift of the space to convene.

Join us “in the ARENA” for a unique opportunity to meet with our Artistic Director and Founder, Mathew Janczewski during this lively happy hour gathering. Mingle with members of our board and passionate supporters in a relaxed atmosphere.

Mathew will personally introduce you to ARENA’S inspiring programming and ambitious goals, aiming to ignite your interest as a potential audience member, donor, or even board member. Rest assured, there’s no pressure to make any financial commitments – unless, of course, you’re inclined to do so! Come for the conversation, stay for the camaraderie, and discover what makes ARENA DANCES a vibrant force in the arts community.

Tuesday, March 5
5:30-6:30pm
At Charmed Studios
RSVP by Friday, March 1.

In this exciting new initiative from Black Label Movement, seven choreographers have been invited to bring their own take on Black Label’s distinct movement aesthetic through the creation of a short new dance work. Come experience fresh takes on wildly physical, naturally virtuosic, and intellectually and emotionally engaging movement from these talented choreographers in the Twin Cities dance community!

Featuring choreography from Aubrey Clark, Hannah Albers, Rachel Lieberman, Anna Pinault, Javan Mngrezzo, Cheng Xiong, and Kaitlyn Hawkings.

March 8, 7:30pm
March 9, 2:00pm
March 9, 7:30pm

Contempo Physical Dance premieres Indigo by guest choreographer Jaruam Xavier. The choreography becomes a ritual of remembrance that bridges the present and the remains of a distant past. Throughout whispers of otherworldly dreams, the dancers will embody physically and emotionally an abstraction of indigo blue.

Dancers: Mary Mailand Schlichting, Aneka McMullen, Jacob Nehrbass, Laura Osterhaus, Sean Scantlebury and Marciano Silva dos Santos

Saturday, March 9
Doors at 7:00pm
Show at 7:30pm

Purchase tickets.

Ashley Ballet Arts Academy is thrilled to announce our 2024 Ballet Arts Youth Ensemble (BAYE) Concert, Sculpted. Sculpted is a celebration of the work and artistry our students put into their dancing to sculpt themselves as artists and young people and will feature choreography by Ashley Burkland, Brittany Brown, Renee Guittar, and Michelle Ludwig.

The Ballet Arts Youth Ensemble, affectionately known as “BAYE,” is a group of dedicated dancers who want to broaden their dance horizons and gain pre-professional and performance experience. These young dancers work together in classes and rehearsals to prepare for multiple performances throughout the year, from their extra roles in The Nutcracker to the BAYE concert each spring, and gain valuable experience that can help to launch them towards a professional career in dance if they so choose.

Saturday, March 16, 2:00pm
Saturday, March 16, 6:00pm

Price: $15-$30

Support our aspiring artists and the future of the art form by attending this highly entertaining concert! Tickets can be purchased here.

Concerto Dance presents On Our Way
at The Southern Theater 
March 22-23 at 7:30pm
March 24 at 2:30pm

On Our Way features a mixed repertoire of modern and jazz dance works driven by musicality and virtuosity aiming to uplift the human spirit. The program includes new works by local guest artists Erinn Liebhard (Rhythmically Speaking Dance) and Darrius Strong (STRONGmovement) along with works by Artistic Director Jolene Konkel, including the restaging of the 2020 dance film Awakenings for a live audience and the premiere of Konkel’s new jazz dance work, On Our Way.

A club-like atmosphere of daring ecstasy, collective revolt, and personal reclamations.

This year’s MERGE pairs Mathew Janczewski’s high-intensity, super-charged movements with Taja Will’s nuanced, emotive, and improvisational boldness. Their collaboration will culminate in an evening of performance, which includes ARENA repertory favorite, Judged House, and the premiere of a haunting new solo by Will.

Saturday, March 23, 2024 at 7:30pm
Tickets: $35, fees included.

Sunday, March 24, 2024 at 2:00pm
Tickets: pay as you are. Market value: $35, fees included.