Archive

Twin Cities Ballet Open Auditions for Coppelia in Paris

Twin Cities Ballet is pleased to announce open auditions for Coppélia in Paris on Sunday, February 11. This is a wonderful opportunity for dancers to be a part of a professional ballet production. Auditions are open to all local dancers ages 7 and older; we also have several roles that need to be filled by adult dancers. Coppélia in Paris will be performed at Ames Center, May 10-12, 2024.

Auditions will be separated by Ballet Royale Minnesota levels or by age for non-Ballet Royale students.  There will be a mandatory Zoom parent meeting on Thursday, February 8 at 8:00pm. A $25 non-refundable audition fee will be due prior to the audition.

Students must pre-register by paying the audition fee and filling out the registration form before attending the audition. Audition fees are non-refundable.

Audition Times:

  • Youth Ballet I/II/III, Pre-Pro 1A-3A, and ages 7-10: 12:15-1:15pm
  • Youth IV, Int. I, Pre-Pro 4A/4B, and ages 10+ with 1 year or less of pointe: 12:00-1:30pm
  • Int. II, Pre-Pro 5A and higher, and ages 12+ with greater than 1 year of pointe: 2:00-4:00pm
  • Advanced adults: We have several roles that need to be filled by male and female adult dancers. Adults who are interested in auditioning, please attend the 2:00-4:00pm audition time. No pointe work experience is required.

James Sewell Ballet: Romance Dance

It’s back! Let’s generate some light and warmth in the darkness of winter. Join us for an elegant benefit in support of the company, sure to warm your toes and your hearts. Featuring a performance by JSB dancers, scrumptious victuals, and lively conversation with friends old and new. Click here to learn more.

Thursday, February 15, 2024

5:00pm
Reception Hour with appetizers, wine/sparkling water, and mingling with friends

6:00–8:15pm
Song and dance from JSB artists and our evening’s special emcee Emily Tyra
Elegant buffet dinner and dessert
Limited live auction* and fund-raising

8:15–9:00pm
Continue to mingle, sip, and dance the night away!

Tickets: $150 per person
Tables of 8 available.
R.S.V.P. by February 8.

*Auction Items include a special L.A. getaway, unique chef experience, and fun ways to engage with the JSB artists!

C.L.U.E. – Collide Theatrical

Collide Theatrical Dance Company presents C.L.U.E. at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis, running February 15-March 10, 2024.

Welcome to Mystery Mansion, where murder and blackmail are on the menu for this evening’s dinner party. Was it the butler… in the bedroom… with the knife? Or perhaps the maid… in the parlor… with the candlestick holder?  

Get ready as Collide brings its unique blend of dance theater to a murder mystery. Only this time… you – the audience – get to choose the ending! Who will it be? Where? With what weapon? The verdict is in your hands, and so is the song the guilty character will dance to.

Tickets available online at collidetheatrical.org/clue or by calling 651-395-7903, ext. 701.
For group discounts and questions, please email Grace@collidetheatrical.org.

The Tales & Tails of Folks & Fairies

CREO Arts & Dance Conservatory in Minnetonka presents the 13th annual performance of The Tales & Tails of Folks & Fairies. This is a unique, West-Metro community tradition which gives over 100 novice and pre-professional dancers, grades 2-12, the opportunity to perform on stage. Dancers experience the joys and achievement of creating a large-scale dance production, portraying beloved fairy-tale characters, and dancing in the spotlight!

The Tales & Tails of Folks & Fairies is an original story created by CREO Arts & Dance director Christa Anderson-Hill, featuring the choreography of various other artists. The ballet follows the adventures of a Little Girl who falls into her enchanted fairy tale book. The story is a classic representation of a young person’s struggle to overcome adversities in life. The Little Girl, frustrated with the way others see her, wishes to be far away from her struggles in school and on the playground. She gets her wish and falls into her enchanted fairy tale book, where she finds life among characters such as Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin, Cinderella, and beautiful fairies. She comes to realize that despite living in a fairytale world, each of the characters she meets has struggles of their own. She learns through her journey to “look for the helpers,” and remember that while we are quick to focus on that which brings us suffering, all along the tools to bring us happiness are close at hand.

Performances
Friday, February 16 at 6:30pm
Saturday, February 17 at 2:00pm
At the Hopkins High School Main Auditorium.
Tickets can be purchased online for $28 (premium seating) or $18 (regular seating) at creodance.com or at the door.

Please visit creodance.com or call (612) 636-6893 for details.

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens Dances Beethoven with Live Orchestra

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens returns to Northrop for the first time since 2006, dancing two monumental masterpieces. The iconic four-note opening of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony—said to represent “Fate knocking on Man’s door”—inspired American choreographer Garrett Smith’s Complete. The late Uwe Scholz’s choreography for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 is considered his masterwork—displaying inventiveness and exceptional musicality. As the music races along at an irrepressible pace, these gorgeous artists convey the sheer joy of dancing to one of the most perfect symphonies ever written.     

Saturday and Sunday, February 17 and 18

Sensory Friendly Lounge
A Sensory Friendly Lounge equipped with sensory supports and staffed by trained volunteers will be available to all guests who are seeking a safe and soothing atmosphere during this and other select performances. Learn more on the Accessibility Services page.   

Young Dance Presents Winter Dance Experience

On Monday, February 19, spend your day off from school exploring new dance styles with your friends! Classes include Family Dance and Creative Movement for younger dancers. Dancers 7 years and older can explore a morning of Dance + Photography and/or afternoon Variety Camp—bring a lunch and take both offerings for a full day of dancing!

Family Dance 
Join us for a morning of dancing together. Children and caregivers will get a special start to their day, exploring movement and stories in a fun environment. Taught by Judee Shuǐ Xiān.
Ages 1-6 with caregiver
9:15-10:00am
$15

Dance a Story
Your little one can explore movement possibilities with a focus on storytelling. Using personal experience and imagination, children will spend time expressing stories in their bodies and minds. In this fun-filled class, children develop large and fine motor skills, coordination, rhythm, and listening skills as they go on their creative adventures. Taught by Denise Gagner.
Ages 4-7
10:00am-12:00pm
$25

Dance + Photography*
Experience the intersection of dance and photography! Participants will use photography to consider how bodies create shape and transform from 3-dimensional experiences to 2-dimensional images. Teaching Artist and professional photographer Blake Nellis teaches this camp. Participants will receive a link to photographs taken during the workshop by the Instructor and professional photographer, Blake Nellis.
Ages 7-18
9:30am-12:00pm
$42
*A digital device with photography capabilities is recommended but not required.

Variety Dance Camp
In Variety Camps, participants will dip their toes in different dance styles and find new ways of expressing themselves through movement. In this year’s camp, students will learn Capoeira with Guerreiro, Modern with Jennifer Ilse, and Hip Hop with Cecil Neal. At the end of the workshop, students will show off their new moves in an informal showing for their caregivers.
Ages 7-18
12:30-4:30pm
$68

Multiple class discounts apply. Register at: register.youngdance.org.

Puss in Boots

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:
Saturday, March 2 at 2:00pm
Saturday, March 2 at 6:00pm
Sunday, March 3 at 2:00pm
Saturday, March 9 at 2:00pm
Saturday, March 9 at 6:00pm
Sunday, March 10 at 2:00pm

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

Spring into Spring Workshops Series with Jawaahir Dance Company

$10 workshops in March!

Save the dates:
Sundays, March 3, 10, and 17
12:15-2:15pm
At Hothouse

Jawaahir Dance Company members will be teaching a variety of topics geared toward those who are new to Middle Eastern dance and those who are looking to refine and expand their Arabic dance technique. Stay tuned for details!

Hothouse is located on the 2nd floor of the Kennedy Building in NE Minneapolis.
Ample free parking on street and in Kennedy Building lot.

The Arena – Contemporary Forms with Sarah McCullough

March 6-April 24, 2024
Wednesdays, 8:00-9:30am
Pre-registration required – no drop-ins.

Early bird registration now open: $120
After February 6: $160
Registration closes: February 25
Register here.

Contemporary Forms
The core themes of this practice will include sensory exploration, movement as meditation, and engaging with the body’s intuition. In each class, we will move through improvisation and phrase work to engage the senses and awaken the body. Movement material will have an expansive, animal-like virtuosity. Over the course of the series, we will extend phrase work, using imagery and prompts from our research to explore individual choice-making. This series is designed for intermediate/advanced movers who are interested in researching their unique movement modalities in a space based in curiosity and joy.

Sarah McCullough (she/her) is a Minneapolis-based movement artist and educator. Originally from Virginia, she attended James Madison University and earned her BA in Dance and Mathematics. Since joining Minneapolis’ dance community in 2018, she has performed the works of Carl Flink, Mathew Janczewski, Alexandra Bodnarchuk, Berit Ahlgren, Helen Hatch, Marisol Herling, and more. Alongside her performance work, Sarah is an educator in contemporary forms. While at JMU, she served as Co-Director of JMU’s Associate Dance Ensemble where she led a weekly company class and mentored 20 first-year dance majors in the early stages of their collegiate dance journey. She has led classes at the Limón Twin Cities Intensive, ARENA DANCES’ Instinct Summer Intensive, The University of Winchester (UK), North Carolina State University, as well as several high school dance programs and studios across Minnesota and Virginia.

Twin Cities Ballet: Pink Floyd’s The Wall: A Rock Ballet Returns

Back by popular demand, Twin Cities Ballet’s groundbreaking hit show returns to the historic Fitzgerald Theater, with live music by popular local band, Momentary Lapse of Floyd. Based on Pink Floyd’s iconic 1979 rock opera, TCB’s The Wall: A Rock Ballet is an ingenious fusion of genres that will captivate ballet patrons, music fans, and the artistically curious alike.

TCB’s ballet interprets the original Pink Floyd rock opera’s music, themes, story arc, and lyrics on a personal, rather than political, level. It explores the life and various relationships with the main character, Pink, and follows his transformative journey of loss, isolation, insanity, and redemption. Through its insightful original interpretation of the emotion and power of Pink Floyd’s story and music, TCB brings this classic rock masterpiece to life like never before!

March 15, 7:30pm
March 16, 7:30pm
March 17, 2:00pm

Tickets from $38.50-$53.50, available at twincitiesballet.org/tickets.

These activities are made possible by the voters of Minnesota through an operating support grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.