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Rent TU Dance Center Studios

TU Dance Center is available for rental when not in use by TU Dance’s programming.

TU Dance Center features a reception area and front desk for check-in or event use. Access to adjacent dressing room and green room with kitchenette are available upon request.

Studio 1: 60 x 34
Studio 2: 46 x 21

Both studios feature:

  • Sprung dance floor with Marley-type surface by Harlequin
  • Wall of mirrors
  • Portable ballet barre units 10′ in length
  •  Room-level sound system with CD and mini-jack inputs
  • 50′ LCD TV cart for presentation and videoconferencing
  • Large windows providing ample natural light

Studio 1 only: A curtain that can be drawn on entire mirror; wall-mounted ballet barres of 27′ and 33′.

Rental Fees:
Individual artists: $18/hour.
Nonprofit organizations: $22/hour for rehearsals.
Other rental inquiries (for-profit, classes, workshops, auditions, life events, photo sessions, filming, etc.), please contact us.

TU Dance: THREAT by Yusha-Marie Sorzano Premieres April 2024

TU Dance is one of four dance companies participating in the pilot program The O’Shaughnessy Dance Cohort. THREAT is an evening-length work choreographed by TU Dance Guest Artist Yusha-Marie Sorzano.

THREAT is a concert dance theater work that aims to provoke an interrogation of the roles we play as individuals and communities in hierarchies. The work posits that hierarchies have the power to control our behavior and infiltrate our thoughts, even when no authority is present to enforce the rules. Using a physical language and soundscape that fuses multicultural traditions and styles of the West and the African Diaspora, this social exploration invites audiences into a modern narrative that speaks to the universal experience of authority, obedience, and rebellion.

Friday, April 26, 2024 at 7:30pm
Saturday, April 27, 2024 at 7:30pm

Purchase tickets here!

Tickets
Adult: $40
Student/Senior: $30
St. Kate’s Student: $5
Subscription information can be found here.

TU Dance Center: 2023-24 Pre-Professional Program

The TU Dance Pre-Professional Program is an intensive course of study integrating modern, ballet, African dance, conditioning and creative workshops for students up to age 24.

Click here to download the 2023-2024 Pre-Professional Daily Schedules. All classes in the Pre-Professional Program are offered in person with a virtual option, unless otherwise noted.

For more information and to register, click here.

Registration Deadline: September 5, 2023

TU Dance Center: 2023-24 Children and Teen Program

The TU Dance Center Children and Teen Program introduces the joy of creative movement and beginning dance technique. Classes, divided by age, provide a comprehensive base on which to expand by developing body awareness, coordination, balance, flexibility, strength, and musicality.

Click here to download the 2023-2024 Children and Teen Daily Schedule. All classes in the Children and Teen Program are offered in person with a virtual option, unless otherwise noted.

For more information and to register, click here.

Registration Deadlines: 
Dancing Together (Session 1): September 30
Dancing Together (Session 2): January 13
Dancing Together (Session 3): March 9
Creative Movement 3-5 and 5-7 (Session 1): September 5
Creative Movement 3-5 and 5-7 (Session 2): January 2
All other levels (yearly programming): September 5

Hothouse Studio Rental – Northeast Minneapolis

Make Hothouse your home! Our space is available for hourly rentals to independent artists, freelance instructors, and companies. Like a community garden, filled with unique plots, the beauty of Hothouse is in the diversity of the people that fill our space.

All Studios

  • Sprung, Marley floor
  • Mirrors
  • Sound system with auxiliary input and Bluetooth
  • Large windows with natural light
  • Adjustable lighting
  • Wifi
  • Access to a restroom and filtered water station
  • Free lot and street parking

Studio 1

  • 800 square feet, 40’w x 20’d

Studio 2

  • 2,000 square feet, 50’w x 40’d
  • Portable barres (accommodates 12-16)

Studio 3

  • 920 square feet, 40’w x 23’d
  • Fitness equipment (available for additional fee)

Rental prices vary based on the type of event, starting at just $16 per hour. Fill out the First Time Rental Request form at the bottom of this page to introduce yourself and book the space!

Daily Drop-In Classes at Hothouse

Open dance and fitness classes seven days a week! Class offerings include ballet, Arabic dance, contemporary, The Ellové Technique®, jazz, BollyX, hip hop, Zumba, heels, bodyART, sessions, and more.

Hothouse is a multi-purpose studio space in Minneapolis featuring drop-in classes for teens and adults. Whether you’re already involved in the local arts scene, an aspiring dance professional looking to bolster your training, or just a human who loves to move, Hothouse offers classes that celebrate the bliss of movement and embrace you for who you are.

Come as you are, leave as more.

Visit our website or find us on MINDBODY to view the full schedule and book your next class!

Free lot and street parking.

The Arena – Space for Rent

Located in the heart of the Lyn-Lake community, The Arena is available for your rehearsal, class, and event needs!

Hourly rates range from $15-$25, with discounts/special offerings available to BIPOC and LGBTQIA2+ communities and to MNFringe artists. Inquire for savings.

Our space offers:

  • 1,305 square feet (30×40) of sprung, Marley dance flooring
  • Wall-length mirrors with curtains for covering if preferred
  • Changing room
  • Free parking on side streets (Aldrich, Bryant, Colfax, 31st, etc.)
  • Access to multiple bus lines, including the 21, 4, 23, 612, and 18

To request space, please email Mathew at arenadances@gmail.com.

The Arena – Drop-in Moving Practice with Taja Will

Moving Practice is a weekly class series for professional dancers. Classes prioritize rigor, diversity of contemporary aesthetics, variety of class content, and commitment.

Taja Will teaches Moving Practice in August
Tuesdays, 10:00-11:30am

Professional-level dancers of all styles are welcome.
Pre-registration and payment beforehand are encouraged.
Suggested price of $17 per class. Pay-as-able option on all classes – we would rather you join us than not be able to attend due to financial limitations.

Improvisational Structures as Fertile Ground
Improvisation is a technical skill, it requires specificity, listening, discernment, and strong internal connections.
Chaos is a useful tool.
Limitation serves specificity.
Restraint makes choice legible.
Freedom is a vibrant dream.
Improvisation is a personal poetic.

My approach to improvisation blends somatics, score-building, ensemble cohesion, and soloist impulses. There are more proposals than we will ever have time for, and we’ll land together on weekly investigations. For me, improvisation serves various lineages and forms of dance, and offers a place of co-existence. I believe a community class can be populated by folks new to movement, those familiar, and all those in between.

This class will start with a somatic or conditioning warm-up and continue into complex structures and proposals. Participants are invited to self-regulate and instigate research at the edge of their practice. As a facilitator, I aim to offer meaningful reflections of class moments as affirmation and points for skill growth for all participants.

Class Specifics
The instructor will speak English. If you need language justice assistance please let us know.
The instructor may use dance field jargon specific to contemporary dance and lineages of modern dance, postmodern dance, performance art eras, and European/Western avant-garde.
Participants are welcome to question, disagree, and suggest pivots for class facilitation even if it means complete interruption.
The floor is Marley and can be very sticky during hot, humid weather. Socks and clothing that cover the skin can be helpful.
The instructor suggests bringing a full water bottle, a notebook, and something to write with.
The building offers an elevator, stairs, and several restroom options – the accessible restroom on the second floor, one floor away from the studio.
Please communicate any additional access needs to tajawill@gmail.com.

ARENA DANCES Announces 28th Season

Premiere of Erased Steps at Saint Paul Union Depot – August 24-25, 2023
Erased Steps is an abstract dance theater work, taking place at Union Depot in Saint Paul, MN, August 24-25, 2023. The work features an original score by local composer Zack Baltich and 15 dancers whose relationships are gradually revealed through the works’ deft abstraction, incorporating dance, visual symbolism and imaginative staging. Shining a light on both personal and societal expectations, Erased Steps exposes themes of the past and the present; what things seem like on the surface versus what they might actually be. Learn more about Erased Steps.

snowBIRD Creative Residency in Palm Springs, CA – January 2024
In early 2024, ARENA will be heading to sunny Palm Springs, California to participate in a creative residency with snowBIRD, focusing time to create with Twin Cities dancers Dustin Haug, Javan Mngrezzo, and Leslie O’Neill while we also offer classes to the community.

Mathew Janczewski and Taja Will’s collaboration of MERGE in March at The Cowles – March 23-24, 2024
Mathew Janczewski and Taja Will join choreographic and creative forces in their commissioned collaboration through The Cowles Center for MERGE in March, premiering March 23-24, 2024 on the Cowles Center’s mainstage. 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. Described as a “club-like atmosphere of daring ecstasy, collective revolt, and personal reclamations.” 2023/24 Cowles Center Season Announcement

The 8th Annual CANDY BOX Dance Festival – April 22-27, 2024
The CANDY BOX Dance Festival is a week-long dynamic sampling of featured performances, masterclasses, and in-progress showings, hosted by ARENA DANCES and presented late April 2024 at The Southern Theater. The CANDY BOX Dance Festival features both emerging and established choreographers, Happy Hour work-in-progress performances, and master class offerings, with full program announcement coming January 2024. Learn more about CANDY BOX.

Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance with Nic Lincoln

Studio Stories airs Thursday, August 17 at noon with Nic Lincoln for Season 11, Episode 135.

Take a listen and learn about Nic’s path in dance, from traveling to perform with Dayton Ballet and Cleveland San Jose Ballet –  landing in Minnesota to dance for years with James Sewell Ballet. He has been named one of “25 to Watch” by Dance Magazine in 2013 and one of the “Artists We Love” by MN Monthly magazine, and selected for numerous prestigious commissions from the McKnight Artist Fellowship for Dance, O’Shaughnessy Theater, and Momentum at the Southern Theater.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts!