Zenon Dance Zone – Summer Auditions

The Zenon Dance Zone Summer Session, from June 10 – August 31, is an intensive adult dance program for all levels, ages, and dance backgrounds who wish to deepen their dance journey and experiences. The program offers two tracks and welcomes new movers through a relaxed audition.

Performance Group – for movers with an intermediate/advanced level of dance technique and searching for opportunities to perform with local choreographers, August 23-24, 2024.

Technique Group – for movers who wish to enhance their creative and technical skills while exploring different dance genres.

Auditions
During Zenon’s Summer Open House
Join us for the audition class:
Saturday, June 8
12:30-1:15pm
Intermediate Modern with Dustin Haug

Performance and Technique Track tuition covers unlimited Zenon Dance School classes during the session, with a minimum of 3-4 classes per week. Performance group members must perform in at least one showcase piece. Subsidized tuition is available through the Zenon Xchange program.

Please contact Danielle Robinson-Prater if you cannot attend audition dates, or for more information on scholarship opportunities and additional details on the Zone program.

Blended Yoga: Cultivating Strength, Balance, and Stability

Blended Yoga: Cultivating Strength, Balance, and Stability is an 8-week series guided by Sarah Baumert that blends the mindful movement of gentle yoga with the awareness of the Feldenkrais method.

June 3-July 22
Mondays, 6:00-7:15pm CT
Live classes will be taught on Zoom.
All lessons are recorded. Registering for the series gives you access to the recorded lessons indefinitely.

In this blended class, attention is focused on treating your body as a connected system, moving beyond isolated exercises. The first part of the class will focus on functional mobility and strength as we practice balance and stability exercises. The last half of class will bring us into a softer place, with mindful movements for releasing tension, and pain management.

Each class is an original, innovative creation of Sarah’s teaching, blending a more traditional gentle yoga practice with the novel Feldenkrais® awareness practices. Sarah incorporates joint-specific training, functional range exercises, self-massage, breathing exercises, and a compassionate non-competitive mindset. A true experience of movement therapy!

Allow your body to be your guide. All levels are welcome. This will be a nonjudgemental, un-intimidating space to create friends with your body (yourself!). You will train your sensitivity in such a way that you find yourself feeling more alive, vibrant, and spacious. Experience this novel way to improve your joint health and functional mobility in a holistic way led by a passionate movement educator.

Ethnic Dance Theatre Presents Golden Memories: A Celebration of 50 Years

Friday, June 14, 7:30pm
Saturday, June 15, 2:00pm and 7:30pm

Ethnic Dance Theatre (EDT) will present Golden Memories: A Celebration of 50 Years, featuring twenty dancers, the EDT Folk Orchestra, and Mila Vocal Ensemble.

Founded in 1974, by Donald LaCourse and Jonathan Frey, EDT has been dedicated to the artistic performance and preservation of world music, song, and dance. For the past 50 years, EDT has brought over 50 unique cultures and traditions to life through their performances. Golden Memories will be a celebration of this commitment.  

Join EDT as they travel across the globe through 11 original choreographies from throughout the last five decades, with dances from Hungary, Germany, Egypt, Tajikistan, Mexico, and more! The production will feature live musical accompaniment by the EDT Folk Orchestra and the talents of Mila Vocal Ensemble throughout the show.

Not only will EDT’s diverse dance and musical repertoire be on display but so will their impressive costume collection. With culturally unique and accurate costumes for each number, Golden Memories will be a feast for the eyes. From the gliding steps of Ossetia to the stamping footwork of Chihuahua, Golden Memories is sure to entrance and enthrall audience members of all ages and leave them tapping their toes wanting more.

Tickets
Adults – $35
Students/Seniors – $25
Children – $15

In C

Hatch Dance and HoneyWorks come together for their fourth collaboration, a new dance inspired by, and set to Terry Riley’s In C, performed atop the Minneapolis Club parking ramp in downtown Minneapolis.

In this new work, 17 of the Twin Cities most versatile and creative dance artists and 6 musicians led by jazz pianist Joseph Strachan navigate the world of Terry Riley’s infamous In C. The musical score, made up of 53 short cells and the simple instruction for musicians to repeat as many times as they wish before moving forward, gives full agency to the musicians and is therefore never played the same way twice. A new improvisational dance score, crafted by Berit Ahlgren and Helen Hatch, both follows and departs from the framework of the music, creating a non-hierarchical microcosm in which the consequences of complicity and dissension unfold in real time.

Friday, June 14 at 8:00pm
Saturday, June 15 at 5:30 and 8:00pm
Sunday, June 16 at 5:30 and 8:00pm

In C by Terry Riley presented under license from G. Schirmer Inc. and Associated Music Publishers, copyright owners.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

Katha Dance Theatre Presents Ganga: A Choreographic Odyssey

Katha Dance Theatre (KDT) is pleased to announce the world premiere of Ganga: A Choreographic Odyssey at E.M. Pearson Theatre!

Director/choreographer Rita Mustaphi premieres a film screening and live Kathak dance combination to create a unique cultural spectacle. The dance film, Ganga to Mississippi, was filmed in both India and Minnesota. The Minnesota section was created in collaboration with Sharon Day, an Ojibwe leader and Indigenous activist, artist and writer, and Jane Ramseyer Miller, former artistic director of One Voice Mixed Chorus. In Ganga: A Choreographic Odyssey, the brand-new live component, North Indian Kathak dance will be performed with a non-traditional South Indian Carnatic music accompaniments; the show’s composers come from South Indian Carnatic and North India Hindustani music traditions. Set to live music by these and other acclaimed guest artists, the live portion will be performed by KDT’s Company dancers and apprentices.

Ganga uses Kathak to convey the universal importance of protecting and conserving water sources. It portrays the mythological creation of the river Ganga (or Ganges), depicting Ganga as a nourishing river of life, a source of religious significance, but also one of the world’s most polluted rivers that needs saving from environmental destruction. Using the storytelling artform’s trademark rhythmic footwork, pirouettes and gestural and facial expressiveness, Ganga emphasizes how the crucial role the Ganges plays to Asian Indians is similar to the role the Mississippi plays to Minnesotans – especially to indigenous communities. Through these mythological and real-life frameworks, Ganga calls for systemic change and urges audiences to take action against pollution.

June 14 and 15 at 7:30pm
June 16 at 2:00pm
– ASL-interpreted
90 minutes, plus 20 minute intermission

General Admission: $35
Students and Seniors 65+: $20

Amez Dance Presents De Mi Corazón

One year after its official launch, Amez Dance is proud to present its debut production choreographed by Nieya Amezquita with an original music score composed by internetjunkhound:

De Mi Corazón is a love letter to the black family, specifically black fatherhood, created to explore the complexities and nuanced dynamics in the African American community. Because only through reflection and empathy can we begin to truly appreciate the intricacies of our familial connections and heal from the traumas of the past.

In addition to the performance of De Mi Corazón, Amez Dance will feature a new work from guest choreographer, Javan Mngrezzo. Connect during a post show Q&A after the June 15 performance.

Friday and Saturday, June 14 and 15 at 7:30pm.

$25, with a pay what you can performance on June 15.

Creative Movement for Grown Folks with Jesse Schmitz-Boyd

Give your inner child the chance to dance!

Creative Movement for Grown Folks is a movement workshop with dance artist Jesse Schmitz-Boyd, designed to reclaim the imagination and joy of childhood. “CMGF” consists of a connection creating warm up, playful explorations of the elements of dance, and jubilant improvisations. All levels of ability are welcome – if you are grown but need some creativity and fun – we hope you join us.

Saturday, June 15
10:30am -12:00pm
Pay as able, suggested $5-$20.
To reserve your spot, register here.

Kick off summer with 90 minutes of frolicsome movement and creative community!

Twin Cities Flamenco Collective y Amigos at Icehouse MPLS

Twin Cities Flamenco Collective invites flamenco groups and companies in town to celebrate the community and the art form! This is part of TCFC’s monthly residency program at Icehouse MPLS.

Sunday, June 16
5:00pm

Artists include:

  • Anda Flamenco
  • Cia Sautter
  • David Greenburg
  • Flamenco X
  • Twin Cities Flamenco Collective
  • Teo
  • and more!

TU Dance Center: Children and Teen Beginner Summer Programs

The TU Dance 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 2024 Creative Movement Daily Schedule and the 2024 Beginning Program Daily Schedule.

Youth Beginning Level: June 17-29
This 2-week program is entry level for students typically aged 9-12 and will focus on the techniques of Modern, Ballet, Hip Hop, and African Dance. Students will learn fundamentals of dance technique along with exploring their individual artistic expression.
Registration Deadline: June 12, 2024

Teen Beginning Level: June 17-29
This 2-week program is entry level for students typically aged 13-16 and will focus on the techniques of Modern, Ballet, Hip Hop, and African Dance. Students will learn basic fundamentals of dance technique along with exploring their individual artistic expression.
Registration Deadline: June 12, 2024

Creative Movement: July 22-26
During this 1-week program, students ages 5-8 will experience the connection between movement and creativity through rhythmically driven classes aided by live percussion.
Registration Deadline: July 17, 2024

Wayfinding: A Creative Conversation and Film Sharing

Tuesday, June 18 at 7:00pm
Free event, advanced registration encouraged.

Join us for Wayfinding, a creative conversation and informal dance film sharing featuring short films by 2024 McKnight International Choreographer Meryl Zaytoun Murman, Winona artist Sharon Mansur and Leila Awadallah. The films will explore their shared Arab/SWANA (Southwest Asian and Northern African) heritage, gender and sexuality, and diasporic bodies, and a guided discussion will center these themes. Winona State Professor Mary Jo Kilnker will lead the discussion.

Murman was named the 2024 McKnight International Choreographer for her work as a multi-disciplinary artist whose art juxtaposes choreographic, cinematic, and live art practices to create movement pieces that emphasize interactivity and intimacy. She has taught and worked deeply in several international communities including Thessaloniki and Ukraine. Her queer films and choreographies derived from experiments at the intersection of cinema and dance disrupt popular notions of spectacle, the body, virtuosity, and gender.

This event is part of a month-long residency in Winona and the Twin Cities. There will be a variety of events that allow Murman to share her multiple artistic practices. View the full residency schedule.

This free event will be co-sponsored by Art of the Rural and will take place at the Winona Arts Center. Reservations are strongly encouraged.