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MotionArt Adult Modern Dance Classes

MotionArt’s mission is to share the art of dance and the joy of movement with people of all ages and abilities. We strive to enrich lives by fostering creativity, body awareness and self-expression in a fun, non-competitive, welcoming environment.

We offer ongoing dance classes in-studio, on Zoom and outside (weather permitting). Paying the regular rate helps keep our organization afloat; however, no one will be turned away for inability to pay. There is also an option to pay what you can.

Please go to motionartmn.org to sign-up for classes, or contact Pam Gleason for info.

Ageless Dance
Mondays, 4:00-5:15pm – Center for Performing Arts, Studio #105
Thursdays, 4:30-5:45pm – Center for Performing Arts, Sunroom

Beginning Modern Dance
Tuesdays, 5:00-6:15pm – Zoom only

Intermediate Modern Dance
Wednesdays, 10:30am-12:00pm – Center for Performing Arts, Sunroom

Mixed Level Modern Dance
Tuesdays, 7:00-8:15pm – Center for Performing Arts, Studio #105
Saturdays, 4:00-5:30pm – Hybrid: Center for Performing Arts, Sunroom, and Zoom

Tap Dance Classes for All Ages with Keane

Keane Sense of Rhythm has the largest adult tap class offerings in the state – check out our Tappy Hour for levels 1, 2, and 3!

New space at 2161 University Ave, Suite 117, St. Paul, MN with offerings for all ages.

Open House
August 23, 4:00-8:00pm
Sample classes and see our new space!

Youth Tap Ensemble Auditions
August 23
Email Cathy@tapcompany.org to get involved!

Grand Opening
September 27, 4:00-9:00pm
With drawings for Yeti cooler!

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.

Ananya Dance Theatre Ongoing Classes

Pop Up Class: Body Watani, July 5–August 30
Tuesdays, 10-11:30am CT with Noelle Awadallah
Body Watani (watani means homeland in Arabic) is both an improvisational movement practice and an emerging contemporary dance form developed by Leila and Noelle Awadallah, two Palestinian American dancers. The practice is a container with soft edges where improvisational research guides practitioners into their personal ‘body watani’ through spending time with ancestries, contemplating our complex relations to land/water/home, and activating embodied memories into one’s own dancing. Body Watani also manifests as a contemporary form with roots in dances of Arabic / *SWANA / Mediterranean lands through specific movement techniques, music of the region, and cultural/political content to engage with that deepens our relation to Body Watani’s context.

*SWANA: South West Asia North Africa

Intro to Yorchhā**
Saturdays, 9:00-10:00am CT with Parisha Rajbhandari
Envision justice through rhythmic footwork, flowing torso, and sustained breath in Intro to Yorchhā. Each class begins with a warm-up followed by foundational Yorchhā exercises and a fun choreographed phrase.

**Yorchhā is Ananya Dance Theatre’s trade-marked contemporary technique that intersects principles of vinyasa yoga, classical Indian dance form Odishi (from the eastern Indian state of Odisha), and martial art form Chhau (also from Odisha).

Wednesday Water Dances
Wednesday, 9:30-11:00am CT with Kealoha Ferreira
A weekly dedication to the vitality and life force of Water. We will offer breath, dance, meditation, story, song, and reflection in class. Each class will take shape a little differently, staying responsive to the ongoing movements protecting the value and longevity of water worldwide. Facilitated by Kealoha Ferreira, an Ananya Dance Theatre Artist, Wednesday Water Dances will begin with grounding movement, flow into dedicated time for personal practice/research/reflection, and close with collective sharing. All committed to deepening their relationship with water are welcome to participate.

Advanced Yorchhā
Friday, 6:00-7:00pm CT with Kealoha Ferreira
Dive into the nuance and complexity of Yorchhā. Advanced Yorchhā is designed to challenge and hone experienced movers through strength training, technique refinement, and intricate choreography. Previous Yorchhā experience is encouraged.

Yoga: Aligning With Land
Sundays, 3:00-4:00pm CT with Kealoha Ferreira
From Tadasana (mountain pose), the first asana in Surya Namaskar (sun salutation) A, we connect our feet to the ground and shift our internal landscape to find equity with the land that sustains us. Our practices of relationality and reciprocity are also building blocks for sustainable and regenerative body practices. This Vinyasa class introduces and deepens the fundamentals of structural and energetic alignment in Yoga while moving towards right-relationship between place and community. All are welcome to participate. Variations and modifications will be provided for multiple access points in each class. Mats and blocks are encouraged with limited supplies available at the Institute.

Twin Cities Ballet: Openings for 2022/23 Season

Twin Cities Ballet limited openings for unpaid apprenticeships and student trainee positions for both male and female dancers. 

Please submit the following audition materials by email to auditions@TwinCitiesBallet.org and info@TwinCitiesBallet.org. We will contact you after we have reviewed your audition materials to schedule an in-person or virtual audition.

  • Your resumé.
  • Two photos: First arabesque and a headshot showing at least 3/4 face. Either attach small-format photos or provide a link.
  • Video link showing classwork or performance clips, clearly demonstrating your classical ballet technique.

About Us
Twin Cities Ballet (TCB) is an independent, 501(c)(3) non-profit professional dance company that creates original full-length and shorter story ballets, a rare and nearly lost art, as well as more abstract contemporary ballet-based works. An emerging gem in the Twin Cities, TCB has carefully built a financially solid and growing organization that is making its mark both regionally and nationally through its creative and innovative artistic endeavors. Our mission is to connect and enrich communities by making ballet approachable, relatable, and fun, through professional and original productions and educational outreach.

TCB prohibits discrimination against any employee, applicant for employment, or patron because of race, color, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, veteran status or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.

TU Dance: CUL•TI•VATE: A Trainee Program

CUL·TI·VATE, A Trainee Program: curated encounters (in and outside the dance studio) designed to support and strengthen the total dance artist, advancing their physical, emotional, and cognitive growth, agility, and acumen. Rooted in TU Dance’s vision of transformational communities, CUL·TI·VATE nurtures artistic excellence and the development of intellectual curiosities and moral character, finely tuned to ignite flourishing communities committed to shared humanity.  -Dr. Carol Marie Webster, PhD

Inspired by the next generation of dance artists, CUL·TI·VATE is a program designed as a bridge for dancers with advanced training between their educational perspective and envisioning themselves in the professional field. Through classes, workshops, choreographic processes, mentorship, community engagement, teaching, performance and more, dancers will connect and share experiences as a collective as well as expressing and gaining momentum towards their individual interests and goals beyond their time in the program. CUL·TI·VATE will embrace and support each dancer while fostering their unique artistic path centered in TU Dance’s values of excellence, belonging, creativity and transformation.

Age range: 18-24

To audition:
Interested dancers are strongly encouraged to attend the TU Dance Summer Intensive Level 4 or 5, July 25-August 13, 2022. Enrollment for single weeks is available. Scholarships available!

If unable to attend the Summer Intensive, please email the following to laurel.keen@tudance.org by August 15, 2022:

  • Resume and Cover Letter expressing your interest and goals for participating in CUL·TI·VATE.
  • Performance Reel: 3 minutes max and may include studio or performance footage which clearly shows the individual instead of group work.
  • An in-person or virtual meeting may be scheduled as part of the audition process.

Dancers will receive notification of their acceptance into the CUL·TI·VATE program by August 29, 2022.

CUL·TI·VATE Interest/Questions: For any questions about the program, and to let us know if you are taking the TU Dance Summer Program as part of the audition, please email: laurel.keen@tudance.org.

Audition Notice: 50th Anniversary of Choreographers’ Evening

Judith Howard, a tall white woman stands near the camera, her face is turned over her shoulder. Alanna Morris, a small black woman, stands behind Judith and looks around Judith to face the camera

The Walker Art Center and guest curators Judith Howard and Alanna Morris are seeking Minnesota dance makers working in all forms to present their work as part of Choreographers’ Evening on Saturday, November 26, 2022.

For more than 50 years, this annual showcase has been a highly anticipated event, featuring a diverse array of Minnesota dance makers of all ages and genres, offering an exciting glimpse into our vibrant dance community.

Audition Information:

  • Choreographers must live in Minnesota.
  • Works should not exceed seven minutes.
  • Ensembles are welcome to audition.
  • Works-in-progress are accepted.
  • Live auditions are preferred; however, video submissions will be accepted.
  • Please audition with the same work that you would like to present.

Deadline to submit a video audition or sign up for a live audition is August 15.

Please review the full audition information (including a note from the curators) on the Walker website: wlkr.art/CE-50th-Audition

Off-Leash Area Presents Minotaur

Off-Leash Area presents Minotaur, in which we behead the patriarchy and delve into the world of the violent and labyrinth-bound creature, half-bull half-man, with dance, mask performance, live music, and live animated projection.

With Minotaur, OLA Co-Artistic Director and Choreographer Jennifer Ilse leads a gender diverse, multi-generational, and fiery cast to take audiences on a thoroughly interdisciplinary and utterly imaginative journey exploring the possibilities laid bare by the metaphorical beheading of the patriarchy. With this production, the artists ask: Once the patriarchy is laid asunder, and after knowing nothing other than a labyrinthine system of oppression, how do we know when we are free of a hierarchical system’s seductive power?

Dancers Nieya Amezquita, Gabby Garcia, Jennifer Ilse, Jesse Schmitz-Boyd, and Joseph Wurm will perform Minotaur with contemporary dance and mask performance. Accompanying the performers and immersing the entire audience will be a live music and sound score by Dameun Strange, and a live animated projection design by OLA Co-Artistic Director Paul Herwig. All together, Off-Leash Area will take the audience to an otherworldly space where ancient myth, dreams of a future, and our urgent present collide.

Thursday-Sunday, July 14-17, 2022
All performances 7:30pm
Tickets: Admission is $10-30, sliding scale.

COVID-19 Precautions: Masks required; N95, KN95, or other high-filtration masks encouraged. Audience will be required to show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test within 72 hours at the door.

Acknowledgements: This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

Jawaahir at Dances at the Lake Festival

Join Jawaahir for two evenings filled with local artists at this wonderful outdoor event held at the Minneapolis Rose Garden!

Friday, July 15 and Saturday, July 16 from 7:00-9:00pm.

This event is free and family friendly!

20th Annual Dances at the Lake Festival

After a two-year interruption, the Ray Terrill Dance Group presents the 20th annual Dances at the Lake Festival—two free concerts at the Rose Garden at Lake Harriet, open to the public.

Friday and Saturday, July 15 and 16
7:00pm

The festival features a variety of dance forms performed by both professional adult and youth companies. The “stage” for the shows is the large grassy area between the two fountains near the Rose Garden at Lyndale Park Garden. Audience members are invited to bring a lawn chair or blanket and some snacks, drinks or a picnic to enjoy the unique opportunity of seeing dance performed at the Rose Garden.

This year’s festival showcases professional artists and youth dance groups originating from Minnesota:

  • Anda Flamenco Company and School, Twin Cities, MN — Kristina de Sacramento, Artistic Director
  • Ashley Ballet Arts Academy, Golden Valley, MN — Lisa Conway, Artistic Director
  • Christopher Watson Dance Company, Minneapolis, MN – Christopher Watson, Artistic Director
  • eMartin Dance — Erica Martin, Artistic Director
  • Jawaahir Dance Company, Minneapolis, MN — Lauren Olson, Artistic Director
  • One Dance Company, Saint Paul, MN — Clair Curren, Artistic Director
  • Open Dance Project, Minneapolis, MN — Jennifer Mack, Artistic Director
  • Kinetic Evolutions, Minneapolis, MN — Sarah LaRose-Holland, Artistic Director
  • Plymouth Youth Dance Program, Plymouth, MN — McKayla Murphy, Artistic Director
  • Ray Terrill Dance Group, Saint Paul, MN — Ray Terrill Artistic Director
  • Sansai Yonsei Kai, Japanese Dance Company, Saint Paul MN — Linda Hashimoto, Artistic Director
  • Youth Dance Ensemble, Burnsville, MN — Dixie Rairamo, Artistic Director