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Join us for the Sixth Annual Right Here Showcase, the community’s only annual juried program supporting Minnesota-based, mid-career performing artists who create original performance work.

Founding Artistic Producer Paul Herwig, 2008 McKnight Theater Fellow and 2005 City Pages Artist of the Year, steers the Showcase. Four artists are chosen through an annual public call and a panel review, to be awarded financial commissions plus technical and promotional support to present a new work of contemporary performance especially for the Showcase.

This year’s Right Here Showcase is presented February 24-27 at the Tek Box Theater on the second floor of the Cowles Center, with two artists performing each night.

Powerhouse performance makers include:
Benjamin Domask-Ruh – physical theater artist
Jess Forest  – dancer, choreographer, and visual artist
Sam Johnson – performance maker
Queen DREA – musician and composer

Performance schedule:
Thursday, February 24, 8:00pm: Benjamin Domask-Ruh and Jess Forest
Friday, February 25, 8:00pm: Benjamin Domask-Ruh and Jess Forest at 8:00pm
Saturday, February 26, 8:00pm: Sam Johnson and Queen DREA Reynolds at 8:00pm
Sunday, February 27, 8:00pm: Sam Johnson and Queen DREA Reynolds at 5:00pm

Tickets are $20.
Stay tuned at righthereshowcase.weebly.com.

Covid protocols: Proof of full vaccination required for attendance. Hard copy or digital copy of proof of vaccination must be presented at the door for entry. NO exceptions. Masks and physical distancing in the theater and lobby required at all times. Please, let’s all keep each other safe.

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.

THERMAL is a dialogue – through movement, form and sound – centered on Earth’s changing environment. With the effects of climate change here, Thermal invites viewers to slow down and appreciate our natural surroundings while simultaneously delivering a sense of urgency to act along with anxiety for what might happen next.

Set in the historic Turnblad Mansion at The American Swedish Institute, Kim Heidkamp’s sculptural paper artwork sprawls from the ballroom stage across the floor, much like a creature from Norse mythology asleep in the landscape. Scores by composer Joshua Clausen and choreography by Mathew Janczewski of ARENA DANCES activate the work, drawing the viewer in.

This interdisciplinary installation is the culmination of a series of in-progress, outdoor showings by ARENA DANCES, with a month-long premiere February 25-March 19. The artwork, as well as video and content about the collaboration, will be on display in the Mansion throughout the course of the exhibition.

February 25*-March 19
Friday and Saturday, 7:00pm
Select matinees will take place on Saturday, March 12 and 19 at 1:00pm, during museum hours.
*Opening night – Friday, February 25 – to be followed by an artist’s talk.

Live performances by Rachel Clark, Dustin Haug, and José A. Luis.

Tickets on sale now: https://asimn.org/exhibition/thermal

In a companion piece to her acclaimed virtual performance, DIGITAL, Emily Michaels King brings her fearless vulnerability and inventive use of technology into the flesh.

IN PERSON is a multimedia performance that uses a complex network of devices to examine parasympathetic freeze, survival, and reclamation. This distorted and intricate mixture of device pairing, screen mirroring, choreography, and projection is an endoscopic plunge into one’s internal hard drives, digital and otherwise, for proof of life and who we are despite it all. Performed solo alongside machine companions, IN PERSON thrusts flesh against RAW file and wires the virtual to the human.

Schedule:
All shows at 7:30PM.

Friday, February 25 – Opening
Saturday, February 26 – Talkback
Sunday, February 27
Monday, February 28 – PWYC/Talkback
Thursday, March 3
Friday, March 4 – Talkback
Saturday, March 5 – Closing

Covid protocol will be in place.

Ranee Ramaswamy and Aparna Ramaswamy’s Fires of Varanasi: Dance of the Eternal Pilgrim

Rooted in the expansive South Indian dance form of Bharatanatyam, Ragamala Dance Company manifests a kindred relationship between the ancient and the contemporary. In their latest evening-length performance, Fires of Varanasi: Dance of the Eternal Pilgrim, eleven dancers conjure a realm where time is suspended and humans merge with the divine.

Award-winning creators Ranee Ramaswamy and Aparna Ramaswamy imagine a metaphorical crossing place that enters into a ritualistic world of immortality, evoking the birth-death-rebirth continuum in Hindu thought to honor immigrant experiences of life and death in the diaspora. This work is the culmination of a two-year partnership with Northrop that included a reimagined 2020-21 Ragamala Rooted residency with free monthly engagement activities.

This event will be captioned, with other accessibility services available upon request.

Take in the upper-level students of The School of Ballet Co.Laboratory in a nostalgic nod to the classic children’s story, Goodnight Moon. This contemporary ballet will follow bunny’s bedtime ritual of saying “goodnight” to the three little bears, cow jumping over the moon, kittens, and so many more in the great green room. 

Choreography by: Genevieve Waterbury through the Laboratory II: Emerging Choreographer Program

Performed by: Upper-level students of The School of Ballet Co.Laboratory 

Saturday, February 26, 2022
2:00pm and 7:00pm

Tickets start at $20.

https://bit.ly/LabII-22

As part of the spring fundraising campaign, the Young Dance Board of Directors will offer multiple events for donation. Select one, or many, of the gatherings from the menu to join in the fun!

Cross Country Skiing
Lebanon Hills Regional Park
February 27, 11:00am–1:00pm
This outing is led by Gretchen Pick, and ski rentals are available through the park.
Suggested donation $25/person

Virtual Cooking – Galette
March 6, 2:00–4:00pm
Learn how to make a French Galette des Rois, a flaky, buttery, frangipane cake, and the history, game and song that go with it! Ingredient list provided upon registration or a kit with unusual items can be delivered for $10. Nicole Hinrichs-Bideau leads the fun!
Zoom link sent upon registration.
Suggested donation $20/family

Virtual Pilates Mat Class
April 30, 10:00–11:00am
Join an all levels mat Pilates class led by Abby Frank Taylor! We will go through a series of gentle movements and build some heat as we go. Modifications and support will be provided throughout using things you can find around your house.
Zoom link sent upon registration.
Suggested donation $10-20/person

Dance Celebration
May 15, 4:00–6:00pm
Following the final Young Dance Spring Performance, celebrate with an opportunity to dance together! Paul McCluskey will lead an Irish Ceili dance experience.
Suggested donation $5-10/person

Virtual Cooking – Goat Cheese
May 21, 10:00-11:00am
Learn to make goat cheese from home with Soph Myers-Kelley! Impress friends and family with simple skills, and in less than an hour.
Zoom link sent upon registration.
Suggested donation $20/person

Virtual Cooking – Sushi Making
May 28, 10:00-11:00am
Learn the basics of sushi making from home with Soph Myers-Kelley! Your new skills will save you money and you are guaranteed to laugh at how silly your first rolls look!
Zoom link sent upon registration.
Suggested donation $20/person

Register by emailing info@youngdance.org. Donations can be made online here, or by check to Young Dance, sent to 655 Fairview Ave North St. Paul, MN, 55104.

Facebook event page: https://fb.me/e/39RIkcyFD

We are so excited to gather with you in 2022, and thank you for supporting Young Dance. 

Kinetic Evolutions and Rushe Dance Project present #pause: motion in pause, a modern contemporary dance collaboration that began in late 2019. Rehearsals started but abruptly ended early spring 2020 when COVID-19 hit and Minnesota shut down. All rehearsals were cancelled; the performers went into a pause.

When rehearsing resumed, choreography was developed virtually and/or in outdoor environments. Recently, rehearsals have been held in person in a dance studio, where focus was put on interactions and developing different ways of connecting with each other. Partnering became a health risk, taboo; physical touch had to be rediscovered. The past couple of years have influenced the work and artistic choices. This performance hopes to offer space for everyone to pause from the heaviness of the world and to witness a shared experience.

Performance dates are:

• Friday, March 4 at 7:00pm
• Saturday, March 5 at 7:00pm

#pause: motion in pause features choreography by Sarah LaRose-Holland, Samantha Heggem, John Surber, and guest choreographer Sarah Hauss.

Performers include:

Kinetic Evolutions dancers: Sarah LaRose-Holland (Artistic Director), Sarah Hauss, Samantha Heggem, Catlin Murphy, Hai Dang Nguyen, John Surber.

Rushe Dance Project dancers: Samantha Heggem (Co-Director), John Surber (Co-Director), Kadie Habana.

Ticket Information:
Adults $20
Student $15
Ages 17 and younger $10

Payment options:

• Venmo @kineticev. When using Venmo, please add your name and performance date in the comments section.
• Email laroseholland@gmail.com to reserve your ticket and pay cash or credit at the door.

This is a COVID safe event. Masks and proof of vaccination and/or a negative test are required.

Virginia Twins present This House Is In Trouble, a devised adaption of Aeschylus’s Agamemnon.

Performances run March 11-13, Friday at 8:00pm, Saturday at 6:00pm and 9:00pm, and Sunday at 2:00pm in the CFPA blackbox. 

The king and his army return home after ten years at war. The queen has been waiting all this time for a chance to kill him. Why? He killed their daughter. Weaving together textiles, dance, and physical theater, the Virginia Twins tell the ancient Greek story of Agamemnon’s murder. How does it feel to wait, to get revenge, to start over, to come home? 

Tickets will be offered on a sliding scale, and can be purchased at www.virginiatwins.com.

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.