Archive: Performances and Events

Every first Saturday! Floorwork: a communal conversation and shared meal.

Floorwork was developed to hold conversations, knowledge-sharing, and a supportive space for dance artists and people who like to move.

The next Floorwork is:
Saturday, January 7 from 3:00-5:00pm
RSVP by Thursday, January 5 here.

This January Floorwork will be facilitated by Zoe Que and will focus on how we can create a root system of support that allows us to thrive and create art that is more inspired.

Zoe Que is a dancer, community organizer, and facilitator of sacred space. She uses empathetic listening, radical imagination, and intentionality to bring out collective intelligence in groups and spark magic. Her intention is to cultivate more support, joy, connection, and love within the Twin Cities dance community.

Conversation will be held over a communal meal – bring your own dish to share in our potluck! 

ARENA DANCES will supply beverages, plates, napkins, and utensils.

Thursday, January 19 at 7:30pm
Magers & Quinn Booksellers
Moderated by Will McGrath

Join Ashwini Ramaswamy, lead choreographer of Invisible Cities, and Will McGrath (author, Everything Lost is Found Again, Farewell Transmission) as they discuss her process of adapting Italo Calvino’s book as a multi-faceted dance performance premiering January 27 and 28, 2023.

Long an inspiration for artists of many disciplines, Calvino’s 1973 novel is a meditation on the environments all around us. The Invisible Cities performance will evoke the book’s themes through movement communicated via four dance traditions: Bharatanatyam (Classical Indian), Modern/African Diasporic, Breaking, and Gaga, as Syrian-American digital artist Kevork Mourad fills the space with live illustrations.

Hear from Ramaswamy and the other lead choreographers Alanna Morris, Berit Ahlgren, and Joseph ‘MN Joe’ Tran as they describe their process of finding cohesion and harmony among the myriad perspectives they bring to their work.

Please join Hatch Dance and HoneyWorks on January 22 for the showing of Au, The Film. Directed by Berit Ahlgren (HoneyWorks) and Helen Hatch (Hatch Dance), this live performance was captured and edited by Arlo Myren (Endless Page Productions) at its August 2022 premiere in St. Paul. Refreshments will be available for donation. Please arrive early for socializing. The film will start at 5:30pm and runs just over an hour. A discussion with the ensemble will follow the screening. Tickets: $10-15.

Sunday, January 22
5:00pm

Au, a dance in two acts, brings 26 dancers together for a highly physical contemplation of learned and innate coping mechanisms. Through vulnerable acknowledgment of how each artist manages life in the face of adversity, Ahlgren, Hatch, and the ensemble look at how these behaviors transform and reform, shaping who we are, and how we show up for ourselves and others. Set to a collection of various and recognizable tunes, a multi-talented and multi-generational cast bring their energies and experiences together in this timely work.

Can’t make it in person? Au, The Film is available on demand starting on January 23, 2023. Select an on-demand ticket to see the film on your own device!

Ashwini Ramaswamy and Kevork Mourad: Invisible Cities reimagines Italo Calvino’s metaphysical novel through a stunning synthesis of kinetic and visual storytelling. Featuring 13 dancers, Invisible Cities is grounded in four distinct forms led by a dynamic group of artists—Ranee, Aparna, and Ashwini Ramaswamy (Bharatanatyam), Berit Ahlgren (Gaga), Alanna Morris (Modern), Joseph ‘MN Joe’ Tran (Breaking)—and visual artist Kevork Mourad, who creates Invisible Cities’ interactive, immersive projections and illustrations.

January 27 at 7:30pm
January 28 at 7:30pm
Price: $35

Sunday, January 29 at 10:00am
The Black Hart of Saint Paul
Presented as part of The Great Northern

Get together, get moving, and build some midwinter heat with this all-abilities movement class, offering a fun and inclusive approach to dancing. Designed for people of all shapes and sizes, backgrounds and identities, Dance Church is a communal space for people who want to move their bodies.

During a 50ish-minute class, participants will be guided through a series of movement cues accompanied by a curated playlist of multi-genre pop music. The format is open but guided throughout. No previous training is required, but open-mindedness is a prerequisite. Get lost dancing together—it’s the dance party you wish you had last night.

Dance Church® has been bringing the joy and release of dance to people since 2010. Classes are hosted regularly in New York, Seattle and Los Angeles, and have popped up in cities worldwide. Dance Church Go is an online streaming version of our in-person classes. Go was created to dance together from wherever with on-demand and live-streamed classes available anytime. Whether in-person or on the internet, Dance Church is committed to spreading joy through movement while building community physically and virtually around the world.

World premiere of the first section of the forthcoming opera, commissioned by The Great Northern
Performed by MPLS (imPulse)
With dancer Amanda Sachs
Libretto by Robert MacFarlane
In partnership with Minnesota Opera’s Luminary Arts Center

Saturday, February 4
2:00pm and 4:00pm
Luminary Arts Center

Drawing upon J.A. Baker’s prophetic 1967 book The Peregrine, Australia-born/Iceland-based artist Ben Frost presents a new choral performance and installation Cold Air Rises. This new work in development is a collaboration with acclaimed British nature writer Robert MacFarlane. Local ensemble MPLS (imPulse) and dancer Amanda Sachs will perform this first movement of what will eventually form Frost’s next opera, commissioned by The Great Northern at Minnesota Opera’s newly renovated Luminary Arts Center. Join us for a sound experience like none other, a beautiful story of obsession and transformation.

EMBRACE with the Ahn Trio

James Sewell Ballet reunites with the extraordinary Ahn Trio in a program featuring a reimagining of 2018’s Connections. Like the best embrace, there’s known comfort and new spark combined. The three sisters of the Ahn Trio – Lucia on piano, Angella on violin, and Maria on cello – were born in Seoul, Korea, and educated at the Juilliard School in New York City. These growing-up experiences in two cultures, along with their extensive international touring, infuse their celebration of 21st-century classical music with a particular flare and style.

This performance runs approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes with one intermission.

March 17 at 7:30pm
March 18 at 2:00pm
Price: $5-35

ARENA DANCES’ 7th Annual CANDY BOX Dance Festival will take center stage once again at the historic Southern Theater this April, showcasing the innovative work of a diverse group of choreographers, including headliners Berit Ahlgren of HoneyWorks, J’Sun Howard, and Megan Mayer, in addition to happy hour artists Nic Lincoln, Cheng Xiong, LC Creations, Shane Larson, and Laurie Van Wieren.

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 April 24-29, 2023 at The Southern Theater.

CANDY BOX Dance Festival is a unique celebration of dance, packed with a wonderful assortment of various tastings that include renowned choreographers, accomplished dancers, and fresh movement styles all perfectly packed into one sweet treat of a week. It is an opportunity for diverse emerging and established artists to share the performance stage, with the addition of selected artists leading intimate workshops to offer a welcoming space for communal movement education, and in doing so gathering a range of tastes for varied audiences.

Featuring Venus DeMars and Gemma Isaacson.

This one of a kind performance brings music and dance together to provide a captivating and enriching experience. Join us January 5-8 of 2023 at Center for Performing Arts to celebrate arts and activism.

Nic Lincoln’s choreography features Gemma Isaacson tethering sensuality and humanity in a dazzling and mesmerizing solo performance. Transgender glam-rock star Venus DeMars will showcase her musical talent and keep you at the edge of glory.

Nic Lincoln has always kept art and activism close to his heart, he has asked Reclaim: a LGBTQIA+ Non-Profit to participate in this production. To support the wellness of the performers, and ensure fiscal health for the company, we require the audience to wear masks at this unique venue. Disclaimer: this is not a performance to miss.

Visit Niclincoln.com for details.

Slo Dance Company presents an evening of dance and live music considering the various duets we find ourselves existing in – with sound, with space, with time, and with each other. Two dance works on the program will invite performers and audience members alike to be curious about what new relationships might be revealed in the act of slowing down.

Slo Dance Company is led by Artistic Director Laura Osterhaus Rosenstone, who works with a rotating group of collaborators. The program at the Southern Theater features dance artists Noelle Awadallah, Emilia Bruno, Alexandra Eady, Emma Marlar, Leslie O’Neill, Jamie Ryan-Karels, and Sarah Steichen Stiles with music collaborator Patrick Marschke.

January 6 and 7 at 7:30pm

$20 – General Admission
$14 – Students and Children