Springtime is for lovers, they say, and that includes lovers of dance, who should find no shortage of romance, intrigue, and excitement in the wealth of dance performances and events around the DMV this season. Whether in the mood for classical beauty, avant-garde experimentation, or a seductive fusion of the two, somewhere the rhythm’s gonna get you.

While the Washington Ballet revives The Sleeping Beauty, and the Joffrey reimagines Tolstoy’s tale of all-consuming desire in a new ballet based on Anna Karenina, contemporary companies Sean Dorsey Dance and Khecari present radical, queer-inclusive visions of connection. Companies bravely explore disconnection, too, in Global Oasis by Nomad Dancers and Raqs el Hob, and Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company’s gripping El Muro/The Wall, just to name two.

And everywhere you look, from Step Afrika! at Strathmore, to the Social Tango Project at Kennedy Center, and Indigenous Enterprise at GMU Concert Hall, artists from diverse cultures share the universal message that dance brings people together like nothing else can.

ATLAS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

1333 H St. NE
202-399-7993
www.atlasarts.org

• Nomad Dancers and Raqs El Hob: Global Oasis — Representing travelers and refugees crossing the deserts of the Middle East and Central Asia, dancers evoke the search for safe haven (3/25, Lang Theatre)
• Therese Gahl & Company: REFLECTIONS — Gahl and a cast of local dancers celebrate the positivity and unity born of dance (3/26, Lang Theatre)
• Rae Grey Dance Collective: Wax & Wane — Creator Grey and collaborating artists explore the human condition via movement relating to our worldly lived experiences (4/22, Lang Theatre)
• VERSATILITY Dance Festival — Colorado-based T2 Dance Company hosts a lineup of the nation’s best contemporary companies, including D.C.’s Company E and Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company, plus a selection of dance films from around the world (4/15, Lang Theatre)
• Sisi Reid/The Welders/Soul Shine: Rock Paper Scissors — Weaving together movement, poetry, and play, Reid created and performs this exploration of her own intersecting identities as a Black, queer, bisexual woman (6/22-25, Lab Theatre II)

BALLETNOVA CENTER FOR DANCE

Fredgren Studio Theatre
3443 Carlin Springs Rd.
Falls Church, Va.
703-778-3008
www.balletnova.org

• Coppélia — A life-sized doll comes dancing to life in this classic comedic ballet set to music by Delibes, presented both in full-length for all-ages audiences, and in 45-minute Preschool Petite performances created specifically for ballet fans ages 5 and under (All Ages: 4/15-16, Capital One Hall, Tysons, VA; Preschool Petite: 4/29-30, BalletNova Center)

BALTIMORE BALLET

10534 York Road
Cockeysville, Md.
410-667-7974
www.baltimoreballet.com

• Paquita Grand Pas Classique — The company performs Deldevez’s romantic ballet, featuring special guests Alexa Torres and Masanori Takiguchi, followed by a recital performance by the Baltimore Ballet School (5/21, Goucher College Kraushaar Auditorium)

BALTIMORE THEATRE PROJECT

45 West Preston St.
Baltimore, Md.
410-752-8558
www.theatreproject.org

• Alex & Olmsted: Hubba Hubba — The singing-dancing duo perform a show of vignettes exploring the many forms and qualities of romantic love, told using puppetry and movement (3/23-4/2)
• VTDance: 20th Anniversary — The company and founder Vincent E. Thomas celebrate 20 years of art and dance with a career-spanning concert (11/19-20)
• Air Dance Bernasconi: From an Aerial View — In a multimedia performance, Jayne Bernasconi and company highlight the ’60s-’70s pioneers of aerial dance, including Stephanie Evanitsky, Terry Sendgraff, and Robert Davidson (5/12-21)
• GRIDLOCK Dance: You, and Other Spectator Sports — Led by Madeline Maxine Gorman, the contemporary company is joined by community dancers and live musicians in works reflecting on voyeurism, capitalism, and “the myth of American exceptionalism” (6/30-7/2)

CHAMBER DANCE PROJECT

CDP Media Lounge
700 12th St. NW
202-499-2297
www.chamberdance.org

• Slam! A Festival of Ballets — World premieres Slam!, performed alongside slam poets Drew Anderson and Gayle Danley, and Weave the Wind, choreographed by artistic director Diane Coburn Bruning, highlight the company’s June Season, presented in two different programs that also include works from the company repertoire, like male duet Exit Wounds (Program A: 6/22-24, Greenberg Theatre, 4200 Wisconsin Ave); Program B: 6/24-25, Greenberg Theatre)
• Great Works Series — The company resumes its discussion series with artistic director Diane Coburn Bruning and guests deconstructing impactful choreography on stage and film, while members sip wine, view the ballets, and join the conversation (4/12, CDP Media Lounge)

CITYDANCE

301-581-5204
www.citydance.net

• The Nobel Mind Chronicles Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah — Drawn from Ghanaian culture and history, this MFA thesis dance performance project by Adjetey Klufio employs CityDance Conservatory dancers and live drums to chronicle Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, known as Osagyefo, “the Redeemer” (3/25, CityDance Studio Theater at Strathmore)
• Gala Performance & After Party — Joined by guest professionals, young artists from CityDance Conservatory show off their talents in a performance to benefit the conservatory’s scholarship and aid programs (5/6, Kennedy Center, Terrace Theater)

THE CLARICE

Dance Theatre
University of Maryland
College Park, Md.
301-405-ARTS
www.theclarice.umd.edu

• TDPS Experimental Performance Series — MFA Students from the School of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies present eclectic and provocative new works (Program #4: 4/7-8, Program #5: 5/5-6)
• UMoves: Undergraduate Dance Concert — A celebratory program of new works choreographed by TDPS undergrads (4/28-30)
• Maryland Day — UMD’s annual campus-wide open house loaded with fun, free opportunities to “explore the creativity of Terps” through performances and interactive experiences (4/29)
• RUBBERBAND: Ever So Slightly — The ten dancer-athletes of Victor Quijada’s “one-of-a-kind dance troupe” deliver finesse and high-voltage action in Quijada’s latest work of contemporary-meets-hip-hop dance-fusion (5/4)

DANA TAI SOON BURGESS DANCE COMPANY

www.dtsbdc.org

• Versatility Dance Festival — DTSBDC joins the lineup of this roving performance festival, now in its fifth season presenting emerging and established dance companies in a different city every year (4/15, Atlas Performing Arts Center)
• El Muro (The Wall) — Inspired by Rigoberto A. Gonzalez’s painting Refugees Crossing The Border Wall into South Texas, the performance confronts the topic of immigration, in support of the National Building Museum’s What Is a Border Wall exhibit (4/22, National Building Museum)
• Kensington Day of the Book Festival — Company founder, and choreographer-in-residence at the National Portrait Gallery, Dana Tai Soon Burgess is interviewed about his memoir Chino and the Dance of the Butterfly (4/23, Howard Avenue, Kensington, Md.)

DANCE PLACE

3225 8th St. NE
202-269-1600
www.danceplace.org

• Ronya-Lee Anderson: The Light Sessions — Artist-in-residence Anderson dances “an interactive choreosonic journey” set to original folk-soul music by Ronya-Lee & The Light Factory (4/1-2)
• Khecari: Marginalia — A sensual women’s duet, offering commentary “on the official text of subjectification and objectification, sexualization and desexualization, demonization and domestication” (4/29-30)
• AIR Informal Showing — Artists-in-residence Ronya-Lee Anderson and Robert Woofter pull back the curtain for an informal look at their processes and practice, and concepts that currently inspire them (4/4-5)
• Sean Dorsey Dance: The Lost Art of Dreaming — Fusing contemporary dance, intimate storytelling, and “exquisite queer partnering,” the acclaimed company invites audiences to reconnect with longing, joy, and pleasure (4/25-26)
• Spring Youth Showcase — Young performers representing Dance Place’s Kids on the Move students, Energizers Creative Arts Program participants, and the Dance Place Youth Company bust some moves (5/20-21)

GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR THE ARTS

Concert Hall
4373 Mason Pond Drive
Fairfax, Va.
888-945-2468
www.cfa.gmu.edu

• Mason Dance Company Gala Concert — The Mason Dance Company’s annual showpiece event, this year featuring performances of Awakening by Robert Battle, Variation 10 by Rafael Bonachela, Double Octet by Doug Varone, and Black & White by Manuel Vignoulle, preceded by the Mason Dance Fête for sponsors and donors (3/24-25, Concert Hall)
• Cirque FLIP Fabrique: Muse — The acrobats of FLIP Fabrique dazzle audiences of all ages, tackling complicated questions of gender in this all-new production set to original beats and music by Millimetric, with live onstage vocals by singer Flavia Nascimento (3/31-4/1, Concert Hall)
• State Ballet of Georgia: Mostly B — The neoclassical ballet company, led by former Bolshoi prima ballerina Nina Ananiashvili, performs works by George Balanchine and Ukrainian choreographer Yuri Possokhov (4/15, Concert Hall)
• Indigenous Enterprise: Indigenous Liberation — The Mason artist-in-residence collective of champion dancers from Native American and Canadian tribes and Nations shares its newest work celebrating their rich history and culture (4/2, Concert Hall)
• Spring: Dance Innovations — A showcase of new works by Mason choreographers, performed by the Mason Dance Company (5/5-6, Harris Theatre)
• May Studio Series — An intimate, black-box experience, with new dances by GMU’s School of Dance (5/9, Harris Theatre)

HYLTON PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Merchant Hall
10960 George Mason Circle
Manassas, Va.
703-993-7759
www.hyltoncenter.org

• Ordway Ballet: Game On — Dancers from the Manassas-based conservatory perform a family-friendly, interactive video game ballet set in virtual reality (3/25)
• Virginia National Ballet: 10-Year Gala — Celebrating a decade of dance, the VNB performs scenes from their greatest hits, including Cinderella, Snow White, and Aladdin, with choreography by award-winning artistic director Rafik Hegab (4/22)
• Axial Dance: Art in Motion — Art springs to life in a program inspired by artists from Van Gogh to Banksy (4/30)
• Academy of Russian Ballet and Northern Virginia Youth Ballet: Coppélia — The internationally acclaimed ARB dances a fun, family-friendly production of the magical comic ballet (5/7)
• Manassas Ballet Theatre: Swan Lake — MBT closes its season with Marius Petipa’s classical ballet, set to Tchaikovsky’s famous score performed live by the Manassas Ballet Theatre Orchestra (5/19-21)
• Company 360: Across — The company brings its unique blend of contemporary, ballet, tap, and musical theatre movement to a brand-new, all-original story created by deaf choreographer and artistic director Bailey Anne Vincent (5/28)
• Virginia National Ballet: School Recital — Continuing the company’s 10-year anniversary celebration, students from the VNB’s school perform dances in ballet, contemporary jazz, hip hop, and acro (6/3)
• Boyle School of Irish Dance: Spring Performance — A cabaret performance of Irish dance featuring a cast of hundreds(!), from beginners to seasoned champions (6/4)

JANE FRANKLIN DANCE

Theatre on the Run
3700 S. Four Mile Run Drive
Arlington, VA
703-933-1111
www.janefranklin.com

• Black Rock Center for the Arts Dance Festival — The company performs works by Ryan Carlough, Jane Franklin, Robert J. Priore, Robert Rubama, and Kevin White & Andie deVaulx for Forty+ Project (4/16, Black Rock Center for the Arts, Germantown, MD)
• Jane Franklin Dance @ MoCA: Creativity in Motion — A site-specific performance created in response to the gallery spaces and works on exhibit, featuring works choreographed by Sarah Ewing, Jane Franklin, Robert J. Priore, and Kevin White for Forty+ Project (5/6, Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington)

KENNEDY CENTER

202-467-4600
www.kennedy-center.org

• Open Adult Flamenco Master Class with Ballet Flamenco Sara Baras — Kick up your heels learning flamenco from the “Flamenco queen” herself (3/28)
• Ballet Flamenco Sara Baras: Alma — Flamenco superstar Baras explores the bolero in her latest creation, performed with lavish costumes and live music (3/29-30, Eisenhower Theater)
• Intermediate/Advanced Master Class with The Joffrey Ballet — Learn from the best in this participatory class for dancers 16 years or older (4/3, Rehearsal Room 100)
• The Joffrey Ballet: Anna Karenina — The world-famous company returns to present a new ballet based on Tolstoy’s novel, choreographed by the visionary Yuri Possokhov, with music by composer Ilya Demutsky (4/5-9, Opera House)
• Malavika Sarukkai: River Sutra — Performing in the traditional bharatanatyam style, dancer-choreographer Sarukkai explores “the fullness and depth of human experience, beauty, and the sacred associated with the River Ganga” (4/5-6, Family Theater)
• River Ballroom: Social Tango Milonga — Learn the twists and turns of tango with instructors from Social Tango Project, accompanied by a DJ and live musicians (4/7, River Pavilion)
• Social Tango Project — The U.S. premiere of this interactive and immersive dance performance from Buenos Aires that encourages the audience to embrace the tango (4/8, Eisenhower Theater)
• Debbie Allen’s Red Birds: What About Us? — Dance legend Debbie Allen brings her troupe of young dancers for a presentation of movement, spoken word, and song(4/15, Millennium Stage)
• Dance for Parkinson’s Disease: Lucy Bowen McCauley — McCauley leads free dance classes for people with Parkinson’s (Wednesdays at 2:30 p.m., The REACH)

STRATHMORE

The Music Center at Strathmore
5301 Tuckerman Lane
North Bethesda, Md.
301-581-5100
www.strathmore.org

• The Nobel Mind Chronicles Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah — Drawn from Ghanaian culture and history, this MFA thesis dance performance project by Adjetey Klufio employs CityDance Conservatory dancers and live drums to chronicle Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, known as Osagyefo, “the Redeemer” (3/25, CityDance Studio Theater at Strathmore)
• Gravity & Other Myths: A Simple Space — Australian circus troupe Gravity & Other Myths “pushes the boundaries of contemporary circus” in a performance propelled by live drums and seven acrobats “with nothing left to hide behind” (4/26-27)
• Step Afrika!: Step Xplosion — The renowned company presents a collaborative celebration of stepping, featuring innovative step teams and the local premiere of The Movement, a new work choreographed by longstanding Step Afrika! performer Conrad Kelly II (6/19)

THE WASHINGTON BALLET

3515 Wisconsin Avenue, NW
202-362-3606
www.washingtonballet.org

• Aurora’s Wedding — A family-friendly adventure featuring Act III of The Sleeping Beauty, and a menagerie of familiar fairytale friends, plus a performance of Balanchine’s Theme & Variations ballet (4/7-9, Capital One Hall, Tysons, VA)
• The Sleeping Beauty — The classic fairytale ballet, scored by Tchaikovsky, staged in splendor at the Kennedy Center (5/4-7, Eisenhower Theatre)
• Washington School of Ballet’s SE Campus Pre-Ballet Showcase — A performance showcase for the school’s wee student dancers (5/6, THEARC)
• Washington School of Ballet’s SE Campus Spring Performance — A spring recital including a special staging of “Underwater Kingdom” from The Little Humpbacked Horse, and performances from students in modern, jazz, contemporary, and African dance (5/20, THEARC)
• Washington School of Ballet’s NW Campus Spring Performance — Performances by young students in the school’s Lower, Upper, and Professional Training Divisions (6/2-4, Location TBA)

WEINBERG CENTER FOR THE ARTS

20 W. Patrick St.
Frederick, Md.
301-600-2828
www.weinbergcenter.org

• Other Voices: The Wizard of Oz — An Easter Weekend treat, Other Voices presents an original, dance-filled musical adaptation of the classic L. Frank Baum tale (4/7-8)
• Cirque Kalabanté: Afrique en Cirque — Led by artistic director and company founder, Yamoussa Bangoura, the acrobats and musicians of Cirque Kalabanté perform authentic choreography to the rhythms of djembes and other native instruments of Guinea (4/23)
• Loudon Ballet Performing Arts Company: The Wizard — A “one-of-a-kind” ballet inspired by Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (4/29)
• Center Stage: Greatness in You — Center Stage presents its sixth annual dance recital by Performing Arts Academy students (5/13-14)
• YMCA Dance: The Greatest Show! — Students of the YMCA School of Dance let their light shine (5/28)
• Dance Unlimited: Annual Recital Showcase — Dance Unlimited students of all ages and skill levels show what they’ve got onstage (6/11-12)

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