Mathew Janczewski’s ARENA DANCES presents the 8th Annual CANDY BOX Dance Festival, a dynamic sampling of featured performances, masterclasses, and public showings.
The Featured Artist performance is a special assortment of local and national choreographers, packed into one lively performance and celebration of various movement expressions. Experience the choreographic, creative, and artistic visions of three innovative dance-makers and renowned performance groups: Paula Mann/Time Track Productions, Tristan Koepke + Benny Olk, and jess pretty.
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. From Featured Artists performances by nationally notable choreographers and collectives, to Happy Hour showings by exciting local dancers and emerging creatives, CANDY BOX is sure to offer a flavor for every performing arts enthusiast to savor and enjoy. Along with daily performances and masterclasses hosted throughout an impressive six day streak, question-and-answer sessions are offered for additional insight and rare sneak peeks into the engaging works created and designed by each artist exclusively for the Festival. Audiences are sure to experience a wide array of artistry, offering a unique flavor in every bite.
Thursday, April 25 | 7:30pm
Friday, April 26 | 7:30pm
Saturday, April 27 | 2:00pm
Saturday, April 27 | 7:30pm
The Southern Theater
1420 S Washington Ave, Minneapolis, MN
Everything And Nothing—The Nothing section
Presented by Paula Mann/Time Track Productions
Choreographer: Paula Mann with Leila Awadallah and Roxane Wallace
Collaborators: Projection by Steve Paul
Sound credit: Original composition by Tarak Abdelqader
Costuming: Paula Mann, Leila Awadallah, Roxane Wallace
Dancers: Paula Mann, Leila Awadallah, Roxane Wallace
Everything And Nothing is a three section work which will premiere in its entirety in the spring of 2026 www.timetrackdance.org
Paula Mann has been creating dances for 44 years and is a graduate of New York University. She was full time faculty at the University of Minnesota Department of Theater and Dance from 1993-2013. She is co-artistic director of Time Track Productions
There’s More Than One Bed
Choreographed by Tristan Koepke and Benny Olk
Sound and Music: Ethan Philbrick, with lyrics by John Cage
Costuming: Tristan Koepke and Benny Olk
Dancers: James Barrett, Emilia Bruno, Tristan Koepke, Marc Macaranas, Benny Olk
There’s More Than One Bed is the second collaboration between Tristan Koepke and Benny Olk. It is, in a sense, a sequel to our first piece, There’s Only One Bed (2023), which explored themes of queer longing, desire, devotion, masculinity, and melancholy. Inspired by the creative and amorous relationship between Merce Cunningham and John Cage, Instagram thirst traps, speculative masculinities, and romance novel tropes, our new work continues to interrogate what devotion and commitment to love, longing, and process can look like when you make room for more than two. Some material in this work references and cites rehearsal sketches from Cunningham’s Pictures and scores from Cage’s Song Books.
This work is supported by the McGinty Fund for the Humanities and the Roger C. Schmutz Fund for Faculty Research (Bates College). We are very grateful for support from Bill Schierl & Sarena Melotte, Ben Olk & Kris Berggren, Karl Rogers, Mardell & Duane Brenegan, Lisa & Dave Johnson, Nancy & Paul Lewis, Brigitte Koepke Smith, Beverly West, George & Jane Dierberger, Kim O’Flaherty, Patty Schmitz & Alex Dietz, Sara Juli, Heidi Henderson, Nerissa Nelson, Amy Beversdorf, and TJ & Angie Conley, without whom the creation of this work would not have been possible.
James Barrett (he/they) is a Brooklyn-based performer, choreographer, and teacher. He received his BA in Dance from Point Park University. After graduating James performed works by Ohad Naharin, Fernando Melo, Marguerite Donlon, and Aszure Barton. During his time with New Dialect under the direction of choreographer Banning Bouldin, he worked with Rosie Herrara, Idan Sharabi, Joy Davis, and Yin Yue. He was a guest artist with LED Boise in the Fall of 2022. He collaborated with Faye Driscoll on “Weathering,” which premiered at New York Live Arts and will go on tour nationally and internationally in 2024. James choreographed works for multiple dance companies including Texture Contemporary Ballet, Visceral Dance Chicago, and New Dialect. Since moving to New York in 2021 he has led workshops in embodiment practices. He worked as rehearsal assistant and teaching artist at various programs including Jazzgoba Dance Academy (Costa Rica), Perry-Mansfield, Tulane University, and The Juilliard School.
A native of Lake Zurich, IL, Emilia Bruno (they/them) is an Italian-American, queer movement artist currently based in College Park, MD. They received their BFA in Dance and BS in Kinesiology from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Emilia has most notably had the honor of working as a member of Shapiro and Smith Dance, Zenon Dance Company, and Slo Dance Company, among others. Emilia has a long-standing relationship with the Bates Dance Festival as a mentor for the Young Dancers Intensive and is deeply dedicated to working in non-competitive, supportive learning environments for aspiring artists. They are currently a collaborator on projects with choreographers Tristan Koepke, Brit Falcon, MK Ford, and Rebecca Steinberg.
Tristan Koepke (he/him) is a dancer, educator, choreographer based in Portland, ME. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Bates College, and is Associate Director of the Young Dancers Intensive at the Bates Dance Festival. He has performed in contemporary and experimental dance works by Chris Schlichting, Vanessa Anspaugh, luciana achugar, Cally Spooner, Doug Varone, Mathew Janczewski, Kendra Portier, Heidi Henderson, and Christina Robson. He spent many years living and performing in the Twin Cities, and was a member of Zenon Dance Company from 2011-2015 and 2017-2019. His work has been presented by The Wooden Floor, Bryant Lake Bowl, Patrick’s Cabaret, Bates College, and The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. He holds a BA in Dance from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and an MFA in Dance from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Marc Macaranas (he/him) is a choreographer, media designer and dance futurist. His creative practice includes choreography for proscenium stages and digital screens, projection and installation design, and Spotify canvases. His work has been seen in Chicago, St. Louis, Iowa City and the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. As a dancer, Marc has performed nationally and internationally with companies that include Lucky Plush Productions, Luna Negra Dance Theatre, DanceWorks Chicago, Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, and RUBBERBANDance Group. He holds a BA from the University of California, Irvine and an MFA from the University of Iowa. Currently, Marc is an Assistant Professor at Northern Illinois University where he serves as Dance Program Coordinator in the School of Theatre and Dance.
Benny Olk (he/him) is a performing artist and teacher based in Minneapolis with an interest in contemporizing and contextualizing American modern and post-modern dance. As a member of Lucinda Childs Dance Company, he performed reconstructions of pieces such as Dance and Available Light. He performed in reconstructions of Crises and Suite for Five among others by Merce Cunningham, and has premiered works by Moriah Evans and Anthea Hamilton. He has taught Cunningham technique at the University of Minnesota, Balettakademien (Stockholm), and Stockholm University of the Arts. Benny holds a BFA in Dance from NYU and an MA in New Performative Practices from Stockholm University of the Arts.
Ethan Philbrick (he/him) is a cellist, artist, and writer. He holds a PhD in performance studies from New York University and has taught at Pratt Institute, Muhlenberg College, New York University, Wesleyan College, Yale University, and The New School. He is currently curator-in-residence at The Poetry Project.
-intermission-
call and response
Presented by jess pretty
sound: Earth, Wind, & Fire, Luther Vandross, Stephanie Mills, Roberta Flack, Whitney Houston
“i begin with a memory
then slip into slowness
my body is the site of radical transformation”
thank you for the space to share (Mathew, CB24)
thank you for the space to work (RESOURCE, Val, Morgan)
thank you for holding me (friends, family)
thank you for conspiring with me (keyon, Niall, Jeremy, Tyler)
thank you all for witnessing.
jess pretty is an Assistant Professor of Dance at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and the current artistic director of AUNTS; a punk/DIY performance series that hosts events/festivals/shows to highlight the works of experimental dance makers in NYC. she has shown her work at La Mama Experimental Theater Club (2017 La Mama Moves Festival), New York Live Arts (as a 2016/17 Fresh Tracks artist), CATCH!, Gibney Dance Center, Brooklyn Studios for Dance, the CURRENT SESSIONS, panoply performing arts space, Green Street Studios, three ACDA conferences, and the Chocolate Factory Theatre. pretty has been an artist in residence at Kent State (2017), the Chocolate Factory Theatre, and the Center for Performance Research (2019-2020) and was also a 2020 member of the Queer Art Fellowship. pretty has collaborated and been a part of the works of: Will Rawls, Claudia Rankine, Kevin Beasley, Okwui Okpokwasili, Peter Born, Catherine Gallasso, David Thomson, Katie Workum, Niall Jones, Jennifer Monson, Cynthia Oliver, Leslie Cuyjet and Dianne McIntyre.
ARENA DANCES Leadership:
Founder & Artistic Director: Mathew Janczewski
Creative Design Manager: Sandra Carlo
Board Of Directors:
Catherine Dannenbring, Chair
Marisa Epstein
Javan Mngrezzo
Betsy Maloney Leaf
Deanna Thompson
Elliana Vesely
We extend a special thank you to our Season Sponsors and Event Donors:
This festival is also made possible with the support of the following:
