Help ARENA continue to be a force in this dance community, providing strong instruction to new and veteran moving bodies, a voice for local dance artists to share their work, and an experience-creator for those who want to be moved, inspired and motivated by live performance.
Let’s take a look at this amazing 27th year we are embarking on in the 2022/2023 season –
THERMAL – Outdoor Summer Features
THERMAL: Meditations on Climate Change is an interdisciplinary trio centered around the issue of climate change that ran over a month at the American Swedish Institute this past winter 2022 to wonderfully sold out and intimate audiences. THERMAL was commissioned to return for two performances with a brand new trio of dancers – Peavey Plaza hosted by Green Minneapolis, then again at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum hosted by the University of Minnesota in August 2022. Both performances were held outdoors, offering a new perspective on the narrative of the work. Learn more about THERMAL.
Erased Steps
Erased Steps will be an abstract dance theater work, taking place at The Union Depot in St.Paul, Minnesota in Fall 2023. Inspired by visual artist Eve Sussman, a British-born American artist of film, video, installation, sculpture, and photography, along with the photography of Irving Penn, Erased Steps will bring together parallels from past and present, exploring the ongoing relationship of use of land, ownership, and people without housing. We will create partnerships with community services for those struggling with housing, working with services through art making, and ensuring voices/stories will be heard. Research and movement generating rehearsals will begin in January 2023, featuring Dustin Haug, Leslie O’Neill, and Laura Selle Virtucio, and eventually feature a cast of 12-16 Twin Cities dancers.
7th Annual CANDY BOX Dance Festival
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. This year, featured artist performances include Berit Ahlgren of Honeyworks, Megan Mayer, and Chicago choreographer, J’Sun Howard. The CANDY BOX Dance Festival features both emerging and established choreographers, Happy Hour work-in-progess performances, and master class offerings, with full program announcement coming January 2023. Learn more about CANDY BOX.
DanceON
DanceON is an in-school dance residency program run by ARENA DANCES for teaching and learning in dance, working from Minnesota National Dance Educators standards. DanceON aims to show how learning dance isn’t just a physical activity but also one that engages the brain, our emotions, and creates opportunities for students to learn and relate to one another. Structured through various residency options each semester, DanceON helps students build their technical and expressive skills, along with understanding how to view, interpret & discuss dance. By exploring, creating, replicating & observing movement, students will build their technical & expressive skills, and develop their artistry & personal voice in dance. Through DanceON, students have the opportunity to practice dance making, develop dance literacy, make connections within their academic work, work with communal & cultural resources, explore future career possibilities, and find passion for lifelong learning.
ARENA looks forward to the continuation and expansion of the DanceON educational outreach program in 2022/2023, focused on incorporating dance into K-12 Twin Cities Public Schools, along with the development of workshops for professional performing artists to acquire skills of dance pedagogy to teach in these K-12 academic settings. This season, DanceON is holding residencies at Hall STEM Academy, Loring Elementary, Lucy Laney Community School, Whittier International Elementary, and North Community High School in Mpls and Creative Secondary Arts in St. Paul. Learn more about DanceON.
MOVING PRACTICE: Making Space for a New Cast of Teachers, Performers, and Choreographers
Formed in response to the dance community’s desire for a more diverse offering of techniques taught in the Twin Cities, Moving Practice gives each of its professional dancers the chance to teach, regardless of their age or experience. Aiming to give rise to new teachers and choreographers, this cohort-led class series prioritizes rigor, diversity of aesthetics and commitment. So far in the 2022/2023 season, Moving Practice has been led by local Twin Cities artists Alexandra Bodnarchuk, Noelle Awadallah, Kendall Kramer, Brenna Mosser, and Joanna Lees. Learn more about Moving Practice.
Floorwork Round Table Discussions + Potluck
Floorwork is a monthly series of discussions on all things dance. Open to all as a space for conversation and sharing of ideas, knowledge and resources, each Floor Work focuses on a different topic relevant to life as an artist – from taxes as a freelancer to creative tools for choreographic processes. This series often invites experts on the topic to assist in facilitating conversation and offer their wealth of knowledge on the topic. Learn more about Floorwork.
Studio Stories: Reminiscing on Twin Cities Dance History
One of our newest programs, this podcast series aims to collect and share the stories of Twin Cities artists who have made an impact on the legacy of this big dance town. Host Mathew Janczewski sits down with a different artist each week to learn about their past, present and future. Studio Stories airs weekly at noon on Thursdays – listen on our website in the Education tab, or wherever you get your podcasts! Learn more about Studio Stories.
As you can see, ARENA is making an effort to increase accessibility and engagement with dance, but there are many costs to funding a season. Here is what your contribution will support:
Artist salaries • Rehearsal costs • Costumes • Composer & Music Rights • Lighting & Set Design • On-going Operational Support • Outreach Programs
ARENA DANCES is a non-profit organization with tax-exempt, 501(c)3 status and as such, all contributions are tax-deductible.
THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS SUPPORTERS
Based on Calendar Year. Updated Quarterly – Last Updated December 8, 2022
SUSTAINER ($1000+):
Kathleen & Paul Campbell, Susan Leaf, Heather & Kent Pilakowski, Milo Pinkerton & Virgil Taus, Rick Schaefer
LEADER ($500-999):
PROMOTER ($250-499):
Beth Fisher and Caroline Glawe, Emily Maltz – Dale Schatzlein and Emily Maltz Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation, Ron Lotz & Randy Hartten, Kerry Keen & Nina Ebbighausen
SUPPORTER ($100-249):
Alex & Natalia Berglund, Mary Hansmeyer, Roger & Claryce Haug, Rebecca Heist, Jerome & Judith Ingber, Heather Klopchin, Steve & Jenni Norlin Weaver, Kelley Lindquist, Catherine & Jason Malmberg Dannenbring, Holly Schramm
CORPORATE SPONSORS
ARENA DANCES would like to thank our corporate sponsors and the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
