Posts Tagged ‘Dance Place’

Washington DC’s Dance Place will receive $150,000 to support expanded community programming through its Art on 8th project, thanks to a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Our Town grant.

Through the Our Town grant program, NEA supports projects that improve quality of life, encourage creative activity, create community identity and a sense of place, and help revitalize local economies.

Dance Place’s Art on 8th project is a two-year initiative to provide free and affordable cultural programming to Brookland residents by presenting innovative arts programming that fosters community interaction in a variety of outdoor venues, as well as assist in creating an envisioned Arts Plaza between the Dance Place facility and the adjacent Artspace Brookland Lofts.

The creation of the 8th Street Arts Plaza will be the final stage of a planned Artspace Lofts/Dance Place Arts Complex on 8th Street, Northeast Washington, DC, that includes a major renovation and expansion of Dance Place’s building planned for 2014. The 8th Street Arts Plaza will be an incubator for cross collaborations, the invention of new art forms, and the development of new art audiences.

For more information, visit www.danceplace.org.

Dance Place, the well-regarded but rickety Washington D.C. venue that’s been presenting dance shows since 1986, will close its theater in 2013 to undergo a $4 million, five-month renovation project, reports the Washington Post.

It’s a significant expansion that should benefit Washington’s dance community in the long run but leaves many local companies without a place to perform next year.

The building, a former garage on a quiet stretch of Eighth Street near Catholic University, will increase from 7,000 to almost 10,000 square feet, gaining restrooms, office space, and a 20-by-20-foot studio, ideal for children’s classes and performer warm-ups. In the theater area, metal folding chairs will disappear in favor of 160 theater seats, much-needed breathing space will be created backstage and in the wings, and the one chilly, cramped dressing room will be replaced with two heated dressing rooms.

The total fundraising goal for the project is $5 million, including $1 million for programming and operating costs. Dance Place has raised $1.3 million thus far, including a major commitment from the Cafritz Foundation.

Last month, emails began going out to some local dance companies, notifying them they will not be able to perform at Dance Place during the 2013-14 season. Dance Place presents programs at least 45 weekends a year—nearly 100 nights. Most of the touring acts are smaller, up-and-coming troupes, yet most of the larger companies in the area, including Dana Tai Soon Burgess & Co. and Dance Exchange, have at least one run at the theater each season.

Plans call for closing Dance Place in August 2013 and reopening in February 2014. To read the full story, visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/dance-place-to-undergo-renovation-in-2013/2012/05/02/gIQApiINxT_story.html.

Got news? Email Karen@rheegold.com and include your name, email and phone. We like accompanying photos too with photographer’s credit and photo description. 

Coyaba Dance Theater will present a performance of traditional and contemporary West African dance and music relating to the water spirit Mami Wata, who can take the form of a mermaid, snake charmer, warrior, or siren, at Dance Place in Washington, D.C., on February 25 and 26.

Founded in 1997, Coyaba Dance Theater is a contemporary West African dance company that presents dance, music, and other artistic/educational programs focusing on the diverse ethnic groups of West Africa. The legend of Mami Wata has existed in Africa and the African Diaspora for centuries, with the earliest mermaid images brought to life by sailors and merchants, who prayed to the spirit for a safe journey.

Performances are set for February 25 at 8pm and February 26 at 4pm. Tickets are $22 general admission, $17 for members, seniors, students, teachers, and artists, or $8 for children ages 17 and under. As part of Dance Places’ Family Series, adults who purchase a ticket to the February 26 performance receive one free ticket for a child age 12 or younger.

Dance Place is located at 3225 Eighth Street NE. For more information, visit www.danceplace.org.

Rennie Harris Puremovement (RHPM) returns to Washington, D.C.’s Dance Place for performances January 28 at 8pm and January 29 at 4pm.

Led by 2010 Guggenheim Fellow Rennie Harris, the company pays tribute to diverse and rich African American traditions while presenting the voice of a new generation through dance. Founded in 1992, the company is dedicated to preserving and disseminating hip-hop culture through workshops, classes, history lecture/demonstrations, long-term residencies, mentoring programs, and public performances. RHPM has toured all over the globe, and performs for as many as 85,000 audience members annually.

Dance Place is located at 3225 Eighth Street NE. Tickets are $22 general admission; $17 for Dance Place members, seniors, teachers, and artists; $10 for college students; or $8 for children 17 and under. To purchase, visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

The second season of DanceMotion USASM, which sends American dance companies overseas to engage with audiences and communities, especially underserved youth, through dance and other means, will kick off with a special event this week.

A launch event for this people-to-people exchange will take place January 12 at 3pm at Dance Place, 3225 Eighth Street NE, Washington, D.C., where the American dance companies will engage with Washington-area youth.

Participating companies and tour dates for the upcoming DanceMotion USASM season were announced by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. They include:

• Rennie Harris Puremovement, a hip-hop dance company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which will tour in Egypt, Israel, and the Palestinian territories from March 9 to April 6
• Seán Curran Company, a New York City contemporary dance company, which will tour in Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Turkmenistan from April 5 to May 3
• Jazz Tap Ensemble, based in Los Angeles, California, which will tour in Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zimbabwe from April 9 to May 7
• Trey McIntyre Project, a contemporary dance company based in Boise, Idaho, which will tour in China, South Korea, the Philippines, and Vietnam from May 5 to June 3

Building on the success of the inaugural season of DanceMotion USASM, the second season will also include a U.S.-based cultural exchange, in which an international dance group will travel to the United States for continued work with one of the U.S. touring companies.

During DanceMotion USASM tours, members of the selected U.S. and international dance companies will perform and participate in outreach and educational activities including workshops, master classes, stage and arts management sessions, media interviews, and discussions with foreign artists and local audiences in a wide variety of venues and settings.

For more information, visit http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2012/01/180134.htm.

Washington DC’s Dance Place will celebrate its 31st anniversary season and partnership with the new Brookland Artspace Lofts at its annual gala fundraiser November 12 at 7:30pm.

The night will include “Dance Sampler” classes featuring the Texas two-step, salsa, hoop dance, and music video dancing, as well as a silent auction, refreshment, and dancing to a DJ. Tickets are $150.

Dance Place and Artspace are partnering to create an arts campus in the Brookland neighborhood, which will include 41 affordable live/work units for artists and their families with gallery and studio space. For Dance Place, the Brookland Artspace Lofts will include a new performance and rehearsal space, an education center, and administrative space.

Dance Place is located at 3225 Eighth Street NE, Washington DC. To purchase tickets, visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

SpeakeasyDC and Dance Place have teamed up to present two evenings of original storytelling, “SpeakeasyDC Presents Boo: A night of true stories about things that are scary,” on Halloween weekend at Dance Place in Washington, DC.

On October 29 at 7:30 and 10pm, the program includes tales of frightful encounters and spooky predicaments including shark attacks, crazy basement ladies, and unsolved murders. (These performances contain adult content and are not recommended for children under age 16.)

Spooky stories appropriate for the whole family will be featured on October 30 at 4pm in “Little Boo,” presented as part of the Dance Place Family Series. Attendees can reserve one free ticket for a child 12 or under with the purchase of an adult ticket. (Recommended for ages 8 and up.)

Through the art of autobiographical story performance, SpeakeasyDC seeks to produce high-quality storytelling performances, provide training and performance opportunities to the public, and preserve the oral tradition in a way that speaks to and enriches contemporary life.

Dance Place is located at 3225 Eighth Street NE, Washington, DC. Ticket are $22 general admission; $17 for Dance Place members, seniors, teachers and artists; $10 for college students; and $8 for children (17 and under). To purchase tickets visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

Dance Place’s 31st annual season kicks off with the internationally acclaimed PEARSONWIDRIG DANCETHEATER, directed by choreographers Sara Pearson and Patrik Widrig, on September 17 at 8pm and September 18 at 7pm.

PEARSONWIDRIG DANCETHEATER has gained an international following for dance theater works that transform the familiar into the mysterious, the subversive, and the intimate. The company has toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Asia, including performances at the Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and London’s Dance Umbrella.

Dance Place will present the world premiere of Sayonara, Dear, inspired by the final love affair of Pearson’s 86-year-old mother during the last year of her life, with live music by Japanese/Peruvian composer Pauchi Sasaki.

The evening also includes the company works Drama with a live performance by opera singer Madeline Miskie and an original score by Lauren Burke, and Oashisu (Oasis), with original music by James Nyoraku Schlefer.

Dance Place is located at 3225 Eighth Street NE, Washington DC. Tickets are $22 general admission; $17 for Dance Place members, seniors, teachers, and artists; $10 for college students; or $8 for children ages 17 and under. To purchase, visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

Dance Place’s annual adjudicated showcase of new works by established and emerging choreographers from throughout the region will feature works ranging in styles from modern to contemporary ballet.

Some of the program’s pieces include: Travis Gatling’s Angels Unawares; Susan Mann’s Duet;

Semigloss, choreographed by Gabrielle Campagna; Nicole Martinell’s Flirt & Fizzle; Diana Movius’ Legacy; and Wayles Haynes’s The 50’s Front.

New Releases Showcase will be held July 2 at 8pm and July 3 at 7pm at Dance Place, 3225 8th Street NE, Washington DC. Tickets are $22 general admission; $17 concession (members, seniors, students, teachers, artists); and $8 children (17 and under). To purchase tickets visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

Karen Reedy Dance returns to Dance Place this July with a program that honors the late Eric Hampton, a Washington D.C.-area teacher, choreographer, and performer.

The program will include Hampton’s Half a Life, Madame X by Karla Wolfangle, and several works choreographed by Reedy: Shattered Illusions, to a score by John Cage; Variations, set to Mozart piano variations and In Memory, a duet to a score by Arvo Part.

Half a Life, created by Hampton after he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease), was originally performed in 1996 by Reedy, Hampton, and Tony Powell. During the July performances, the piece will be performed by Reedy, Bruno Augusto, and Prentice Whitlow.

“By including a dance by Eric Hampton in honor of the 10th anniversary of his death I hope to show his influence on me as an artist as well as offer a way to keep his spirit present. As a choreographer and teacher Eric imbued his dancing with a sense of beauty and humanity,” Reedy says.

Performances are scheduled for July 30 at 8pm and July 31 at 7pm at Dance Place, 3225 8th Street NE, Washington, D.C. Tickets are $22 general admission; $17 for members, seniors, students, teachers, and artists; and $8 for children 17 and under. To purchase tickets visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

“Places in Space,” a collaborative performance presenting work from seven Washington, DC-based choreographers, will be held June 18 at 8pm and June 19 at 7pm at Dance Place.

Each choreographer has explored an outdoor location (place) and will bring her experience within this place and time to the stage (space). These themes, developed through exploration and improvisation, translate to an evening of choreographed works involving movement, voice and technology.

Choreographers include Roxann Morgan Rowley and Erika Surma, artistic directors of Next Reflex Dance Collective; Sharon Mansur, director of MansurDance and assistant professor of dance at The University of Maryland College Park; Dahlia Nayar; Monica Warren Schaeffer, founding member of ailight dance theater; and Next Reflex company members Tina Fratello and Briana Carper. Also participating is visual artist and architect Ronit Eisenbach.

Dance Place is located at 3225 8th Street NE, Washington DC. Tickets are $22 general admission, $17 for members, seniors, students, teachers, and artists, and $8 for children 17 and under. To purchase, call 202.269.1600 or visit www.danceplace.org.

The vitality and richness of African culture will be demonstrated through dance, music, visual arts, food, clothing, and crafts this summer at the 24th annual “DanceAfrica, DC” celebration, May 30 to June 5 at Dance Place, 3225 Eighth Street NE, Washington DC.

The celebration includes master classes, a performance series, and an African marketplace, and will feature Santiago de Cuba-based Ballet Folklórico Cutumba, masters of Cuban dance and music, in its premiere appearance in Washington.

Ballet Folklórico Cutumba, founded in 1960, is a 25-member company dedicated to the research and professional performance of traditional Afro-Cuban dance, music, and song originating in the Oriente region of Cuba. Cutumba’s work recreates key elements at the heart of Afro-Cuban identity while adding the company’s own fresh interpretation through theatricality and costume design.

“DanceAfrica, DC” seeks to promote a greater understanding and appreciation of African culture and is led by Chuck Davis, founder and artistic director of the African American Dance Ensemble. Participating artists include Griot Baba Chuck Davis, Ballet Folklórico Cutumba, KanKouran West African Dance Company, Farafina Kan, Sankofa Dance Theater, Ezibu Muntu, DC Casineros, and Coyaba Dance Theater.

Master classes are set for May 30 to June 5, with a mini African-style marketplace, outdoor and indoor dance demonstrations, and free open classes June 4 to 5. For a complete schedule of classes and performances, visit www.danceplace.org.

Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company returns to Dance Place in Washington, DC, on April 2 at 8pm and April 3 at 7pm with a program of works by Eric Hampton, Anna Sokolow, and Ludovic Jolivet, plus a new piece created on the Dance Place Repertory Class.

Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company, under the direction of Daniel Phoenix Singh, is an emerging dance company that performs and presents Indian dance forms, such as bharata natyam, and modern dance, mirroring the multiple identities of second-generation South Asians. The company combines the arts with social justice issues in its work and via partnerships with local community centers and schools. The company received the Founder’s Award for Innovation in Dance in 2007 and received the Emerging Group and Excellence in Costume Design in 2008 from the Metro DC Dance Awards.

Dance Place is located at 3225 8th Street NE, with free and convenient parking. Tickets are $22 general admission; $17 for members, seniors, students, teachers, and artists; and $8 for children 17 and under. To purchase tickets visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

Nicholas Leichter and Monstah Black’s take on a classic American tale, The Whiz: Obamaland, will be presented at Washington, DC’s Dance Place on March 26 at 8:00 p.m. and March 27 at 7:00 p.m.

Emerald City in The Whiz: Obamaland (Photo courtesy Nicholas Leichter Dance)

Featuring choreography by Leichter and a commissioned score by Black with added musical selections, The Whiz combines song, dance, and theatrical extravaganza. The 75-minute work showcases an array of different dance, performance, and music styles—house, funk, postmodern, drag, hip-hop, contemporary, and psychedelic.

The cast includes Nicholas Leichter Dance members Lauren Basco, Wendell Cooper, Aaron Draper, Stephanie Liapis, Dawn Robinson, Laurie Taylor, and Keon Thoulouis, plus Leichter, Black, and special guests.

Dance Place is located at 3225 Eighth Street NE. Tickets are $22 general admission; $17 for members, seniors, students, teachers, and artists; and $8 for those 17 and under. To purchase tickets visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

Dance Place has received a Space for Change Planning and Pre-Development Grant to help translate its vision for an exemplary art space into a buildable plan.

Dance Place, one of the most prolific presenters of dance in the United States, presents performances at its home theater and in the Washington, DC community 48 weeks per year. The organization is among 12 grantees nationwide whose early-stage facility projects were selected as exceptional examples of how art can reinvigorate a neighborhood by Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC) in partnership with the Ford Foundation.

Dance Place will receive $100,000 over two years to plan the modernization and expansion of its longtime home to better meet the needs of its artists and audiences and propel the organization for the next 30 years of program growth and organizational development.

Dance Place wants to create a campus that will keep pace with growth in the field of dance in Washington, the community’s need for program space and the revitalization of the immediate neighborhood. The 12 winners were chosen from nearly 700 applicants from 49 states as well as the District of Columbia. Visit www.danceplace.org for more information.

Dance Place collaborates with several local dance organizations to present the Youth Dance Festival, an evening showcasing the next generation of artistic excellence, March 19 at 8:00 p.m. and March 20 at 4:00 p.m.

Featured performers include the Dance Place Step Team, Joy of Motion Dance Center Youth Dance Ensemble senior and junior companies, Coyaba Youth Ensemble, Dance Dimensions, Towson University Children’s Dance Division, Mighty Shock, Dimensions of Funk Jr., Maryland Youth Ballet, and Andrea Hale.

These youth groups will provide dance genres ranging from West African to ballet, hip-hop, and flamenco. Many of the performing groups have won awards and performed at places such as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Publick Playhouse, and the Lincoln Theater, and at festival such as Dance Bethesda, Imagination Bethesda, and the National Cherry Blossom Festival

Dance Place is located at 3225 8th Street NE, Washington DC, with free and convenient parking.

Tickets are $15 general admission or $10 for those 17 and under. As part of Dance Place’s Family Series, each paying adult will receive one free ticket for a child 12 and under for the March 20 show. Reservations are required. To purchase tickets visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

What RU Missing?, a dance work created through a process of public input and discussion, will be part of Unevenlane’s weekend of performances at Dance Place this February.

Using a variety of social media platforms over a period of several months, the general public shaped What RU Missing? by responding anonymously with stories and personal experiences, concepts, themes, and inquiries related to the question. The work was commissioned by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as part of the 2010 Local Dance Commissioning Project.

The debut concert performance season of Unevenlane will also feature Amuse-Bouche, performed by a trio of dancers to the music of Beethoven, and Three Steps, a playful yet passionate look at love and relationships set to the music of Bach, Corelli, and Vivaldi. The three works are by Unevenlane’s founder and artistic director, Mary Lane.

Performances are set for February 5 at 8:00 pm and February 6 at 4:00 pm at Dance Place, 3225 8th Street NE, Washington, DC. Tickets are $22 general admission; $17 for members, seniors, students, teachers, and artists; and $8 for children 17 and under. To purchase tickets visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

Dance Place offers its annual Valentine’s Dance Party on February 12 at 7:00 p.m. with guest storytellers SpeakeasyDC and music by DJ Glowstik.

SpeakeasyDC, formerly Washington Storytellers Theatre, will open the night with poignant, hilarious, and memorable true stories about the pleasures and perils of romance. Hear stories about loves found, lost, and imagined from storytellers Adam Ruben, Geraldine Buckley, Joseph Price, Reuben Jackson, Allison Kirsch, Jennifer Luu, and Jessica Piscitelli, hosted by Ayanna Dookie. (For mature audiences only.)

Dance the night away with DJ Glowstik or take a break and enjoy a raffle, photo booth, and Cupid’s Cupcakes & Cocktails in the lobby.

Dance Place is located at 3225 Eighth Street NE, Washington, DC, with free parking. Tickets are $15 general admission and can be purchased at www.danceplace.org or by calling 202.269.1600.

Speechless, a new work choreographed by Angella Foster for alight dance theater, will be presented at Dance Place, 3225 Eighth Street NE, Washington, DC, on January 29 at 8:00 p.m. and January 30 at 4:00 p.m.

Weaving together dance, gesture, text, and live music, Speechless explores the struggle of parents of special needs children with communication issues to care for and understand their silent child. The work is inspired by the experiences of Foster’s cousin, Taylor Ann Clark, who relies primarily on non-verbal communication tools to “speak” with her family members.

Formed in January 2010, alight dance theater is a non-profit dance company based in Greenbelt, Maryland. Foster, its artistic director, recently completed her MFA in dance choreography at the University of Maryland, College Park, and also directs the Studio Dance Program at the Greenbelt Community Center. For more information about Speechless and alight dance theater, visit www.alightdancetheater.org.

Tickets are $22 general admission; $17 for members, seniors, students, teachers, and artists; and $8 for those 17 and under. To purchase tickets visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

New York City-based TAKE Dance brings energy and emotion to the Dance Place stage, 3225 Eighth Street NE, Washington, DC, on January 22 at 8:00 p.m. and January 23 at 4:00 p.m.

Takehiro “Take” Ueyama, born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, moved to the United States in 1991 to study at The Juilliard School in New York. He danced with the Paul Taylor Dance Company for eight years before founding TAKE Dance.

In his choreography, Ueyama finds inspiration in the beauty of nature, duality in life, and the exploration of darkness and light in relation to the human condition. His repertory features powerful athletic movement contrasted with delicate gesture and sensitivity. Ueyama’s SAKURA SAKURA was a prizewinner at the 2005 International Modern Dance Choreographic Competition in Spain.

Tickets are $22 general admission; $17 for members, seniors, students, teachers, and artists; and $8 for children (17 and under). To purchase, visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

The KanKouran West African Dance Company will return to Dance Place in Washington, D.C. for its annual concert this January, which will celebrate the life of the late Dr. Sherrill Berryman Johnson, a professor of dance and coordinator of the Howard University Dance Major Program.

Performances of Circle of Praise are set for January 15 at 8:00 p.m. and January 16 at 4:00 p.m. Circle of Praise features traditional dances of celebration and music from Cuba as well as Senegal, Liberia, other parts of West Africa. Featured performers will include KanKouran’s Senior Company dancers and drummers, KanKouran’s children and adult community class participants, and guest artists and musicians.

Johnson was a teacher, choreographer, Fulbright scholar, and critical writer on culture, dance, and other topics, as well as a close friend and mentor of Assane Konte, KanKouran artistic director.

Dance Place is at 3225 Eighth Street NE. Tickets are $22 general admission; $17 for members, seniors, students, teachers, and artists; and $8 for children 17 and under. As part of the Dance Place Family Series, patrons can receive one free ticket for a child 12 and under with each paying adult for the 4:00 p.m. show on January 16. Reservations required. To purchase tickets, visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

More than 80 performers from toddlers to seniors will ring in the season with a joyous celebration of Kwanzaa by the Coyaba Dance Theater at Dance Place in Washington, DC, on December 18 at 2:00 p.m. and December 19 at 2:00 and 7:00 p.m.

This year’s Kwanzaa celebration includes dancers ages 2 to 16 from the Coyaba Academy, performers ages 60 to 80 from Sylvai Soumah’s Seniors at THEARC (the Town Hall Education Arts and Recreation Center), and dancers from The Washington Ballet at THEARC. The production will also feature the premiere of the Coyaba Youth Ensemble, a select group of Coyaba Academy students.

Kwanzaa is an African-American celebration of cultural reaffirmation that commemorates family, community, self-development, and culture, with a different principle highlighted on each day of the celebration, from December 26 to January 1.

Founded in 1997, Coyaba Dance Theater is a contemporary West African dance company with a mission to present dance, music and other artistic/educational programs focusing on the diverse ethnic groups of West Africa. A two-time recipient of the Metro DC Dance Award for Outstanding Group Performance, Coyaba Dance Theater has performed in South Korea and at many U.S. venues, including DanceAfrica Chicago, the Kennedy Center, and The Barns of Wolf Trap. Coyaba is the resident dance company at Dance Place.

Dance Place is located at 3225 8th Street NE, Washington, DC. Tickets are $22 general admission; $17 for members, seniors, students, teachers, and artists; and $8 for children 17 and under. As part of Dance Place’s Family Series, the December 19 matinee performance offers one free ticket for a child 12 and under with each paying adult. To purchase tickets, visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

Carla & Company’s December concert, “Nothing Stays the Same,” celebrates the company’s last home season at Dance Place, 3225 8th Street NE, Washington, DC.

The concert, which features dance as well as song and spoken word, is set for December 4 at 8:00 p.m. and December 5 at 4:00 p.m. and features choreography by Dance Place founding director Carla Perlo, Donna Kearney, and Nkosinathi “Natty” Mncube. As part of Dance Place’s Family Series, each paying adult receives one free child’s ticket to the two shows.

“Nothing Stays the Same” is inspired by the many changes planned as the Brookland Studios transforms into the Brookland Artspace Lofts. For 20 years, Dance Place used the Brookland Studios as part of its program space. Carla & Company will continue to perform through June 2011, then will transform into The Dance Place Moving Company, directed by members of the Dance Place staff.

The concert also includes Songs From My Youth—Dances for Daddy, a tribute to Perlo’s father, the late Hyman M. Perlo; and Trans4mation by Mncube, a dancer and rehearsal director for Edgeworks Dance Theatre who teaches modern dance at American Dance Institute. Donna Kearney, artistic director of the Step Team, presents Pure Step. With 18 members ages 7 and up, the Step Team pulls from students who participate in a variety of Dance Place’s NEXTgeneration programming.

Tickets are $22 general admission, $17 for members, seniors, students, teachers, and artists; and $8 for children (17 and under). To purchase tickets visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

Choreographer Lesole Z. Maine premieres Without a Home, an evening-length Afro-fusion work inspired by the complexities of homelessness, at Dance Place, 3225 8th Street NE, Washington, D.C., this November.Performances by Lesole’s Dance Project will be held November 20 at 8 p.m. and November 21 at 4 p.m. Set to original music by local musicians, Without a Home explores and reflects on the issues of homelessness, as seen specifically in the United States and South Africa.

Nejla Y. Yatkin/NY2 Dance will showcase some of its best works from the past 10 years during “Dancing to Freedom” this November at Dance Place, 3225 Eighth Street NE, Washington, DC.

“Dancing to Freedom,” which celebrates the group’s 10th anniversary season, will be held on November 13 at 8:00 p.m. and November 14 at 4:00 p.m. It features three pieces choreographed by Yatkin: Wallstories; Journey to the One, a Tango; and For People with Wings.

Prior to the Washington, DC performances, NY2Dance will perform the program in New York at the Ailey Citigroup Theatre on November 5 and 6, and at the Festival Danza Unam in Mexico City, Mexico, on November 9 and 10.

Tickets to “Dancing to Freedom” are $22 general admission; $17 for Dance Place members, seniors, students, teachers, and artists; and $8 for children 17 and under. They can be purchased at www.danceplace.org or by calling 202.269.1600.

The Washington, D.C., premiere of Fare Well—The End of the World as We Know It OR Dancing Your Way to Paradise, a work by dancer and choreographer Maida Withers, will be held in November at Dance Place, 3225 8th Street NE.

The solo piece will be featured during performances of the Maida Withers Dance Construction Company on November 6 at 8:00 p.m. and November 7 at 4:00 p.m.

Fare Well explores the contemporary issue of end time, or the conclusion of creation myths, through dance, electronic music, text, and visual installations. The piece incorporates an art video by Ayo Okunseinde and Withers, original music by Steve Hilmy, and haiku and other writings by David McAleavey (performed by Alex Caldiero).

Also on the bill is a new trio, Naked Truth, featuring dancers Tzveta Kassabova, Anthony Gongora, and Giselle Ruzany, with visual animation by Tania Fraga, music by Hilmy, and images by Okunseinde.

Tickets are $22 general admission; $17 for members, seniors, students, teachers, and artists; and $8 for children 17 and under. To purchase, visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

El Teatro de Danza Contemporanea of El Salvador will perform October 1 to 3 at Dance Place as part of the Washington, D.C., facility’s Latin American Dance Festival.

The works on the evening-length program, Unspoken Words, include two world premieres by Francisco Castillo, co-founder of the Salvadoran company: a high-energy, full-ensemble opener for the festival, and a work about El Salvador’s 2001 earthquakes, Hora Finale, for six men. 

Mexico’s Gloria Contreras will premiere a romantic duet set to Mozart and showcasing Cuban classical dancer, Fidel Garcia. Columbian choreographer and dancer Alvaro Palau will premiere his solo, Memory of Fire, set to Bach. And Eduardo Rogel of El Salvador will present his quintet, Concierto.

General-admission tickets are $25 in advance and $30 the day of the event, with children 17 and younger admitted for $10. To buy tickets, visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600. Performances are at Dance Place, 3225 8 th Street NE.

Mixed Use Space, a dynamic installation by Arachne Aerial Arts with choreographer/performers Tzveta Kassabova and Lillian Cho, will launch the 30th anniversary season of Dance Place in Washington, DC, on September 25 and 26.

Washington-based Arachne Aerial Arts, co-directed by Sharon Witting and Andrea Burkholder, specializes in high-impact duo performance for theaters, museums, galleries, and events.

Dance Place, 3225 8th Street NE, is two blocks from the Redline Brookland/CUA Metro station. Tickets are $22 general admission; $17 for members, seniors, students, teachers, and artists; and $8 for children 17 and younger. To purchase tickets visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

The Energizers Creative Arts Camp Concert, featuring participants in a summer program that promotes artistic and academic achievement by youngsters in the Washington, D.C,, area, will be held at 7 p.m. August 12 and 13 at Dance Place in Washington.

The program, focusing on personal enrichment and performing arts education, has grown to a group of 37 children and 20 junior staff, ranging in age from 7 to 18. The summer program offers classes in creative movement, modern/jazz, hip-hop, step, and West African dance and drumming, along with arts and crafts activities and chorus.

Tickets to the concert at Dance Place, 3325 Eighth Street NE, are $10 general admission and $3 for children 2 to 17. To buy tickets, visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

Works in styles ranging from modern to classical Indian dance will be featured July 31 and August 1 in Dance Place’s annual adjudicated showcase of new works by established and emerging choreographers from the Washington, D.C., area.

The program will feature Orit Sherman’s Inside a Cell, Stephanie Yezek’s Madwoman in the Attic, Tiffany Haughn’s Others, Danah Bella’s solo piece de_mentia, Nkosinathi ‘Natty’ Mncube’s Still Feel the Presence III, and Keira Hart-Mendoza’s DADADance.

Performances will take place at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 31, and 7 p.m. Sunday, August 1, at Dance Place, 3225 8th Street NE, Washington. Tickets are $22 general admission; $17 for Dance Place members, seniors, students, teachers, and artists; and $8 for those age 17 and younger. To buy tickets, visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

Next Reflex Dance Collective will transform the stage at Dance Place in Washington, D.C., into a nightclub known as The Pea for performances of Electro Shutdown & the Pea on July 24 and 25.

Spectators will find themselves waiting in line to enter the “club” and interacting with cocktail waitresses and club patrons while members of NRDC—a modern dance troupe based in northern Virginia—take on the roles of club goers and enact scenarios familiar to anyone who’s ever waited impatiently behind a velvet rope at 1 a.m. The evening will end with a live musical performance by Electro Shutdown and an open dance floor.

Dance Place is at 3225 Eighth Street NE. General-admission tickets are $22 ($17 for students). To order, call 202.269.1600 or visit www.danceplace.org.

Ko-Ryo Dance Theater, which fuses modern and traditional Korean dance, will perform May 15 and 16 at Dance Place in Washington, D.C.

Choreographer Sunhwa Chung, born in Pusan, South Korea, formed her troupe in 2001, seven years after her arrival in the United States. At Dance Place the company will perform her Series: Episodes, a mixture of solo and ensemble offerings that highlights her technical and spiritual growth in her new country. It is inspired in part by popular Korean drama, traditional Korean movement, and music by Korean composers.

Tickets are $22 general admission, with lower prices for students, seniors, teachers, artists, and children. To buy them, call 202.269.1600 or visit www.danceplace.org. The venue is at 3225 Eighth Street NE in Washington. To learn more about Ko-Ryo Dance, visit http://koryodance.com.

Dance Place plans to celebrate the wealth of step-dancing talent in the Washington, D.C., area with a showcase May 8.

The Dance Place Step Team will be joined by the Taratibu Youth Association, Thomas Stone Step Squad, Xtreme Step Team, and the Rho Tau Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity of George Mason University.

The show begins at 8 p.m. at Dance Place, 3225 Eighth Street NE in Washington. Tickets are $15 ($8 for children 17 and under). To buy tickets or learn more, visit www.danceplace.org.

Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company will present Anna Sokolow’s modern dance classic Rooms (1955) on May 1 and 2 at Dance Place in Washington, D.C.

The company received an American Masterpieces grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for its partnership with the Sokolow Foundation in presenting Rooms. Lorry May, a former principal with the Sokolow Dance Company, will be in residence with Dakshina in April to restage the piece. 

Dakshina also will be restaging Karna, a collaborative project that Daniel Phoenix Singh and Aniruddh Vasudevan created last October in the classical Indian Bharata Natyam dance style. For tickets, visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

Food is both a theme and a cause at Dance Place in Washington, D.C., in April, when its dance company in residence, Deborah Riley Dance Projects, premieres Chew on This with the assistance of 14 members of Dance Place’s repertory and performance class.

The performances April 17 and 18 are described as a commentary on world hunger, the food industry, and nutrition. They also mark the final days of a weeklong food drive at Dance Place to benefit the Capital Area Food Bank. Audience members are encouraged to bring packaged, nonperishable food donations to the theater.

Riley, who is also co-director of Dance Place, has combined dance and spoken word with some innovative uses of the venue’s studio theater. Tickets are $22 for general admission; $17 for seniors, students, teachers, artists, and Dance Place members; and $8 for children 17 and younger. To buy them, visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

CONTRA-TIEMPO, a Los Angeles-based dance company, will celebrate its fifth anniversary with performances of three signature works April 10 and 11 at Dance Place in Washington, D.C.

The troupe, founded and led by Ana Maria Alvarez, presents a fusion of salsa, Afro-Cuban, West African, hip-hop, and abstract dance theater. The three works on April’s program are I Dream America (2007), which looks at tensions and commonalities between blacks and Latinos; Against the Times (2005), which explores an improvisational form of salsa; and Plastico (2008), a comic commentary on the transformation of salsa into a hyper-sexual exaggeration of the Latino body.

Tickets to the performance at Dance Place, 3225 Eighth Street NE, are $22 ($17 for Dance Place members, seniors, students, teachers, and artists, and $8 for children 17 and younger). To buy them, visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600.

The vitality of youth dance troupes in the Washington, D.C., area will be celebrated March 20 and 21 at the Youth Dance Festival at the city’s Dance Place, 3225 Eighth Street NE.

The Dance Place Step Team will be joined by the Joy of Motion Dance Center Youth Dance Ensemble (both junior and senior companies), Coyaba Academy for the Arts, Baltimore Dance Tech, Momentum Dance Theatre, the Towson University Children’s Dance Division, and the Maryland Youth Ballet.

To buy tickets ($15 general admission, $10 for children 17 and younger), visit www.danceplace.org or call 202.269-1600.

Naoko Maeshiba and Sharon Mansur, two dance artists based in the Washington, D.C., area, will present an evening of dance theater April 2 and 3 at Dance Place, 3225 Eighth Street NE, Washington.

Maeshiba will present Paraffin, an ensemble piece, and a solo work, Face of Another. Mansur, director of mansurdance, includes her own photography as well as her choreography in semblance and here/there.

 Tickets are $22, with varying discounts for seniors, teachers, professional artists, college students, children, and Dance Place members. To buy tickets, call 202.269.1600 or visit www.danceplace.org.