Stage & Arts

Minnesota Dance Theatre moving to a new and bigger home

It also is bringing back performances and expanding education programs in a three-phase plan.

By Sheila Regan

The Minnesota Star Tribune

August 6, 2025 at 5:11PM

Minnesota Dance Theatre is moving to an 8,600-square-foot venue in Minneapolis' Marcy-Holmes neighborhood. The groundbreaking for the facility will be in late September and the project is scheduled for completion in late December. (Rendering by Merica May Jensen/Gray Matters)

It has been over a year since Minnesota Dance Theatre paused its performances and shifted its focus onto its school. On Wednesday, MDT announced that not only is it moving to a new home in Minneapolis’ Marcy-Holmes neighborhood, but it also plans to bring back its performance company.

The three-phase plan will conclude with a new professional company in about 10 years, this time with 50 dancers performing classical repertoire and new works.

MDT is in the midst of a three-year funding campaign, working toward raising $1.25 million, of which it has secured about 15%. Most of the money raised so far has been from individual donors, as well as two family foundations, all of whom are remaining anonymous for now, said Suzi Scott, MDT board chair.

The announcement comes at a time when more promising news for local dance is afoot. Zenon Dance Company, another former performing company that now operates only as a school, and Arts’ Nest will spearhead the revamped Cowles Center.

MDT is saying goodbye to the Hennepin Center for the Arts, where the school has been based since 1979 and leased one studio.

Its new multiyear lease at 730 SE. 9th St., next door to Freewheel Bike Shop, will boast three dance studios with 30-foot ceilings and light streaming in from windows and skylights. At about 8,600 square feet, the facility will also have administrative offices, a communal space and two dressing rooms.

Minnesota Dance Theatre director Lauren Post's long-range plan is to have a professional company with 50 dancers performing classical repertoire and new works. (Quinn Wharton)

Its design is a collaboration by architect Merica May Jensen of Gray Matters in New York and local architect Laurel Schmidt. Jensen, a former ballet dancer herself, performed with MDT director Lauren Post at Atlanta Ballet before Post moved on to American Ballet Theatre, and Jensen transitioned to an architecture career.

Jensen said her background in dance informed the design. Large picture windows will allow for viewing into the dance spaces when the curtains are open. “We’re working on providing visual connectivity through all the spaces,” Jensen said. “All the windows line up, so that from the street, you can almost look through all the studios.”

Suzi Scott, right, Minnesota Dance Theatre's board chair, said the growth Lauren Post has overseen as a director in just one year is unprecedented. As a dancer, Post previously performed with Atlanta Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. (Sheila Regan )

Post said that natural light was an important aspect from early on. “We just want to make sure that the studios feel bright,” she said.

Founded by Loyce Houlton in 1962, MDT was for decades an important cultural cornerstone in the Twin Cities, known for its performances of Houlton’s work, including her “Nutcracker” production. Houlton’s daughter Lise Houlton took over in 1995, and when she retired in 2023, she passed the baton to her daughter Kaitlyn Gilliland. Lise Houlton and Gilliland have since formed the company and school A Dancer’s Place.

Discussions about moving away from downtown Minneapolis began before Post joined MDT a year ago, and a search for a new space ramped up a few months ago.

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“We were just looking forward to more growth for MDT, more accessibility for students and more space,” Post said. “This building offers us three really large studios, so we just have more opportunity to expand programming, bring in choreographic residencies, and it will support us as we grow throughout the years.”

MDT plans to break ground on the renovation in September and the project is scheduled for completion in December. The move is part of the first phase of MDT’s long-range plan.

Students this year also will encounter new curriculum called the Simona Ferrazza’s Dutch National Ballet Academy Curriculum. All classes will begin with floor barre, with 15 to 20 minutes of conditioning and strengthening on the floor before students start dancing.

“It’s really helpful, especially for young kids, to activate the right muscles with the support of the floor,” Post said. She and the other instructors will train with Ferrazza over Zoom.

MDT plans to add character dance, contemporary dance and jazz to the classes it offers, and will be bringing in Brady Farrar, from American Ballet Theatre, to create an original “Nutcracker” snow scene for a student performance. Work by local choreographers Elayna Waxse, Darrius Strong and Kerry Parker will also be featured for the school’s winter showcase.

In phase two, which won’t be until several years, MDT plans to work with professional dancers on a project-by-project basis, where students will perform alongside the pros. Post envisions a fully-fledged professional ballet company in phase three.

“Our vision for a company is a large-scale, 50-person company that can mount a ‘Swan Lake’ and a ‘Giselle’ every year, and also do new choreographic works,” Post said. “We really want something that can stand on a national stage and can be a treasure for Minnesota.”