Minnesota’s fall dance season offers audiences a mix of reinvention, legacy and new experiments. From classic tales reimagined to premieres inspired by social movements and natural forces, here are 10 performances not to miss.
‘Aszure Barton + Ambrose Akinmusire: A a | a B : B E N D’
Northrop commissioned this collaboration between choreographer Aszure Barton and trumpeter-composer Ambrose Akinmusire that premiered in 2023 in Germany and now arrives for its U.S. premiere. Dancers begin in black hoodies, gradually revealing more of their bodies and personalities in work that blends voguing and breaking in solo, ensemble and large-group sequences. (7:30 p.m. Sept. 18–19, Northrop, 84 Church St. SE., Mpls., $30–$76, northrop.umn.edu)
‘Swapnō Jhnāp: Dream Jumping’
Celebrating its 20th-anniversary season, Ananya Dance Theatre leaps across time and space in a work that imagines dance as a liberating practice and dreaming as a pathway toward freedom. Portals open through grief, war and desolation, while an emerging feminist joy erupts in intergalactic feminist dance clubs. Conceived and choreographed by Ananya Chatterjea with collaborators including Dr. Nia O. Witherspoon and composer Greg Schutte. (7:30 p.m. Sept. 19–20, the O’Shaughnessy, 2004 Randolph Av., St. Paul, $8–$53, oshag.stkate.edu)
‘Debut: A 30th Anniversary Celebration’
Arena Dances marks three decades by launching a repertory model that brings in new choreographic voices. The inaugural concert of this new direction showcases world premieres from local choreographer Elayna Waxse and New York-based Julia Antinozzi and Jordan Demetrius Lloyd. (7:30 p.m. Sept. 19, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20, Luminary Arts Center, 700 N. 1st St., Mpls., $29 with pay as able matinee, luminaryartscenter.com)
‘Blood of the Earth’
Erika Martin’s latest eMartin Dance creation draws on Thomas Sayre’s installation “White Gold,” meditating on Southern cotton fields and their history of land, labor and violence. (7:30 p.m., Sept. 26, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 27, the Southern Theater, 1420 S. Washington Av., Mpls., $25-$65, emartindance.org)
‘The Great Gatsby’
Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age classic turns 100 in 2025, and World Ballet Company marks the centennial with a full-length ballet of art deco glamour and fallen dreams. Choreographer Ilya Zhivoy sets the work within a score by composer Anna Drubich. (7 p.m. Oct. 18, Orpheum Theatre, 910 Hennepin Av., Mpls., $76–$183, hennepinarts.org)
‘Dracula’
The Collide Theatrical Dance Company’s original adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic novel has a feminist twist, telling the story through Mina’s eyes. Co-directed by Heather Brockman and Regina Peluso, the production stars Jarod Boltjes as Dracula and Alison Bartels as Mina. The work explores desire, fear and transformation in Collide’s signature dance-theater style. (Oct. 23–Nov. 9, Luminary Arts Center, 700 N. 1st St., Mpls., $24-$63, collidetheatrical.org)
‘Ronald K. Brown/Evidence with TU Dance’
Ronald K. Brown’s company, Evidence, returns to the Twin Cities for a program that pairs forces with TU Dance. The two companies will team up to perform “When the Light Shines Through,” a work TU commissioned in 2017. Then Evidence will perform the 2024 work “Percussion Bitter Sweet: Tender Warriors,” celebrating the centennial of the late composer, drummer and activist Max Roach. Evidence also performs “Grace,” Brown’s 1999 piece for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, now part of Evidence’s own repertoire. (7:30 p.m. Oct. 30, Northrop, 84 Church St. SE., Mpls., $25–$66, northrop.umn.edu)
