This year’s Step Xplosion is a celebration of the art form of stepping, honoring its rich roots in the African American fraternity and sorority experience, its presence in the daily lives of students, and the future. For over eight years, Step Afrika! has brought the tradition of stepping to one of Washington DC's most beautiful performance venues, a "cathedral for stepping" according to C. Brian Williams, Step Afrika!'s Founder and Executive Director. Special guests include Dem Raider Boyz and Black Root. This year, Step Xplosion will be virtual for the first time ever for a worldwide audience. Register for free admission!

REGISTER HERE.

Veiled Revue
By Amber Daniels and Becky Hill

Veiled ciphers through historic vaudeville repertoire extracting inspiration to create an abstract dance theater work. In an era of #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, American territory borders, a global pandemic, a monumental presidential election and further investigations of social norms, we are researchers with the knowledge that the present is affected by our past. Using vignettes, audiences will simultaneously experience both the despair that haunted the entertainment industry of the vaudeville era, as well as the joy. We will manipulate how vaudeville was viewed then versus the transformation of what it could be today. The piece will be performed in “armor,” a costume that covers the body entirely to erase gender, sexuality, race and class. It is our hope through this investigation, we will have audiences question, react and be moved to action.

I AM IN A BASEMENT
By Tristan Koepke

Reflecting on creative practices on pause, Tristan builds small accumulations that give way to lacy patterns of ritual that unfold and rupture into chaotic, effervescent celebrations of catharsis and release. Sinewy threads of movement repeat and intervene in a contemplation exertion, endurance and destruction.

March 5 for school groups

This Open Rehearsal allows students a chance to see the company at work and in their final onstage preparations for their Kennedy Center performances. 

Grades 7-12

About the Program: Martha Graham is inarguably the mother of American modern dance. In celebration of the centennial of the 19th amendment in 2020, which gave most women the right to vote, the company has created a collection of new commissions and signature Graham classics that each make bold statements about female power. This Open Rehearsal allows students a chance to see the company at work and in their final onstage preparations for their Kennedy Center performances.

Dance Master Classes at the Kennedy Center offer an opportunity to take classes led by some of the most talented and creative artists in the world of dance. This participatory, advanced-professional, class for adults (sorry, no observers allowed) is led by company members from Martha Graham Dance Company. Please respect the targeted skill level for the class and enjoy!

Please Note:

• Please check in in the Hall of States. A Kennedy Center Dance Education staff member will escort you to the studio approximately 15 minutes before class begins.

• Due to the structure of this contemporary dance class, no late entry will be permitted once this class has started.

• Because this event involves physical activity, all participants will be required to sign a waiver form prior to participating. Please review this form prior to purchasing tickets and bring a signed copy with you to the workshop. Waivers will also be available at the door.

• This event is held in a wheelchair-accessible venue. Please contact the Accessibility Office at 202-416-8727 or access@kennedy-center.org to request accommodation for a participant with a disability.

Performances: July 27 @8pm and July 28 @7pm

In celebration of Merce Cunningham’s centennial anniversary, Ireland’s John Scott Dance presents the choreography of founder John Scott alongside three early Cunningham works: Totem Ancestor, Night Wandering, and a solo from Second Hand. In partnership with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Dance Place hosts this international modern dance company on a program with a newly arranged MinEvent, featuring excerpts from Cunningham’s choreography staged for local dancers by the Merce Cunningham Trust.

Performances: July 27 @8pm and July 28 @7pm

In celebration of Merce Cunningham’s centennial anniversary, Ireland’s John Scott Dance presents the choreography of founder John Scott alongside three early Cunningham works: Totem Ancestor, Night Wandering, and a solo from Second Hand. In partnership with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Dance Place hosts this international modern dance company on a program with a newly arranged MinEvent, featuring excerpts from Cunningham’s choreography staged for local dancers by the Merce Cunningham Trust.

Performances: July 13 @ 8pm, and July 14 @ 7pm

DC-metro area tap dance artists have made their mark on Broadway, at Jacob’s Pillow, and as international artists who perform, educate, produce, and choreograph. Join us as a select group debuts new works in this Emerging Tap Dance Choreographers Showcase highlighting the art of tap dance in its contemporary form. Produced by Percussion Discussion Productions, featuring guests Capitol Tap and District Tap.

Performances: July 13 @ 8pm, and July 14 @ 7pm

DC-metro area tap dance artists have made their mark on Broadway, at Jacob’s Pillow, and as international artists who perform, educate, produce, and choreograph. Join us as a select group debuts new works in this Emerging Tap Dance Choreographers Showcase highlighting the art of tap dance in its contemporary form. Produced by Percussion Discussion Productions, featuring guests Capitol Tap and District Tap.

Dynamic Dance Team presents the 2019 Rip the Floor Competition! Enjoy a night of amazingly talented showcasing and competing teams.

DANCE CLASS - LIMITED SEATING AVAILABLE

The Washington Ballet company dancers perform the first glimpse of The Sleeping Beauty staged by Julie Kent and Victor Barbee, and host a free one-hour class from 6-7 p.m. for children ages 6-12 years old. TWB senior dance faculty will teach the five positions for feet and arms in classical ballet, and the Puss and Boots pas de deux.

Pan American Symphony Orchestra brings you a thrilling evening of evocative and passionate music by Spain's foremost composers—Isaac Albeniz, Manuel de Falla, and Joaquin Turina—music infused with the rhythms of Spanish folk dances, and reflecting the traditions of the Gypsy, Jewish, Arab, African, and Greek peoples. Joining PASO are mezzo-soprano Anamer Castrello singing de Falla's dramatic flamenco-inspired masterpiece El Amor Brujo, and, direct from Spain, Maria Juncal, a flamenco dancer (bailaora) whose fiery percussive interpretations bring a powerful intensity to this exciting show. De Falla's Siete Canciones Españolas, featuring virtuoso cellist Dorotea Racz, captures all the magic of Spain's unique music culture.

TV’s biggest dance show returns on tour this winter with “Dancing with the Stars: Live!” featuring fan favorite professional and troupe dancers in a brand-new production showcasing every type of dance style as seen on ABC’s hit show Dancing with the Stars, ranging from ballroom and jazz to modern and hip-hop.

Local capoeira leaders Abada-Capoeira DC join forces with all-woman samba reggae percussion band Batalá Washington to present a joint evening of syncopated rhythms and dynamic martial art and dance movements, celebrating the vibrant culture of Brazil. 

Lord Of The Dance: Dangerous Games is a spectacular new staging of the much-loved traditional master piece. The show stars James Keegan, Morgan Comer, Mathew Smith, Cathal Keaney, Fergal Keaney and Andras Kren as the “Lords of the Dance” and is choreographed and directed by Michael Flatley.

Celebrating excellence in dance, a showcase of Prince George’s County outstanding dance community.

Local Dance Commissioning Project: Erica Rae Smith-Gooden’s world premiere includes modern-fusion and Caribbean dancehall, music, and social dance culture—including a live “selecta” (DJ). The work celebrates the legacy and vitality of dancehall movement and invites the community to view the choreographer’s discovery, all while encouraging a call-and-response format integral to the style.

World of Dance is at the epicenter of the urban dance lifestyle. The largest international urban dance competition in the world, WOD celebrates the latest street and choreography trends around. Join the thousands of dance and music lovers coming together to cheer on today's top teams, as they battle it out for the ultimate title.

Featured talent: BDash, Charity and Andres, Embodiment, Jaxon Willard, Konkrete, Michael Dameski, Royal Flux. 

Catapult Entertainment presents an evening of varied shadow dance/theater works which tell stories and showcase the magic of shadow illusions. There is no question that Catapult is a rising star with a bright future and the top company of its kind in the world.

Catapult catapulted to fame on Season 8 of America's Got Talent, earning their way to the finals of the NBC-TV hit show. Technically, Catapult is a shadow dance company. But it is really a theatrical art form that is an amazingly imaginative combination of dance, story-telling and sculpture. Catapult is about the human body and its ability to transform. The talented Catapult dancers work behind a screen to create seemingly impossible dancing shadow silhouettes of shapes from the world around us.

Watch Latin dance performances, try a few moves, and learn about Salsa, Merengue, Bachata and Cha-cha — their history and cultural relevance.

The Alexandria Folk Dance Troupe of Egypt was founded by the Egyptian artist Aly El Gendy in 1968. Their performance method is based on and influenced by Egyptian folklore, and the world-renown troupe has participated in many international festivals and events.