Ballet Des Moines brought Sergei Prokofiev’s Cinderella to the Des Moines Civic Center earlier this month, a timeless tale made for the big stage. This charming production drew audiences of all ages, thanks in great part to their community ticketing program, a partnership with Iowa libraries that has introduced ballet to hundreds of library patrons throughout their season.
Dance
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UI student dancers will perform Saturday to benefit Dance Without Limits, a Des Moines nonprofit serving kids with special needs
The Dance Club at the University of Iowa will have their 16th annual Benefit Show on Saturday, April 11 at 5 p.m. at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts. Proceeds from ticket sales and donations will go towards various community nonprofits and UI student groups — including the Des Moines nonprofit Dance Without Limits, […]
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Review: Ballet Des Moines kicks off the season with athleticism, Enya and a pianist that’s part of the performance
Ballet Des Moines opened their 2025-2026 season this past weekend with Forward, an evening of new and returning performances at Hoyt Sherman Place. The company aims to make dance more inclusive and accessible this season through a diverse repertoire and community initiatives, including a podcast, sensory friendly matinees, audio transcriptions and adaptive dance classes. The […]
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Review: Angels from the Alvin Ailey dance company brought rhythm, reverence and revelations to the Hancher stage
Movement, in all of its forms, is powerful. The fusion of the physical, political, and spiritual forms came together during the Iowa City stop of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s 2025 national tour.
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Review: Twyla Tharp brings 1999’s ‘Diabelli’ back to Hancher as the legendary choreographer celebrates her ‘Diamond Jubilee’
Despite two decades of dance training, most of my context for Twyla Tharp’s Diamond Jubilee at Hancher last Wednesday night was via an undergraduate dance history class on the choreographer and her eponymous company. That she was part of my dance curriculum speaks to how Tharp is one of the most well known names in American modern dance…
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Meet Lady Em and Supa Josh, two renowned hip-hop dancers teaching their Olympic level moves in Iowa
Little Village spoke with Emily and Joshua Culbreath about their dance journey, what one can expect from a hip hop dance intensive and the complex stance Breakers can hold toward their dance form’s inclusion in the 2024 Olympic Games.
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The rise, fall and meteoric resurgence of Brazil’s ‘forbidden dance’ is inspiring Iowans to Zouk
One of the most popular contemporary partner dances was almost stifled out of existence at the end of the 20th century. “When people say Lambada, people think, ‘Oh, the forbidden dance?’ That is the first thing that comes to mind for people. And that’s a very wrong idea, actually, because it’s a sensual dance, but […]
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Ballet Des Moines announces six-show free summer tour for ‘Of Gravity and Light’
Ballet Des Moines has announced a six-stop trip across Iowa for Of Gravity and Light, a deeply immersive, science-packed show that received a standing ovation at its one-night only show on April 22. Gravity on Tour will include a mobile planetarium, Iowa State University’s FLEx Virtual Reality lab and more STEM experiences, as well as […]
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Urban Bush Women to explore issues of body image, race and gender in Hancher performance, dance workshop
“This process … really predates us all.” Chanon Judson, one of the artistic directors of Brooklyn, New York-based dance company Urban Bush Women, is speaking of the company’s practice of applying culture to dance. “We are all part of a lineage that has been doing that since the beginning of time.” Urban Bush Women was founded in 1984 by dancer and choreographer Jawole Willa Zollar, who still holds the title of Chief Visioning Partner of the group.
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Meet the choreographers behind Motley Cow’s epic sci-fi dinner theatre
Sci-Fi Colab Motley Cow — Wednesday, April 5 at 6 p.m. University of Iowa associate professor Eloy Barragán and junior dance major Angelia Mahaney created the dance portion of Motley Cow’s sold-out Mission Creek dinner. Mahaney, Barragán, Motley Cow chef David Wieseneck, chef/publisher Drew Burk of Spork Press, poet Richard Siken and local musician Brendan […]
