Get ready to show your Dance Place pride like never before! Spirit Week is our ultimate homecoming celebration—five days of themed fun, community connection, and non-stop movement that kicks off our 45th season in style.
The week emphasizes connection through themed participation, local organization partnerships, ongoing installations like a community timeline and altar-building, plus family-friendly activities including scavenger hunts and elder storytelling circles.
Spirit Week blends Dance Place's signature programming with festival-style energy, creating multiple ways for both longtime community members and newcomers to engage with the space and each other. The format encourages daily participation while building toward a culminating celebration that showcases the full breadth of Dance Place's artistic community.

Carla Creative, Inc and the Dance Place Family invites you to Eat, Dance, Remember and be Joyous. Celebrate 45 years of presenting great art, professional classes, impactful youth programs and building community. Have you ever taken class at Dance Place, seen a performance, been in a resident company, watched your child take class, been a BOD member, staff member, volunteer, energizer or intern? If so, this event is for you!

bLUr by Kimberly Bartosik/daela is a highly physical and emotionally intense dance piece exploring the haunting impact of witnessing a loved one's overdose. Moving beyond specific narratives of the opioid crisis, the work uses visceral movement to embody the violent cravings and internal battles of substance abuse. Through repeating cycles, bLUr illuminates the urgent fight against these desires and the blurred line between craving and rescue. Experience a raw portrayal of intense longing, forceful intervention, and the struggle for survival.

Ananya Dance Theatre's ANTARANGA: Between You and Me unfolds in a world facing a deep crisis, where the ability to sense and connect with others has largely vanished. A small group of 'humsafar' (fellow travelers) retains extraordinary connecting abilities. Their perilous journeys forge crucial relationships, offering a path toward healing. ANTARANGA explores themes of intimacy, connection, trust, and community among transnational feminists navigating a world struggling to rediscover human connection.

ANTARANGA: Between You and Me is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Links Hall, The Yard, Dance Place, and NPN. The Creation & Development Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information: www.npnweb.org

KanKouran West African Dance Company celebrates 42 years of preserving and promoting West African culture. Founded in 1983, this enduring company enriches American heritage through authentic African dance and drumming, fostering intercultural understanding. Their performances, like tonight's, honor ancestors, seeking protection and guidance for a brighter future. KanKouran instills discipline, pride, and community commitment, shaping lives and contributing meaningfully to diverse pursuits. Join us for a powerful evening of tradition and artistic excellence.

Join us for a night of celebration, connection, and creativity at the Energizers Winter Sneaker Ball — an unforgettable tribute to the youth, mentors, and community that have shaped the legacy of Dance Place’s Energizers Creative Arts Programs.

What began in 1986 as Carla’s Kids, founded by visionary arts educator Carla Perlo, evolved into the Energizers in 1994. Over nearly four decades, this vibrant program has supported youth through dance and the arts — growing to include Teen Leaders, After School students, summer campers, internships, and more. From classrooms to the stage and beyond, Energizers have transformed from passionate kids into thriving adults, educators, and artists.

This red carpet affair celebrates the generations of young people who found their voice, power, and community through the arts. Expect a powerful evening of dance, storytelling, live performances, delicious food, fresh kicks, and a tribute to the legacy we continue to build together.

Come dressed to impress — in your finest semi-formal attire and your flyest sneakers — and help us honor the past, uplift the present, and energize the future.

BIGKID DANCE, directed by Mark Caserta, presents If I Die Before the Revolution, an evening-length contemporary dance theater work. This piece acts as a fantastical farewell for queer individuals facing a collapsing world. It portrays a unique queer experience through fear, love, loneliness, death, and legacies. As time runs out, the 'queer' archetype confronts invisibility while fighting for their existence. This work honors and celebrates queer life in the face of overwhelming challenges.

In continued celebration of Dance Place's milestone 45th season, PRIME stands as a luminous tribute to the visionary women who built the foundation upon which DMV dance thrives today. This special evening honors the pioneering Architects of DMV Dance—Carla Perlo, Deborah Riely, Mama Sylvia Soumah, and Carol Foster—whose creative ingenuity and unwavering tenacity forged new pathways for artists, youths, scholars, and community members to find their way home.

Effervescence Collective presents take to the hills, featuring multiple new dance works centered on growth, nostalgia, and belonging. Founder and Artistic Director Faith Rokowski anchors the program with a piece capturing the quiet weight of leaving a small town and finding belonging elsewhere. Two additional, shorter works from collaborators will further explore these unifying themes. Join this merry band of artists as it journeys from a small town (population: 6,110) through personal evolution, shared memories, and the search for where we truly belong.

LOVE, LAND, LEGACY by VTDance/Vincent E. Thomas offers an intimate and powerful exploration of how we love, our place in the world, and the lasting impact we create. These compelling physical stories are brought to life by the incredible VTDance II ensemble and longtime collaborator, poet Michelle A. Nelson (aka Love the Poet). The evening is beautifully woven together by the evocative music of Dave Ballou, featuring excerpts from his newest work, The Detritus Suite for Jazz Orchestra.