DORRANCE DANCE
MISSION
At its core, tap dance is a subversive form. Rooted in protest and transcendence, improvisation and innovation were paramount to its survival and are innately embedded in its very foundation. We strive to honor this legacy.
Dorrance Dance is an award-winning tap dance company based in New York City. Founded in 2011 by Artistic Director and 2015 MacArthur Fellow Michelle Dorrance, the company shares the incredibly dynamic range that tap dance has to offer through performance & education. Our goal is to engage with audiences on a musical and emotional level, and to share the complex history and powerful legacy of this American art form throughout the country and the world.
ROOM 101
Byron Tittle, Michelle Dorrance, and Matthew “MegaWatt” West in the 2011 Bessie Award winning work, “Three to One” (Photo by Dana Lynn Pleasant).
“The Blues Project” (2013) created by Dormeshia, Michelle Dorrance, Derick K. Grant, and Toshi Reagon. Performers L-R: Christopher Broughton, Adam Widoff (electric guitar), Claudia Rahardjanoto, Byron Tittle, Juliette Jones (violin), Toshi Reagon (guitars and vocals), Elizabeth Burke, Fred Cash (electric bass), Nicholas Van Young, Karida Griffith, and Allison Miller (drums). (Photo by Christopher Duggan courtesy of Jacob’s Pillow).
“The Rotunda Project” (2017) a first of it’s kind, site-specific work created by Michelle Dorrance and Nicholas Van Young presented by Works and Process at the Guggenheim Museum (photo by Matthew Murphy).
Public School performance of “Myelination” on tour at the Des Moines Civic Center (photo by Dan Welk of Click Photography).
Our last premiere at the Joyce Theater (winter 2019-2020) before the pandemic: WE PRESENT TO YOU: THE NUTCRACKER SUITE OR, A RHYTHMATURGICAL EVOCATION OF THE SUPER-LEVIATHONIC ENCHANTMENTS OF DUKE AND BILLY’S SUPREME ADAPTATION OF TCHAIKOVSKY’S MASTERPIECE THAT TELLS A TALE OF A MISUNDERSTOOD GIRL WHO KILLS A KING AND MEETS A QUEEN AND DON’T FORGET OOOO-GONG-CHI-GONG-SH’-GON-MAKE-IT-DADDY, AND THAT IT AIN’T SO BAD AFTER ALL - created by Michelle Dorrance, Hannah Heller, and Josette Wiggan-Freund. Featuring Josette Wiggan-Freund and Joseph Wiggan with Flowers: L-R: Naomi Funaki, Leo Manzari, Christopher Broughton, Asha Griffith, Elizabeth Burke, Warren Craft, Rena Kinoshita. (photo by Christopher Duggan).