Dear BDA Community,
Did you happen to see or hear the good news? BDA will acquire a new portable dance floor in 2025 and offer Open Call Auditions & Dancer Health Days in perpetuity!
In recent years, BDA’s portable dance floor has enabled local dancers and dance companies to showcase their creativity at events ranging from festivals & block parties to dance competitions & performances. We anticipate that a new portable dance floor will enable us to double its usage from 12-15 times to 24-30 times per year. To do so, we need your help to ensure safe storage, regular maintenance, and consistent floor technician support for the new floor in 2025.
To complement this new dance infrastructure, BDA is working to help dance flourish by expanding information on dance resources & opportunities, which we share with 2500+ dance enthusiasts weekly via our free ProMotion newsletter and via our website. Looking ahead to 2025, we’re keen to update BDA’s technology and these digital assets’ accessibility to provide even more comprehensive information to even more dancers.
Please donate to BDA today to sustain & enhance such vital dance INFRASTRUCTURE and INFORMATION for the local dance community. Thanks to a matching gift from two anonymous donors, any amount you donate in December will be doubled. Don’t miss your chance to do twice as much for dance!
Thank you,
Aaron Myers, Executive Director
In November, MASSCreative welcomed 11 individuals into the 2024-2025 Advocacy & Organizing Fellowship during an in-person orientation at the Worcester Public Library, one of which is our board member, Karen Krolak.
The Advocacy & Organizing Fellowship is a stipended, year-long advocacy leadership development cohort for artivists, creative workers, and emerging cultural leaders to gain the advocacy capacity necessary to achieve an equitable, inclusive, and vibrant creative sector for all in Massachusetts.
Karen Krolak (she/her/hers) is the co-artistic Director of Monkeyhouse. As a member of an arts or cultural nonprofit organization from Greater Boston, her project will focus on improving civic literacy for artists, with particular attention to members of the disability community.
BDA Member Events This Week
Echoes of Renewal is a multidisciplinary immersive performance by Continuum Dance Project (CDP), that examines humanity’s connection with the natural world. Echoes aims to bring the feeling of the outdoors inside through movement, video, and textiles. The creation of this work is the result of a year-long residency at BU Wheelock’s Earl Center for Learning & Innovation. Wednesday, December 11 & Thursday, December 12, 7 PM at Boston University Dance Theater 915 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston. Tickets: $0-$20.
The Dance Complex presents Funny Uncle Cabaret with Peter DiMuro/Public Displays of Motion. Funny Uncle Cabaret’s first act is a retelling of the Nutcracker story through the lens of LGBTQ+ lives and families of choice including the adoption of Peter’s niece. Peter shares excerpts of stories alongside other odd, queer, and gay stories through song, dance, and narrative. Guests will enjoy a preview of “Our Queer Family Storybook,” a new PDM project that helps queer families create translations of their unique story into multi-media performances, as well as a cabaret featuring sing-alongs and pop-up performances from guests and audiences. Saturday, December 14, 8:00-9:30 PM and Sunday, December 15, 7:00-8:30 PM at The Dance Complex, 536 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge. Tickets: $15-$50.
Join in for an evening with the Floor Lords, who seek to use the positivity of hip hop dance to reach and empower inner city and local youth to understand how to direct their energy in a productive manner and foster creativity. Wednesday, December 11, 7 PM, WBUR CitySpace, 890 Commonwealth Ave, Boston. Tickets: $10-$30.
Global Arts Live presents GALLIM, one of New York’s leading contemporary dance companies. The company performs 6 different dances from their repertoire: state, Noon Candle, BRUCE, FROM,No Ordinary Love and SAMA. Friday, December 13, & Saturday, December 14, 8 PM at The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 25 Harbor Shore Drive, Boston. Tickets: $54-$58.
Trailblazing tap dancer and choreographer Ayodele Casel and longtime collaborator director Torya Beard return to A.R.T. this holiday season to share the joyful, resilient, and liberating spirit of tap. The Diary of a Tap Dancer is an electric new play that weaves together dance, narrative, and song to reveal the power of reclaiming language, culture, and one’s own identity. Thursday, December 12- Saturday, January 4 at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge. Tickets: $35-$150.
Slaughterhouse & Boston Dance Studios present their 1st Annual Winter Popping Competition. Join a day to remember as some of New England’s most talented poppers battle it out in a bracket style competition for a chance to win a $500 cash prize. The day will include a live DJ, Slaughterhouse X BDS giveaways, and a showcase of stellar talent. 100% of the competition proceeds will go towards BDS’ 80K Campaign to support the studio’s infrastructure improvements. Saturday, December 14, 1-6 PM, at Boston Dance Studios, 261 Friend St, Fl 5, Boston. Registration: $15.
Join BIODANZA for movement, music, connection, restorative play, rest and revolution. Saturday, December 14, 3-5 PM at MOTA 11, Bow St, 2nd floor, Somerville. Registration: $20-$40.
Dancing Arts Center is thrilled to present the 10th Anniversary Nutcracker. Enjoy the student cast led by Co-Director and former soloist with Cincinnati Ballet Gregg Saulnier as Herr Drosselmeyer alongside guest artists Yoshiko Kamikusa, Principal Dancer with Indianapolis Ballet, as the Sugarplum Fairy; Trevor PinterParsons, Dancing Arts Center alumni and Soloist with Indianapolis Ballet as the Cavalier; and AJ Maio, Company Member with Ballet RI as the Nutcracker Prince. Thursday, December 12, 7:30 PM, Friday, December 13, 2:00 PM & 7:30 PM, and Saturday, December 14, 2:00 PM at The Norwood Theatre 109 Central Street, Norwood, MA. Tickets: $40-$48.
Celebrate the holidays at the 54th annual Midwinter Revels: The Selkie Girl and the Seal Woman. This joyful celebration of Celtic and Cabo Verdean cultures features traditional music, dance, songs and stories, and lots of audience participation. Friday, December 13-Saturday, December 28, at Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy Street, Memorial Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge. Tickets: $20-$105.
Anthony Williams’ “Urban Nutcracker”, a contemporary holiday classic that captures the spirit of Boston, returns this December. This enchanting production showcases winter scenes set against the backdrop of downtown Boston, blending the vibrant rhythms of Duke Ellington with Tchaikovsky’s timeless compositions. Anchored in classical ballet, this year’s performances feature a diverse array of dance styles—including tap, hip-hop, breakdance, flamenco, and jazz—all accompanied by an 8-piece live ensemble of talented local musicians. Saturday, December 14-Sunday, December 22, at the Boch Center Shubert Theater, 265 Tremont St., Boston. Tickets: $29-$115.
Make the Marilyn Rodman Performing Arts Center’s The Nutcracker part of your holiday tradition this year. Saturday, December 14 & Sunday, December 15, 1 PM & 4 PM at 1 School Street, Foxboro. Tickets: $26-$30.
The BoSoma Youth Company is proud to present the “Holiday Spectacular,” their family friendly winter concert. This exciting dance show will feature a festive lineup of wintery, holiday themed tunes that will inspire nostalgic memories. Get in the holiday spirit this season with the BYC Holiday Spectacular. Saturday, December 14, 6 PM and Sunday, December 15, 2 PM, at the Shore Country Day School theater, 545 Cabot Street, Beverly. Tickets: $20-$35.
Celebrate the Season with The Nutcracker by South Shore Ballet Theatre. This holiday classic showcases exquisite choreography, breathtaking costumes, and the timeless music of Tchaikovsky, performed by talented young dancers who embody the spirit and artistry of ballet. Saturday, December 14, 1 PM & 5 PM and Sunday, December 15, 1 PM at the Chapman Theater, 1051 Middle Street , Weymouth Tickets: $25-$35.
Boston Ballet is seeking Supernumeraries for their upcoming production of Swan Lake. They are seeking people to portray a male role onstage. Please complete the form to apply by Saturday, December 14. Callbacks will be held on Tuesday, December 17. Performances will run February 27 – March 16, 2025, Rehearsals will take place in February. Boston Ballet Supernumeraries are volunteer positions with access to a select number of complimentary tickets. If you have any questions, reach out to bostonballetsupers@gmail.com.
FREE! – Register for the December Artivist Town Hall. MASSCreative’s Artivist Town Hall is a monthly webinar series that connects artists and creatives with resources, training, and expert insights to support them in their creative practices and activism. Join for a conversation with the Massachusetts Health Connector to discuss open enrollment and resources for navigating Massachusett’s marketplace for health insurance policies. Wednesday, December 18, 12:30-1:30 PM.
The time to think about NACHMO has arrived! In order to apply you need to Update (or create) your CreativeGround Profile and sign up for a conversational application in one of the time slots below
Saturday, December 14, 10:30 AM-12:00 PM
Sunday, December 15, 10 AM-1 PM
Wednesday, December 18, 10 AM-1 PM.