Twin Cities dance shows move outdoors this summer

The Twin Cities dance scene has stayed mostly online throughout the pandemic, but that all changes with warmer weather.

From a durational movement score set to the music of James Everest along the Mississippi River, to outdoor performances by Ballet Co.Laboratory, April Sellers Dance Collective, Off-Leash Area, and Helen Hatch and Beret Ahlgren, the open-air dance calendar is packed.

Erinn Liebhard, whose company Rhythmically Speaking will perform outdoors with Keane Sense of Rhythm in late May, said her dancers have been rehearsing virtually throughout the pandemic and meeting in person just for a couple of rehearsals before their performances.

"I think there are some companies that have said, 'we don't want to do virtual shows.' This is a live, in person art that is reliant on hearing breath and sharing sweat and all those things that make dance so delicious," she said. "For me, it has been a balance between wanting to innovate when it feels comfortable and then also standing my ground when it doesn't."

For Aparna Ramaswamy, co-director of Ragamala Dance Company, the challenges of the past year will inform their future. Ragamala is moving into its new space at the Center for Performing Arts in Kingfield in May. It will perform an outdoor show presented by the Kennedy Center next fall, and return to Northrop auditorium in February.

Sheila Regan is a Minneapolis arts journalist and critic.