Philadanco

The Joanies 2025
2025-11-16 15:00 - 18:00 (America/New_York)
The Joanie Awards are named in honor of Joan Myers Brown
and recognize individuals and organizations that create, support, and advance dance in keeping with JB’s tireless and innovative spirit.
Board members, PHILADANCO! company members and staff, and supporters will join awardees and their family and friends to celebrate the Joanie Awardees.
There will also be performances by D3, D2 and PHILADANCO!
More info on our honorees will be announced soon!

THEN & NOW!
2025-12-05 19:00 - 2025-12-07 14:00 | Kimmel Cultural Campus, Perelman Theater, 300 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19102, United States
For over 55 years, PHILADANCO! has electrified audiences with its distinct blend of virtuosity, urgency, and heart. Then & Now is a sweeping celebration of that legacy honoring the iconic works that shaped the company’s past while boldly embracing the voices transforming its future.
The program revisits two classic ballets: Donald Byrd’s Everybody, a propulsive, biting meditation on rhythm from 1996 that still hits with startling relevance, by a Tony-nominated and Bessie Award-winning choreographer known for bold work that redefines contemporary dance. Tommie-Waheed Evans’ WITH(IN)VERSE, created in 2018, offers a searing emotional portrait of vulnerability and spiritual transformation through movement – crafted by a Guggenheim Fellow whose work merges Blackness and raw physicality. Experience the continual growth of PHILADANCO! as a living archive where legacy and reinvention move side by side.

Two new commissions further push the company’s trajectory forward: a Company Premiere by the world renowned Ronald K. Brown, whose signature fusion of West African forms and modern dance once again finds new depth within the PHILADANCO! ensemble; and introducing a World Premiere by rising choreographic force Juel D. Lane, whose kinetic style brings a youthful, urgent edge to the stage.
At once reverent and forward-looking, Then & Now is more than a milestone; it continues a declaration of where Black dance has been, and where it dares go next.
Across the nation and around the world, PHILADANCO! is celebrated for its innovation, creativity, and preservation of primarily African American traditions in dance.

Friday | Dec 5, 2025
7:30pm

Saturday | Dec 6, 2025
2:00pm

Saturday | Dec 6, 2025
7:30pm

Sunday | Dec 7, 2025
2:00pm

Take a look behind the scenes:

“Heirborne” by Juel D. Lane | Behind The Scenes:
https://youtu.be/QazOq1svlVg

“Everybody” by Donald Byrd | Behind The Scenes
https://youtu.be/zh5X7gucOR4

Giving Tuesday!
2025-12-05 19:00 - 2025-12-07 14:00
Support PHILADANCO! this #GivingTuesday
Today is a global day of generosity, and we’re inviting you to stand with us. We’ve just returned from an incredible 13-city European tour and are gearing up for our upcoming performances at Ensemble Arts Philly, Dec 5–7.
With arts funding being cut nationwide, your support means more than ever. If you’re able, please consider donating to PHILADANCO! 💜

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=S37UXYMVK5B4E

D/3 Audition 2026
2026-01-11 11:00 - 12:00

O'Shae Sibley Scholarship Audition 2026
2026-01-11 11:00 - 12:00

D/2 Apprentice Company Auditions 2026
2026-01-11 12:00 - 14:00
Training Program: Through concentrated programming designed to move young emerging dancers forward on their dance career paths, PHILADANCO‘s Instruction and Training Program has two primary skills development and performing opportunities for youth with vary levels of aptitude who have demonstrated their desire for a professional career in dance. These classes along with their regular access to training have produced a steady flow of well trained and experience artists.
D/2 (Danco 2) 2nd Company of PHILADANCO – Artistic Director Donald Lunsford
Foreseeing the need to cultivate young aspiring dancers (ages 16-23) who show promise of continuing towards a professional dance career, PHILADANCO created the Danco 2 (D/2) Apprentice Company. Through an extensive evaluation process, members of D/2 are selected and are then trained in professional level classes. D/2 performs locally and in the surrounding counties about 25 times a year and is featured in the annual Danco on Danco concert.
D/2 (PHILADANCO’s 2nd Company)

Foreseeing the need to cultivate young aspiring dancers (16-23), who show promise of continuing towards a professional dance career. PHILADANCO created the Danco 2 (D/2) Second Company of PHILADANCO. Through an extensive evaluation process, members of D/2 are selected and are then trained in professional level classes. D/2 performs locally and in the surrounding counties about 25 times a year and is featured in the annual Danco On Danco performance.
Please pay $15 cash fee in person the day of audition

APAP 2026
2026-01-11 17:00 - 21:30
We’re fresh off a 13-city sold-out tour across Germany, where audiences leapt to their feet night after night. The press called it “a dazzling mix of styles and emotions,” with “each scene a living painting that you want to frame and take home with you.” Critics across Europe praised PHILADANCO! as “a symbol, a movement, a story that continues to evolve,” with dancing that was “graceful and delicate, acrobatic and powerful—executed with technical excellence and apparent ease.”
Now, as we book U.S. tours for the 2026–2027 season, we’re excited to share repertory by Rennie Harris, Ronald K. Brown, Juel Lane, Tommie-Waheed Evans, Dawn Marie Bazemore, and more.
Here’s where you can catch us during APAP:

✨ Showcase #1 – Philadelphia Dance Collective
Sunday, Jan 11 | 5:15–6:00 PM
The Ailey Studios, 405 W 55th St Studio 5c5d
An intimate evening of innovation, artistry, and the unmistakable energy of Philadelphia dance.
RSVP Here – Space is limited!

🔥 Showcase #2 – PHILADANCO! at the Ailey Citigroup Theater
Sunday, Jan 11 | 8:45–9:15 PM
A commanding display of beauty, power, and legacy that continues to redefine the landscape of contemporary dance.

Stockton University!
2026-02-13 19:30 - 21:00 | Stockton Performing Arts Center, 101 Vera King Farris Dr Lot 6, Galloway, NJ, 08205, United States
The Philadelphia Dance Company (PHILADANCO!) presents the highest quality of professional dance performance and cultivates the skills of emerging and professional dancers and choreographers in a nurturing environment, while increasing the appreciation of dance among its many communities. Across the nation and around the world, PHILADANCO! is celebrated for its innovation, creativity, and preservation of predominantly African-American traditions in dance. Often described as “a brilliant mix of miracle of skill, energy and artistry,” “fascinating and thrilling,” and performers with “virtuoso physicality,” PHILADANCO! dancers are among the best in the world.

D/3 Spring Concert
2026-03-22 14:00 - 20:30
Come witness the youth company of PHILADANCO!

EXPLOSIVE: Bold New Works on the Rise
2026-04-17 19:30 - 2026-04-19 14:00
PHILADANCO! once again ignites the stage with EXPLOSIVE: Bold New Works on the Rise, a high-voltage evening celebrating fresh choreographic voices, making their debut for the company. Four dynamic artists…Four daring visions…One powerhouse ensemble ready to burn the house down.
This isn’t just a program of premieres it’s a seismic shift. Each work reveals a new dimension of the PHILADANCO! dancers, challenging the boundaries of form, feeling, and fire. From razor-sharp technical physicality to lush musicality, this is where legacy meets the “next wave.”
The spring series is a bold invitation: Come witness what happens when tradition opens its arms to risk. Because the next generation isn’t waiting. It’s here. and it’s explosive.

The STAR Centre | Harve De Grace
2026-04-25 20:00 - 22:00 | 700 Congress Avenue Havre de Grace, MD 21078, 700 Congress Avenue, Harve De Grace, MD, United States

PHILADANCO! at The Joyce Theatre
2026-07-29 19:30 - 2026-08-02 14:00 | The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Continuing its mission for over five decades to preserve the Black traditions in dance, PHILADANCO! returns with a program that reflects the company’s creative, inventive, and deeply rooted artistry. PHILADANCO! stands as an anchor of American modern dance excellence, known for producing dancers with unmatched technique and for upholding the lineage of Black American concert dance at the highest standard. This season gathers works that honor the company’s legacy while propelling it forward in the world of dance with four distinctive voices that reveal PHILADANCO!’s unmistakable power and evolution.
The dynamic season includes Thang Dao’s striking Roked; Tommie-Waheed Evans’ emotionally charged Promise Me You Won’t Call; and a new creation by Rennie Harris, set to the unmistakable sound of Philadelphia celebrating the legacy of Philadelphia International Records. The engagement will also mark the 25th anniversary of Christopher Huggins’ epic tour de force, Enemy Behind the Gates, a masterwork that has endured across generations and continues to resonate with audiences around the world.

Special Performances
Curtain Chat: Thu, Jul 30
Family Matinee: Sat, Aug 1 at 2pm

See More:

Family Matinees
Curtain Chats
Spring/Summer ’26

TICKET PRICES

Tickets start at $10!
Call JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800 for $10 tickets. All other tickets can be purchased online.
