PHILADANCO at The Dell Music Center!
2025-08-01 20:00 - 21:30 (America/New_York)
Philadanco will be performing at the Dell Music Center on August 1st, 2025 at 8:00 pm.

Tickets are currently on Sale with the link below!

The Dell Music Center
2400 Strawberry Mansion Dr, Philadelphia, PA 19132

EXPLOSIVE: Bold New Works on the Rise
2025-08-04 00:00
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.

Carifesta XV | Barbados
2025-08-25 08:00 - 2025-08-31 17:00
PHILADANCO will be performing in Barbados at the Carifesta XV.
Dance at CARIFESTA XV is a powerful expression of Caribbean identity, bridging past, present, and future through movement. Rooted in tradition yet boldly experimental, the programme features a rich lineup of performances, workshops, labs, and immersive activations designed to engage audiences and artists alike.
​
Highlights include collaborative residencies that foster artistic risk-taking, cultural exchange, and new choreographic development; community-centred mobile performances that bring the rhythm of the festival into everyday spaces; and celebratory showcases for emerging youth talent. Signature events will explore environmental themes, ancestral memory, innovation, and intergenerational dialogue. Audiences can also look forward to live dance challenges, beachside
performances, and symposiums that elevate dancers as thought leaders and visionaries.
This dynamic programme invites participants to not only witness the evolution of Caribbean dance but to become a part of it-on the stage, in the street, and on the sand.

DANCO ON DANCO 2025
2025-09-12 19:00 - 2025-09-13 20:30 | PHILADANCO!, 9 N. Preston Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States
PHILADANCO’s Annual Choreography Concert
September 12, 2024 at 7:00pm
September 13, 2024 at 7:00pm
Enjoy the opportunity to witness original works by PHILADANCO Company Members, Second Company Members and Administration!

FREE Philadelphia Fall Arts Fest
2025-09-13 11:00 - 15:00
Join us as we launch our 2025/2026 season with an exciting celebration!
Experience a vibrant array of live performances and engaging activities, showcasing highlights from our prestigious Resident Companies and regional arts and cultural organizations. Plus, expect fantastic ticket deals, giveaways, and venue tours!
Confirmed performances include highlights from our 2025/2026 Broadway season, Philadelphia Orchestra Quartet, Philadelphia Ballet, Opera Philadelphia, BalletX, Philadanco!, The Independence Awards, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, The Philly Pops, and more! *
Plus, 50% off ticket deals to 50+ season performances, including Broadway’s Kimberly Akimbo, Suffs, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Whitney Cummings, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Peppa Pig: My First Concert, and more!*
More fun is on the way—stay tuned for the full lineup of activities, performances, and food and drink specials!
*Schedule and sale offerings subject to change.
*50% off tickets available in person only.
Saturday, Sept 13 | 11AM–3PM
Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

European Tour !
2025-09-30 08:00 - 2025-10-21 17:00
PHILADANCO (The Philadelphia Dance Company) performs in Germany, with past and upcoming dates including performances in Lünen, Leverkusen, and Offenburg in October 2025. The company has toured Germany extensively, bringing their blend of classical and contemporary dance to international audiences who may not often see an American dance company.

Upcoming Performances
(Press the hyperlink for ticket information)

Iserlohn

The Parktheater on Thursday, October 2, 2025.

Lünen:

The Heinz-Hilpert-Theater on Sunday, October 5, 2025.

Leverkusen:
The Forum Leverkusen on Tuesday, October 7, 2025.

Viersen

The Vierfalt – Kultur in Viersen on October 8, 2025.

Minden:

The Stadttheater Minden on Friday, October 10, 2025.

Wolfsburg

The Scharoun Theater on October 11, 2025.

Lippstadt

The stadttheater on Sunday October 12, 2025

Ahaus:

The Kulturquadrat on Wednesday, October 15, 2025.

Offenburg:

The Messe Offenburg on Sunday, October 19, 2025.

Historical Touring

PHILADANCO has a long history of international touring, with founder Joan Myers Brown noting they’ve visited “every little town in Germany”.
The international appreciation for their performances is significant, offering audiences a positive image of African Americans and American dance.

Where to Find Tickets

You can find tickets for PHILADANCO’s German performances on websites like StubHub and Viagogo.

Locations:

Iserlohn, Germany – Thursday, Oct 2 at 20:00
Lünen, Germany – Sunday, Oct 5 at 17:00
Leverkusen, Germany – Tuesday, Oct 7 at 19:30
Viersen, Germany – Wednesday, Oct 8 at 20:00
Herford, Germany – Thursday, Oct 9 at 19:30
Minden, Germany – Friday, Oct 10 at 20:00
Wolfsburg, Germany – Saturday, Oct 11 at 19:30
Lippstadt, Germany – Sunday, Oct 12 at 19:00
Oss, Netherlands – Tuesday, Oct 14 at 20:15
Ahaus, Germany – Wednesday, Oct 15 at 20:00
Saarlouis, Germany – Friday, Oct 17 at 20:00
Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany – Saturday, Oct 18 at 20:00
Offenburg, Germany – Sunday, Oct 19 at 20:00

Passing The Baton! A Legacy Conversation
2025-11-02 16:00 - 19:00
Join us for Passing the Baton: A Conversation with Three Legacy Builders & Their Legacy Children — an inspiring evening celebrating leadership, heritage, and the power of generational impact. Don’t miss this dynamic discussion featuring Joan Myers Brown, Dyana Williams, and Oshunbumi Fernandez West, alongside their legacy children, as they share insights on continuing their extraordinary work for future generations.
🗓️ Sunday, November 2, 2025📍 Loft17venue | Wyncote, PA🎤 Moderated by Patty Jackson, WDAS FM & iHeart Media
VIP Reception: 4–5 PM | Panel Discussion: 5–7 PM🎟️ Tickets: VIP $50 | General Admission $25

The Joanies 2025
2025-11-16 15:00 - 18:00
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.
Without Witness
Choreography by Thang Dao
A contemporary dance work that traces a quiet liberation from inherited constraints, moving from collective searching toward embodied freedom. Through rhythm, breath, and attentive presence, the choreography listens more than it declares, allowing movement to emerge without demand or display. What remains is a shared return to motion as truth, unmeasured, unguarded, and alive.
Passing Through Stillness
World Premiere
Choreography by Nicole Clarke-Springer
Nicole Clarke-Springer invites us into a transformative threshold—the moment when one recognizes their point of “genius” and chooses to move forward with clarity, integrity, and purpose. This work is not about arrival, but about awakening: a deeply personal reckoning where instinct, discipline, and spirit converge.
Blue
Choreography by Christopher Huggins
“He, who is at once a boy and man, grace and power, exist between ocean and sky and the enormity of blue” – James Frazier
Blue is a choreographed meditation about manhood. This dance speaks about how males emerge fresh and unspoiled from the protected enviornment of their mother’s womb, yet as they grow toward adulthood they begin to slowly wrap themselves in various layers of blue. The journey to adulthood is complicated. We as men fight our way through various objective and subjective obstacles, and become many things along the way; corrupted, aggressive, sexy, untrusting, sensuous, passionate, and still remain vulnerable and naked in our own inflated sensitivity. PHILADANCO paints the many shades of “Blue” through simple pantomime, technical athleticism, passion and unpredictable rage.
Temple Without Prayers
Choreography by Roderick George
Temple Without Prayers becomes a poetic mediation on this paradox. The “temple” symbolizes a nation imagined as sacred ground—a place of sanctuary, promise, and power. Yet within this space, prayer transforms into a symbol of exhaustion and disillusionment, revealing the fragile hope placed in systems that repeatedly fail to protect and uplift those who helped build them. Through movement, the work asks: what happens when faith in the structure dissolves, and the body becomes the site of truth, resistance, and liberation? In that moment, the temple no longer requires prayer—it becomes a place of remembering, reckoning, and reclaiming power.

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

June Audition 2026
2026-06-14 14:00 - 16:00
PHILADANCO 2026 SUMMER AUDITION
Professional Company Audition
Date:
June 14, 2026
Time:
Main Company: 2:00 P.M.
D/2 | Second Company: 12:00 P.M.
Where:
Philadanco! 9 N. Preston Street Philadelphia P.A. 19104
(Can register on-sight day of Auditions)
(Pre-registration recommended)
Scan the QR code or click the link below to register

Main Company:
IN-PERSON ONLY AT THIS TIME

D/2 Training Company:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1uuHFidKFxQ1AKpUJW2_4qwC39yk4icVMucyHNpOObUw/viewform?edit_requested=true&pli=1

If you have any questions, please email company.philadanco@gmail.com

Longwood Gardens
2026-06-19 19:00 - 21:00
Date & Price

Friday, June 19, 2026 at 7:00 pm
Open Air Theatre

Tickets
Reserved Seating: $31–$40
Gardens Preferred, Gardens Premium Members, and Innovators: $26–$35
Ticket includes all-day Gardens Admission. Tickets limited. Sell out likely.
Our prices reflect the ticket price and associated convenience fee.

Presented in partnership with Voices Underground as part of their Chester County-wide commemoration of Juneteenth, enjoy an evening with the internationally award-winning modern dance company Philadelphia Dance Company (PHILADANCO!), celebrated for its innovation, creativity, and preservation of predominantly African-American traditions in dance.
The resident modern dance company of the Kimmel Cultural Campus, PHILADANCO! is celebrating 56 years of providing exceptional dance performances and training to dancers and audiences throughout the US and around the world. This is its 26th season at the Kimmel Center—Ensemble Arts Philly.
Since its inception in 1970, PHILADANCO! has made a significant impact on the dance world. As a cultural ambassador representing the US, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the City of Philadelphia, its artistic direction and renowned national and international DEI guest choreographers have developed a reputation of producing a dance repertory with passion, power, skill, and diversity. Its stellar faculty, handpicked by PHILADANCO! Founder Joan Myers Brown, has trained more than 4,500 dancers in a comprehensive program achieving the highest level of technical skills in dance and performance. Its unique blend of dance styles and its roster of often 50 to 60 concert performances and 45 residencies most years has made PHILADANCO! one of the most sought-after modern dance companies in the United States.
PHILADANCO! has received many significant grants of support, an NEA Fellowship, the prestigious National Choreography Planning Grant, and has organized the historic first two International Conferences for Black Dance Companies in Philadelphia (1988). It annually assembles thousands for the International Conference on Black Dance, headed by the now International Association of Blacks in Dance (1991). Collaborations for the company include the Apollo Theater and Rennie Harris Puremovement.
The company is committed to engaging with the community and frequently with Drexel University, String Theory, the University of Pennsylvania, Next Move concerts, Living Arts, Breaking Barriers, and others. More importantly, PHILADANCO! believes in and continues to provide quality arts instruction to young people with authentic learning experiences that engage their minds, hearts, and bodies. Its record of performing opportunities, commissioned works, and life-changing experiences is unequaled. Recent significant funding by the Mellon Foundation, the Wallace Foundation, the Doris Duke Foundation, and others ensures they continue for years to come.

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.
