Lake Tahoe Dance Collective celebrates the 12th Anniversary of its summer festival from July 23 - 26, 2024. The 12th Annual Lake Tahoe Dance Festival kicks off with an opening night gala in Tahoe City, followed by Tahoe City Community Night, Kings Beach Community Night, and concludes in a closing night gala in Incline Village, featuring new commissions and performances from artists from New York City Ballet, Broadway, LA Dance Project, Boston Ballet, and more!

The Lake Tahoe Dance Festival was started by longtime friends Christin Hanna and Constantine Baecher in 2013 to present the finest professional dance and dance instruction in North Lake Tahoe. As the festival enters its second decade, Lake Tahoe Dance continues to commission new works and present rarely-seen classics alongside fan favorites danced by the highest caliber artists.

Some of the performances featured at the 2024 Lake Tahoe Dance Festival include an excerpt of Erick Hawkins Dance Company’s Greek Dreams Nymph Solo, first performed at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York in 1973, with dancer Kristina Berger wearing the original costume on loan from the Library of Congress, a new commission from Daniel Baudendistel and Valerie Madonia, performed by Ethan Price and Kate Loxtercamp, an excerpt of Susan Stroman’s Contact, performed by Stephen Hanna Ashley Fitzgerald, an excerpt of William Foresyth’s Blake Works, performed by Lia Cirio and Paul Craig, Needle & Thread (working title), a new commission choreographed and performed by Daphne Fernberger, and a new commission from Maxfield Haines and Dwight Rhoden that explores identity and selfhood.

Greek Dreams Nymph Solo (excerpt), Erick Hawkins Dance Company

Lake Tahoe Dance Festival first presented this work in 2014 and filmed for archival purposes during the 2020 Virtual Dance Festival. "I don't quite know whether these dances are dreams the old Greeks had, or my dreams of the Greeks. What a vivid kind of society they were that we still are enchanted by the way the looked at the world, and the way they let poetic images fountain forth. Even their language is the real starting point for our western languages, music, the muses, the gymnasium, geography. Those lovely people saw that the naked body, when it is nurtured to be what it can be, is a poem and a reflection of the Divine!” — Eric Hawkins, choreographer

New Commission, Daniel Baudendistel and Valerie Medonia

Daniel Baudendistel and Valerie Medonia formed a lifelong friendship after dancing together for many years at the Joffrey Ballet and on multiple guest appearances. For the 2022 Lake Tahoe Dance Festival, they staged Gerald Arpino's Light Rain, which they danced together, for Kate and Ethan. Wanting to work with the dancers again on a co-creation, Valerie and Daniel are creating a new work "about exploring the space between music and movement and how that mirrors healthy relationships.”

Contact (excerpt), Susan Stroman

Did you Move? is from Part II of the musical Contact, winner of the 2000 Tony Award for Best Musical. This section, set in circa 1954 in Queens, New York, takes place in an Italian restaurant, focusing on the empty marriage of a small-time gangster and his wife.

Blake Works (excerpt), William Forsythe

Originally created by the Paris Opera Ballet, Blake Works I features the music of James Blake and premiered at Boston Ballet in March of 2019. As Roslyn Sulcas wrote in the New York Times in 2019, “In Blake Works 1, set to seven songs by the English musician James Blake, he mined the rich technical heritage of the Paris Opera Ballet dancers, incorporating combinations that have been passed down by generations of teachers, and emphasizing the beaten footwork and refined arms that are French stylistic hallmarks.”

Needle & Thread (working title), Daphne Fernberger

A new commission and work in progress, Needle & Thread offers the audience a unique and exploratory experience. As the character enters the space, the audience finds themself in her mental home, or perhaps it is her living room. With the repetitive almost hypnotic music, the audience find themselves going from a deep inner world towards a state that’s more open and present with the outer world.

New Commission, Maxfield Haynes & Dwight Rhoden

An explorative collaboration between Mayfield Hayens and Dwight Rhoden interrogating ideas of selfhood, identity, and the self that is at odds with the world around it.

“Thank you, Christin Hanna and Constantine Baecher, for founding this festival of living dance history, and keeping going. You are keepers of humanity and hope.” — Fjord Review

SPECIAL PROGRAMS:

Opening Night Gala

Tuesday, July 23, 2024 at 5:30pm at William B. Layton Park, Tahoe City

Artists from New York City Ballet, Broadway, LA Dance Project, Boston Ballet, and more grace this stage with the stunning backdrop of a Tahoe sunset. $75 ticket includes bountiful hors d’ouvres by celebrated chef Alex Tolger, an open wine, beer, and kombucha bar, and a silent auction. Seating will be provided for the performance.

Tahoe City Community Night

Wednesday, July 24, 2024 at 6pm at William B. Layton Park, Tahoe City

Bring your friends, a picnic, and your love of this iconic event in Tahoe City. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door.

Kings Beach Community Night

Thursday, July 25, 2024 at 6pm at North Tahoe Events Center, Kings Beach

Bring your friends, a picnic, and join Lake Tahoe Dance Festival’s first ever community night in Kings Beach! Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door.

Closing Night Benefit

Friday, July 26, 2024 at 5:30pm at Private Residence*, Incline Village

Close out the 2024 festival by helping Lake Tahoe Dance Collective present its year-round programs, educational outreach and school of dance. $125 ticket includes bountiful hors d’ouvres by celebrated chef Alex Tolger, an open wine, beer, and kombucha bar. Seating will be provided for the performance.

*Exact location will be shared with ticket holders only, 48 hours prior to the event.

For more information and ticketing, visit https://www.laketahoedancecollective.org/laketahoedancefestival.