Connect with the living legacy of American Dance
MiniFest 2026: CONVERGENCE brings together the abundance of what Dancing Legacy has cultivated over the decades: deep connections with significant dance works, fruitful collaborations and partnerships with friends old and new, and an artistic approach that celebrates and elevates the living legacy of American Dance. Join us for a week of workshops, conversations, class demonstrations, and live performance offered in hybrid formats with options to participate online or in-person in Rhode Island.
EVENT DESCRIPTIONS
Live Performance
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Convergence Show & Share
Friday, March 6 - 7:00pm EST [Livestream, Pay as you wish] Join Dancing Legacy friends and collaborators from New Mexico, New York, and Rhode Island for an informal offering of old, new, and evolving dance projects that embody the living legacy of dance over both time and geographical space. |
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Convergence Concert
Saturday, March 7 - 7:00pm EST [Livestream, Pay as you wish] Witness legacy in action with live performances of dance works spanning a century performed the Dancing Legacy Ensemble and Fusionworks Youth Ensemble. The performance also includes video contributions from the extended Dancing Legacy network across the United States. |
Workshops and Conversations
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Legacy Chat with Sarah Williams Gonzales: Jazz and the Soundies, A Deep Dive into Historical Context with Rooted Practical Applications
Monday, March 2 - 7:00-8:00pm EST [Zoom, $15] Step into the vibrant world of Soundies, the 1940s short musical films that laid the groundwork for modern music videos, Reels, and TikTok, showcasing jazz dance. Shown on coin-operated Panorams in public spaces like nightclubs, bars, and restaurants, Soundies provided performers a unique platform during a time of social change, capturing creativity, style, and cultural expression. In this session, we will explore Soundies in their historical context, highlight their role in documenting the roots of jazz dance, and trace their influence on popular entertainment today. Any teachers who attend will gain practical strategies for bringing Soundies-inspired assignments into their classrooms. Join us to celebrate the living legacy of Soundies, connect with the rich cultural roots of jazz dance, and explore how preserving this history can inspire new generations of dancers and audiences. Sarah Williams Gonzales is a dancing historian and educator dedicated to exploring American dance as a living heritage. Her research, including studies of early 20th-century toe-tap and Soundies, investigates how dance traditions connect the past with present practice and inform the future of performance and pedagogy. Register for MiniFest (Legacy Chat included for all Members) |
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Masterclass with Ruth Andrien
Tuesday, March 3 - 6:30-8:00pm EST [In Person at Fusionworks Dance Center (Lincoln, RI), $20 or Zoom, $15] Ruth Andrien danced with the Paul Taylor Dance Company from 1974 to 1983, originating roles in such works as Esplanade, Runes, Airs, Images, and Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rehearsal). She has restaged Taylor’s work for professional companies and universities around the world and served as director of the Paul Taylor 2 Dance Company from 2010-2019. Andrien has been on the faculty of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Swarthmore College, Harvard University, MIT, Southern Methodist University, The School at Jacobs Pillow, New York State Summer School of the Arts, The Taylor School, and the American Dance Festival, where she directed the Paul Taylor Project for three years. She served as master teacher for the National Foundation for Advancement of the Arts in Miami and for the U.S. State Department’s cultural exchange program in Tunisia. She was the recipient of Towson University’s Rosenberg Award for Distinguished Artists in 2002 and the Balasaraswati/Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching in 2009 with Carolyn Adams and Sharon Kinney. Andrien received her master of fine arts degree in dance at Hollins University in 2007. She has worked closely with Dancing Legacy, helping design the Repertory Etudes coaching methodology. |
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DAPpers Workshop and Open Rehearsal with Rachel Balaban
Thursday, March 5 - 9:30-10:45am EST [In-person at BalletRI (Providence, RI) or Zoom, Pay as you wish] Come enjoy a Dance for All People (DAPpers) multigenerational dance class designed for people with movement challenges and ageing bodies led by Rachel Balaban. The class will be followed by an open rehearsal of DAPpers Rep and Dancing Legacy Ensemble working on a new combined version of a Repertory Etude. |
Fusionworks Class Demos
Fusionworks Dance Center (Lincoln, RI)
Free
Free
Experience Fusionworks Dance Center -- our school, training ground, and laboratory -- in action! At Fusionworks, through the approach of Dancing Legacy's founders, Carolyn Adams and Julie Adams Strandberg, the next generation of dance students are nurtured to become direct heirs to America’s rich cultural and artistic heritage. The MiniFest demos include student demonstrations in the studio with the teachers offering an overview of the curriculum and sharing the students' progress. The events end with snacks and time to chat with our community members.
Jazz and Tap
Wednesday, March 4 - 6:00-7:00pm EST Spotlighting all of our jazz and tap classes, this demo showcases the students' dedication and progress in their technique throughout the year. |
Ballet, Modern, and Enrichment
Thursday, March 5 - 7:00-8:00pm EST Highlighting our full ballet and modern classes and our enrichment program, this demo offers a glimpse into breadth of our curriculum and the students' growth, with a preview of their year-end performance pieces. |
FUNdamentals and Fusionworks Youth Ensemble
Saturday, March 7 - 10:00-10:30am EST This demo features our youngest dancers in our creative movement class dancing alongside our most senior students from the Fusionworks Youth Ensemble. |