American Dance Festival Announces 2025 Season

The American Dance Festival has announced its 2025 season with a full summer performance schedule from June 12 to July 26 and additional performances in September.

With 40 performances by 22 acclaimed dance companies and choreographers from around the globe, featuring 10 world premieres, 13 ADF commissions, and 11 company/choreographer debuts, ADF celebrates the diversity of modern dance and its community. The 2025 season is dedicated to the talented alumni of ADF. Many of this season's choreographers and performers have deep connections to ADF, having been both students and faculty at various points in their careers.

“This season is unlike any other. We're bringing together the groundbreaking works of Trisha Brown, Merce Cunningham, and Paul Taylor in one extraordinary program that celebrates dance and the incredible collaborations they had with the groundbreaking visual artist Robert Rauschenberg, alongside a lineup of companies and artists showcasing the incredible breadth and brilliance of artistic talent in modern dance. Expect joyful and athletic performances that celebrate the resilience of the human spirit, with pieces exploring darker themes that are as thought-provoking as they are uplifting and moving. From immersive experiences and multimedia productions to unconventional stagecraft and even joyous dance parties, we invite the community to celebrate alongside the artists. And, of course, we'll highlight the brilliant ADF alumni who continue to shape the now and future of dance,” says Jodee Nimerichter, ADF's Executive Director.

Festival regulars returning this summer are Pilobolus with classic favorites and new creations, and Ballet Hispánico, the largest Latine cultural organization in the United States. Ballet Hispánico is presenting a groundbreaking production of CARMEN.maquia, celebrating the 150th anniversary of Bizet's timeless masterpiece, a Latin Dance Party, and a camp for youth. For the first time at ADF, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC) and Paul Taylor Dance Company (PTDC) are sharing a historical program. DCDC is performing Paul Taylor's Esplanade, and PTDC is performing Ulysses Dove's Vespers, which are often performed by the opposite company. DCDC makes history by being the first African American dance company to add Paul Taylor's iconic Esplanade to its repertory, further solidifying its commitment to artistic excellence and innovation.

Trisha Brown Dance Company with Merce Cunningham Trust celebrate the centennial of the visionary American artist Robert Rauschenberg, presenting Dancing with Bob: Rauschenberg, Brown and Cunningham Onstage with Special Guests Paul Taylor Dance Company. While widely recognized for his groundbreaking contributions to visual art, Rauschenberg also played a significant role in the performing arts—both as a performer and designer for choreographers over several decades. Among the many dance artists he collaborated with, his most frequent and notable partnerships were with Merce Cunningham and Trisha Brown. For this occasion, Trisha Brown Dance Company (TBDC) will unite the work of these iconic 20th-century artists in an evening of dance featuring “visual presentations” designed by Rauschenberg. The program will include Brown's beloved Set and Reset (1983), set to music by Laurie Anderson, alongside Cunningham's Travelogue (1977), a comedic masterpiece featuring music by John Cage that has remained largely unseen by the public since 1979. The centennial tour will launch at ADF and will be the only location that includes two works, 3 Epitaphs (1956) and Tracer (1962) by Paul Taylor that also celebrate Rauschenberg sets and costumes. Set and Reset and Travelogue will be performed by TBDC and 3 Epitaphs and Tracer will be performed by PTDC. This program highlights the dedication of our alumni, with Trisha Brown, Paul Taylor, and Merce Cunningham all having trained at the ADF school. For nine decades, ADF has been a premier destination where dancers perform, create, research, and build lifelong connections, shaping them into leaders in the dance field.

The globally celebrated Irish company Attic Projects is making its ADF debut with Volcanos, a four-part live-action sci-fi thriller. Acclaimed director, choreographer, and performer Luke Murphy combines theater, television, and dance in a unique new performance that challenges expectations and blends reality with fiction. “Athletic, astonishingly expressive duets between Thompson and Murphy are the production's most electrifying sequences… breath-taking movement,” says Naveen Kumar of The New York Times. In collaboration with Paul Taylor Dance Company, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company makes history by being the first African American dance company to add Paul Taylor's iconic Esplanade to its repertory, further solidifying its commitment to artistic excellence and innovation. Passion Fruit Dance Company presents the world premiere of Dimensions, commissioned by ADF. The piece poses questions like, “How do you see me? How do you see us? Is your judgment the same in 2D or 3D? What happens when we think outside the box?” Exploring multiple dimensions through various angles, visual mediums, and street/club dance styles, Dimensions invites the audience to dream and shape their being beyond the limits of space, time, and social constructs. It is a journey of self-discovery, revealing the many layers and versions of ourselves across physical, emotional, and spiritual realms.

The annual Footprints program bridges ADF's performance series and Summer Dance Intensive. The result is a brilliant evening of ADF-commissioned world premieres performed by ADF students. This year's choreographers are ADF School alum and faculty member Michelle N. Gibson, Ravid Abarbanel, an artistic pioneer of floorwork-based classes, and Tú Hoàng, known for blending ballet, modern dance, kung fu, tai chi, and Hip-hop.

The Made in NC program features four world premieres of ADF commissions by North Carolina artists. This year's artists are distinguished ADF faculty member and Artistic Director of Big Red Dance Project Gerri Houlihan, Charlotte Ballet artistic director Alejandro Cerrudo, Mambo Dinamico Dance Company founder Norberto “Betto” Herrera, and classical Indian kathak choreographer and dancer Tanu Sharma.

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