DORRANCE DANCE

ARTIST LINKS

RESPONSIBLE AGENT

Barbara Frum - bfrum@outermostagency.com

BIO

Dorrance Dance is an award-winning tap dance company based in New York City. Founded in 2011 by Artistic Director and 2015 MacArthur Fellow Michelle Dorrance, the company supports dancers and musicians who embody and push the dynamic range that tap dance has to offer. Dorrance Dance’s mission is to engage with audiences on a musical and emotional level, and to share the complex history and powerful legacy of this Black American art form through performance and education.

Dorrance Dance’s inaugural performance garnered a Bessie Award for “blasting open our notions of tap” and the company continues its passionate commitment to expanding the audience of tap dance. The company has toured to 31 U.S. states and performed for packed houses at renowned venues and festivals including The Joyce Theater, New York City Center, The Kennedy Center, Sadler’s Wells, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Works & Process at the Guggenheim, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Spoleto Festival USA, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, American Dance Festival, Vail Dance Festival, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Singapore International Festival of Arts among numerous performing arts centers, colleges and universities across the US, and international venues in France, Germany, Spain, England, Russia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Canada.

PRESS

Myelination
“Rhythm keeps accumulating and multiplying in ‘Myelination’… it’s an exhilarating ensemble piece, including solos and duets, that switches gears from section to section... The live music — with vocals, piano, guitar, percussion and other instruments — is in a range of appealingly melodic jazz styles; its harmony with the dancing is never simple.” - New York Times

“[An] effervescent, twitchy piece… [Myelination] showcases a bit of everything: from graceful, gliding swoops to one-armed balances that pull hip-hop back to tap… Throughout, Ms. Dorrance, a brilliant conductor, pushes the boundaries of tap while exposing its true nature: that it is music.” - New York Times

ETM
“A fresh and innovative show... When “ETM: Double Down” is rocking, Dorrance Dance is one big band.” - New York Times

“ETM: Double Down,” a collaboration between Ms. Dorrance and her longtime friend and company member Nicholas Van Young, incorporates his electronic tap boards, which he compares to electronic drum triggers; here, they work for the feet. The entire stage is an instrument.” - New York Times