CELEBRATING ST. LOUIS’ VIBRANT DANCE COMMUNITY
St. Louis Dance HQ’s Blog is a compilation of writings and performance reviews from a variety of St. Louis based dance writers. If you’re interested in sharing your writing on our blog, please email stlouisdancehq@gmail.com.
HQ Review: RESILIENCE hosts local arts’ new works at Seen: STL
This past weekend, I stepped foot into Intersect Arts Center in order to watch a showing of Seen: STL. The semi-annual viewing is both financially accessible and ruleless, with dancers signing up to show pieces that they have been working on. No rules, no time limit, just pure artistic movement made accessible for the Saint Louis community.
HQ Review: Grace Meraki Dance Company presents its first performance “Finding Home”
Encircled by stained glass and pews, Grace Mareki Dance Company made its performance debut at Hope United Church of Christ. The church served as a poignant setting for the Christian dance company’s first show, “Finding Home.” Director and choreographer Nina Serigos began incubating the idea for the production through conversations with her mentors while deliberating about her next steps in her career.
HQ Review: STAGED presented by Karlovsky and Company Dance
On November 21-22, 2025, Karlovsky and Company Dance showcased 5 pieces, each created by a different choreographer: Corpus Missa, Last Train Home, Catching, How Come We Never Talked About It, and Seeing You, Seeing Me. With the collaboration of nine company artists, twelve guest artists, three musicians, and one set designer each piece was filled with a unique voice and powerful emotional resonance.
HQ Review: Washington University Dance Theatre presents “Something is Happening”
On November 14, 15, and 16th, WashU’s WUDT performed their annual concert, this one entitled Something Is Happening, at Edison Theater. The talented students had the amazing opportunity to work with choreographers Elinor Harrison, Liz Lloyd, David Marchant, Ron K. Brown, and Xi Zhao. The dancers performed in works of many different genres including classical/neoclassical ballet, contemporary, West African and modern dance influences.
HQ Review: Saint Louis Dance Theatre’s Love Languages Fall Series
On Saturday, November 15, 2025, Saint Louis Dance Theater (STLDT) celebrated its 15th season by hosting its “Movers and Shakers Ball: Cristal Anniversary” gala. Many donors, dancers, and patrons came adorned in glittery themed formal wear. The night began with champagne toasts, a buffet, and a cocktail hour. The audience was already buzzing with excitement for what STLDT has to offer when the performance began for the first installment of their Love Language season, aptly titled Fall Series.
HQ Review: SIUE presents Timeless Reflections Fall Dance Concert
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville presented their fall dance concert, Timeless Reflections at Dunham Theatre in Edwardsville, IL, featuring choreography by Carly Vanderheyden, Maria Majors, Kristin Best-Kinscherff, Geoff Alexander, Omar Olivas, Lindsay Hawkins, Snack Break Movement Arts, and Brenda Serrata Tally.
HQ Review: Webster’s New Works Concert
On November 6th through the 7th, Webster University's dance department performed original choreography at their annual New Works Concert. The talented BFA students learned challenging choreography from both alumni and faculty, with styles such as jazz, contemporary, and modern being highlights of the show.
HQ Review: Ballet 314’s Fall Fête Angels and Demons
On October 18, Ballet 314 presented Fall Fete: Angels & Demons at UMSL’s Touhill Performing Arts Center Lee Theater. Ballet 314 delighted their audience with an intimate matinee performance as well as a luxe evening performance and fundraiser. This review is for the 3:00pm matinee performance.
HQ Review: Saint Louis Ballet presents Take Five…More or Less
Red, orange, blue, and purple leap out onto stage as Henri Matisse-inspired costumes paint their way into live performance danced by Saint Louis Ballet. On October 11th and 12th, Saint Louis Ballet debuted Take Five…More or Less, a captivating show featuring three unique works by both guest artists and faculty.
HQ Review: Webster BFA Concert
80s rock and roll, a disappearing moon, a thunderstorm, a trickle of laughter, a prop gun, and the indecisiveness of being a libra. All disparate elements that collectively contribute to the daring artistry of Webster University’s BFA concert “The Paradox.” Featuring three works by BFA candidate Ally Lamkie, as well as four works by recent Webster alumni, “The Paradox” is a fitting title to illustrate how these imaginative works existed beside each other. At times dramatic absurdity took hold as comedic expressions were undercut by tensions of seriousness. Elsewhere, the ecstasy of dance reigned supreme as the electricity of movement bounced from one dancer to the next. Though containing a hodgepodge of dance theatricalities, this concert’s contradictory features depicted the reality of existing in an illogically serious world.
HQ Review: Saint Louis Ballet presents FEELS LIKE BROADWAY
Saint Louis Ballet’s recent production, Feels Like Broadway, presented at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center, ambitiously sought to bridge the worlds of classical ballet and the showmanship of Broadway’s golden age. Featuring works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Christopher Wheeldon, the program leveraged some of the biggest names in ballet to explore where these two categories converge and contrast. While the evening showcased moments of brilliance, particularly in Wheeldon’s Carousel (A Dance), it also highlighted a shared conservative approach to gender, sexuality, and romance.
HQ Review: RESILIENCE Dance Company presents its spring performance “Instead of waiting, they weave”
I expected the night to begin with opening remarks from Artistic and Executive Director Emily Haussler. If you’ve been to a Resilience performance, you know that their commitment to their people is at least as important to the ethos of the company as their commitment to presenting interesting art, and Emily wisely takes time before each show to ensure the audience knows about their mission. I recommend taking time to read their mission statement on their website, as it encompasses an impressive and lofty set of goals that I think more companies could aspire to. Tonight’s show, however, was different. After purchasing a reasonably priced beer to help support the company, I was handed a scroll that contained a summarized version of the Greek myth of Persephone and her involvement in the creation of Winter. Upon entering the performance space, I was greeted by dancers already on the stage, prancing and chuffing like… horses? Oh my, what had I gotten myself into?
Q&A with Jacob Henss, Artistic Director of Space Station Dance Residency
A look back at Space Station Dance Residency’s Fundraiser Performance via a Q&A between blog contributor Calvin Windschitl and Space Station Artistic Director, Jacobs Henss.
HQ Review: STL Rhythm Collaborative presents “Pockets of the Big Easy”
STL Rhythm Collaborative’s newest production, “Pockets of the Big Easy” featuring Al Holliday & The East Side Rhythm Band Horns premiered on the final weekend of March at Missouri Baptist University.
HQ Review: TAPESTRY presented by Karlovsky and Company Dance in collaboration with Divadlo Štúdio Tanca
After two years since its initial conception, Karlovsky and Company Dance with the collaborative effort from the Slovakian dance company, Divadlo Štúdio Tanca (DŠT), premiered their production, Tapestry. As the title suggests, Tapestry envelopes the audience in intricate works not only through its physical feats but also through the complex topics each piece presented. This was evident since the beginning of the performance, before any dancer even entered the stage. When the audience settled in their seats, they were presented with an electronic, re-imagined version of Debussy’s famous Clar de Lune followed by ambient sounds of bird calls and instrumentation. This set up the audience for what was to come.
HQ Review: chew + spit’s “say la V”
chew & spit’s stated aim was to be a residency for St. Louis based artists which would prioritize process over product. The collaboration resulted in a dance piece called say la V, which incorporated movement, text, music, and sound. say la V was performed in-the-round at Hope United Church and produced by Space Station Dance Residency, a hub for experimental performance work in St. Louis. chew & spit was conceived and directed by Marlee Doniff.
HQ Review: Karlovsky and Company Dance presents PLAYFUL PAIRINGS
Fresh movement, sounds, foods and drinks were the buzzwords for “Playful Pairings,” a truly collaborative site-specific concert by Karlovsky & Company Dance at .Zack. First occurring in 2017, the event features light fare and strong drinks — with mocktail options — crafted to pair with each work’s movement qualities, live music and environment.
HQ Review: MADCO presents Hope Alive: Moving Stories
“Community. How do we show up for each other?” In her opening speech, artistic director Arianna Russ states that themes of community have been central to the work of MADCO’s concert “Hope Alive: Moving Stories.” Russ continues to remark that this concert was produced in collaboration with MS Bright Spots of Hope, an organization that seeks to “educate, empower, spark creativity, and enhance wellness for the MS (multiple sclerosis) community.”
HQ Review: RESILIENCE’s “Entry Points”
Dancers enter the stage slowly, house lights still up, softly taking the shape of cluttered furniture, discarding belongings in a scrap pile of junk one might find in a broom closet or unfinished basement. As the gentle strumming of the intro music fades into roaring chatter, the stage is prepared with a gentle fervor - a construction ladder is taken off stage right, a dry-mop swept across the floor - before the dancers and the music both climax into a melodic scream, relenting only out of shock of their own volume. This act of preparation serves as an eloquent metaphor for the meticulous groundwork and constant growth that has paved the way for Resilience Dance Company’s explosive entry into its fifth anniversary season. The 2024 edition of Entry Points, Resilience’s annual fall repertory concert, holds absolutely nothing back in its physicality, artistry, and production. Featuring five pieces, all by female choreographers, Entry Points is a thundurous, contemplative, and inspiring journey that digs into and showcases the undoubted range, power, and humanity of Resilience’s eight-person ensemble.
HQ Review: Leverage Dance Theater’s Nightmares and Dreamscapes
A haunted house turned immersive dance theater thrill ride, Leverage Dance Theater’s third installment of Nightmares and Dreamscapes serves as a fitting grand finale for both their 2024 production season and the Halloween season at large. Filled with classic horror tropes from ghoulish twins to haunted dolls (and ample screams), the production showcases what Leverage has become best known for - bringing meticulously crafted immersive dance experiences to unconventional spaces. Presented at 2715 Cherokee Street, a near blank slate of a building located steps away from The Luminary, Nightmares and Dreamscapes journeys the audience through every inch of the building’s chilling crevices.