Lake Tahoe Dance Collective (LTDC) enters its eighth year of presenting the Lake Tahoe Dance Festival, which will take place online this summer from July 22-24, 2020. The festival has presented over 35 works with more than 25 guest artists and 44 local dancers since 2013. 

Each evening’s presentation will go live at 6:00pm PDT on laketahoedancecollective.org and will remain available for 24 hours. A suggested donation of $25 will help Lake Tahoe Dance Collective continue its mission to bring the finest in dance to the shores of Lake Tahoe. Donors who contribute more than $75 will receive a Lake Tahoe Dance Festival t-shirt and a 2020 Lake Tahoe Dance Festival wine glass, a Gala tradition.

A variety of works around a common theme will be presented during each of three unique evenings, with artist interviews and introductions around the works performed. Festival founders Christin Hanna and Constantine Baecher welcome an array of collaborators in conversation around the works shown. The festival will feature a collection of works seen previously at the festival in addition to works performed by artists who were originally slated to perform in Tahoe this summer.

The summer, the Lake Tahoe Dance Festival comes to you, with works by Bryan Arias, Agnes de Mille, Jacopo Godani, Erick Hawkins, Lester Horton, Martha Graham, Lauren Lovette, Marco Pelle, Paul Taylor, and Antony Tudor, with special guests Daniel Baudendistel, Ashley Bouder, Adrian Danchig-Waring,Kristin Draucker, Daphne Fernberger, Stephen Hanna, Lloyd Knight, and Wendy Whelan.

“This year’s festival offers us a format where we can not only continue, but enhance our mission with the breadth of works and artists we are fortunate to have as collaborators,” said Christin Hanna, artistic director, Lake Tahoe Dance Festival. “This is a fantastic opportunity to hear about the works from the artists themselves, framed in an evening programmed to weave the works together. When faced with the inability to have a festival, we knew we had a unique opportunity. As piece by piece came together, Constantine and I grew more excited at the ability to weave a bit of dance history and education into the three evenings. For those who have never been to our festival, this year will reach around the world to showcase North Lake Tahoe as a stunning beautiful backdrop for dance.”

Wednesday July 22: AMERICAN CLASSICAL BALLET
What are the works that defined the beginnings of ballet in America, and how has that laid the grounds for what we see in ballet today?

Featuring works by Agnes de Mille, Antony Tudor, and Lauren Lovette.

Hosted by Christin Hanna and Constantine Baecher, with special guests Daniel Baudendistel (formerly American Ballet Theater, Joffrey Ballet), Stephen Hanna(formerly New York City Ballet, Billy Elliott on Broadway), Adrian Danchig-Waring (New York City Ballet) and Ashley Bouder (New York City Ballet). 

Thursday July 23: MID-CENTURY MODERN DANCE
As ballet brought its grand traditions from Europe, new forms were being created that broke some of the traditional bounds of ballet, but still tell a story, using new lines and shapes.

Works from Martha Graham, Paul Taylor, Erick Hawkins and Lester Horton.

Hosted by Christin Hanna and Kristina Berger (Erick Hawkins Dance Company, Lester Horton Dance Theater; Professor at Dean College Joan Palladino School of Dance ), with special guests Lloyd Knight (Martha Graham Dance Company), Wendy Whelan (New York City Ballet), and Kristin Draucker (Paul Taylor Dance Company).

Friday July 24: DANCE NOW: CONTEMPORARY WORKS
A window into today’s cutting-edge dance and choreography through the lens of three diverse works.   

Featuring works from Marco Pelle, Jacopo Godani, and Bryan Arias.

Hosted by Constantine Baecher (founder of the Copenhagen International Choreography Competition) and Marco Pelle (choreographer), with special guests Daphne Fernberger (formerly Jacopo Godani Dresden/Frankfurt Dance) and Bryan Arias (choreographer; former dancer with Nederlands Dance Theater, Kidd Pivot).

The Young Dancers Workshop,a three-week intensive for dancers ages 10 and up, offers training with festival artists in small class sizes with an emphasis on classical ballet, modern technique and improvisation. This year’s workshop is being held outdoors to honor social distancing guidelines, and the dancers will be creating their own dance film shorts to be presented online during the festival. 

Lake Tahoe Dance Festival is made possible in part through support from the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation, The Arts Council of Placer County, The North Lake Tahoe Resort Association, the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation and the Tahoe Weekly.  Additional support from Rodney Strong Winery, Alpenglow Sports, Plumas Bank, Tahoe City Downtown Association, Trunk Show, New Moon Natural Foods, The Rock Garden, Tahoe Marina Lakefront, Jim Morrison Construction, Tahoe Dave’s, Za’s Lakefront and Wolfdale’s Cuisine Unique. 

For more information about the Lake Tahoe Dance Festival, visit:www.laketahoedancecollective.org  

About the Lake Tahoe Dance Collective
The Lake Tahoe Dance Collective’s mission is to promote classical, modern and contemporary dance of the finest quality in the Lake Tahoe area through performance, education and outreach, enriching the community as a whole and as a cultural destination.

About Artistic Director Christin Hanna
Christin Hanna trained with Margaret Banks at Nevada Festival Ballet and performed in the company’s productions throughout her young life, continuing her studies at the Joffrey Ballet School and American Ballet Theater summer sessions in New York City. Ms. Hanna enjoyed a busy freelance career, performing with Oakland Ballet, Ballet NY, and Cincinnati Ballet, and was a founding member of New Chamber Ballet. During her time there, she initiated a performance and summer workshop with area students in her hometown of Tahoe City in 2006. Since her return to Tahoe in 2008, Hanna has produced over fifteen performances featuring over 50 works with more than 20 guest artists. She has staged works created on her at NCB as well as classics like Giselle, in addition to choreographing and serving as rehearsal assistant to visiting guest choreographers. She and longtime friend Constantine Baecher started the Lake Tahoe Dance Festival in 2013 and continue to collaborate on programming and artistic vision for Lake Tahoe Dance Collective.