About DanceMN

Who We Are

DanceMN is a fiscally sponsored service organization guided by working artists, dancers, choreographers, educators, and dance enthusiasts who are dedicated to their craft and to the Minnesota dance community.

Vision Statement

In 2021, with the help of consultant Erin Brueggemann, the DanceMN Steering Committee adopted the following vision statement:

All are connected to dance in Minnesota

DanceMN strives to reach and engage with supporters of dance throughout Minnesota, be they dancers, students of dance, teachers of dance, philanthropists, audience members, choreographers, professional dancers, hobbyists, funders, and all curious to learn more about dance opportunities within our state.

History

The MN dance community has a long history with a weekly newsletter format. In the 90s the MN Dance Alliance printed a weekly newsletter. When the Dance Alliance folded, the loss of the newsletter was much grieved. In the early 2000s, dance artist and administrator Dana Kassel, on staff at the Southern Theater, proposed to begin a weekly news email for the dance community. Thus the Dance Community Newsletter (DCN) was created to distribute a weekly community email sharing dance news every Wednesday.

When the Southern restructured in 2011, the Southern’s final Dance Curator, Laurie Van Wieren, procured the DCN email list. When the Southern closed and artists were struggling to find financial stability and artistic security, Laurie continued the newsletter as a service to keep people connected.

With a team of dance community members as an advisory board, including Laurie Van Wieren, Judith Brin Ingber, Dana Kassel, Sally Rousse, and Theresa Madaus, as well as the Dance Community News’ two volunteer editors, Kaleena Miller and Emily Gastineau; DanceMN was formed as an independent arts group to preserve, continue, and expand this resource. Newsletter archives exist on the website from July 2014 to present.

Community Outreach

In 2023, DanceMN participated in the Cowles Center Artist Open House Resource Fair and in the Open Streets Lyndale event in South Minneapolis to work to expand our community.

Our work in 2024 with Mess Hill Consulting included a community survey and public community conversations to bring our people together to engage in facilitated conversation and discussion on how dance in Minnesota can grow.