2024 Breaking Ground Contemporary Dance Festival

2024 Breaking Ground Contemporary Dance Festival

An exhilarating weekend of performances, master classes and social events featuring some of the most important voices in contemporary dance today, the Breaking Ground Contemporary Dance Festival comes to Tempe Center for the Arts. In its 17th year and tightly curated by a panel of nationally recognized adjudicators, this annual festival features 23 cutting-edge choreographers, filmmakers and 50 performers from Arizona and around the nation.

The 2024 Breaking Ground Contemporary Dance Festival will be held over the course of three days, January 25, January 26 and January 27 at 7:30 pm at the Tempe Center for the Arts, 700 W. Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe. Tickets are $20-28 and are available at tempecenterforthearts.com.

The Festival’s standout performances include j. Bouey’s acclaimed and Bessie award-winning piece, “A Message from Mx. Black Copper,” offering a thought-provoking exploration of an Afro-futuristic societal perspective. Shola K. Roberts presents “De Spirit is Callin…,” a captivating homage celebrating the culture and enduring traditions of the Grenadian people. Moreover, a new piece by North Carolina artist Eric Mullis, “Technogenesis,” showcases dancers embodying software logics based on the programs Isadora and Blender, shedding light on dancers as technologies. This diverse lineup promises a compelling and richly immersive experience at the festival.

The 2024 Breaking Ground Contemporary Dance Festival, organized by CONDER/dance, stands proudly as one of the United States’ foremost showcases for innovative contemporary dance. Under the guidance of Artistic Director Carley Conder, CONDER/dance comprises Phoenix’s leading contemporary dancers. Carley Conder established CONDER/dance in 2003 and has elevated the company to national prominence, marked by remarkable achievements. Notable among these are a recent performance season at the esteemed Martha Graham Westbeth theater in New York, alongside the distinguished honor of being named “Best Collaboration of 2021” by the Phoenix New Times. This success adds to the company’s 16-year partnership as Resident Artists with Tempe Center for the Arts, solidifying their place as trailblazers in the dance community.

Information about the 2024 Breaking Ground Contemporary Dance Festival and CONDER/dance may be found at conderdance.com.