This is a free service I provide as a volunteer to help our Dance Community in Middle TN stay connected, and support each other. It is by no means a comprehensive listing, and listings are submitted by those on the email list.
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Greetings Dance Community,
Recently, at a Narrative 4 story exchange facilitator training, someone asked me if I thought artists were more empathetic than most people. And though I don’t like to stereotype, I offered that many of the artists I know are. Along with the activists, many of us are the ones who are running toward the fires when our society is in flames. We are feeling with others, creating art about it, and hopefully moving the needle for positive change. Or sometimes just reminding all of us of our humanity, and our connection. It’s important. Keep dancing. Keep making art. Keep showing up for others.
Amanda
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May Dance Happenings
Couldn’t get to the premier? The Fire Cycle: Stone Sutra film with Becca Hoback is now available to stream. Watch it here.
OZ Arts Nashville presents Impilo Mapantsula & Jeremy Nedd’s THE ECSTATIC for two nights only, May 1 & 2. The furiously fast footwork of Pantsula, a South African percussive street dance style, is juxtaposed with soaring Pentecostal “praise breaks” when the six members of Johannesburg-based Impilo Mapantsula make their U.S. Debut in The Ecstatic. This internationally-acclaimed collaboration with American-born choreographer Jeremy Nedd is a high-octane celebration of the youth-driven culture of Pantsula, which is rooted in high-speed virtuosic footwork but has also given rise to its own lifestyle, language, music, and fashion. In the final days of Apartheid, the movement gave a voice to a whole generation.The praise break in Pentecostal services is a moment when the dancing body, voice, and music energetically coalesce and start to blur the difference between ecstatic and cathartic. As the artists ask themselves what happens when these two worlds converge – what happens in this transcendental moment of “break” – they discover and “break open” a new space all their own. Artist & Creative Community tickets just $20-$25. Learn more & book now: https://www.ozartsnashville.org/mapantsula-nedd
Nashville Ballet presents Sherlock, May 1-3 at TPAC. Step into the shadows and follow the clues with Sherlock, the electrifying finale of our annual Attitude series. Acclaimed choreographer Penny Saunders returns with a bold, cinematic take on the legendary detective, brought to life through evocative choreography, original design, and nostalgic 1940s radio broadcasts. This thrilling co-production is paired with two compelling contemporary works, Donald Byrd’s Wake the Neighbors and Maria Konrad’s Lumina, completing an evening of mystery, movement, and modern ballet mastery.
https://www.tpac.org/events/detail/nb-attitude-sherlock
Looking for an opportunity to reconnect with child-like wonder and play? Embodied creativity is an ongoing class that combines improvised play and creative expression in community. Whether you’re an experienced performer or simply looking to unleash your creative spirit, this workshop invites anyone eager to play and discover new ways of expressing themselves. Come ready to move, laugh, and connect! The class is donation based, pay what you can ($20 suggested) and open to anyone https://forms.gle/qrLztRQXBCYf2Y4d9 Third Coast Comedy Club, Suite 202 May 9th 9:45-11:45
Backstage Presents is back May 9th! Performances by local dance artists and more. Follow them on Instagram for program updates and tickets: https://www.instagram.com/backstagepresents/
Shake it, Shout it, Draw it, Ground it with Amanda Cantrell Roche at Art & Soul.There’s so much going on, and our nervous systems are likely feeling it. Disrupt held stress, anxiety, or stuck energy and help move it out of your system using guided, whole-body shaking practices blended with sounding. Authentic mark-making offers a chance to visually express this process of noticing and moving energy in the body, and guided visualization and breathwork offers the opportunity for us to ground deeply in circle. Come and shake your body, use your voice, make marks, and regulate your nervous system in this welcoming, nonjudgmental community! Wednesday, May 13, 6:30 – 8 pm. Click here to register
Celebrate local innovation and creativity with a bold evening of entirely original short-form performances. Now in its fifth year, the Brave New Works Lab has become one of the most important resources for daring Nashville-based artists working in contemporary performance, inviting them to transform OZ Arts into a laboratory for the creation and premiere of new works and works-in-progress.The 2026 program spotlights four projects that capture the energy and imagination of the local arts scene: *Eboné Amos explores the Black Radical Imagination theory through dance and live music in collaboration with Alex Dolezal; *Lenin Fernandez creates a group dance work with some of Nashville’s most recognizable talents set to an epic score; *Jennie Liu & Andrew Gilbert deliver a mini-operetta inspired by Stanislavsky experiments, Michael Crichton novels, and personal notebooks; and *Amanda Reichert collaborates with local playwright Emmalee Manes to create a literary-inspired, lighthearted dance-theater. Come out and support local art! Artist & Creative Community tickets just $20 for the first two performances. Learn more at: https://www.ozartsnashville.org/brave-new-works-lab-2026
Ladies of Hip-Hop presents SpeakMyMind at TPAC May 17 at 3pm. All women. All power. All culture. This electrifying performance blends street and club dance, spoken word, and freestyle into a bold celebration of Black womanhood, creativity, and voice. Featuring an all-female cast of dancers, poets, and emcees, the show brings together movement, rhythm, and storytelling to honor culture, community, and lived experience. Every moment is raw, real, and unapologetically alive. This one-night-only event is one you won’t want to miss! Tickets start at $25 at TPAC.ORG
Jazz class with Allison Hardee! Wednesdays May 20 and 27, 5:30 – 7:00 @ Sevier Park.Allison will be sharing her groovy moves and musicality for 2 weeks this summer before she is off to California in the Fall. For more information contact di Mossa through IG @di_mossa or email info@dimossa.org Open to all levels in the beautiful Sevier dance studio.
Nashville Dance Collective presents their annual Spring Split Bill 2026 featuring “Rot At The Root” at Darkhorse Theater in Nashville, TN – May 29th & May 30th at 7:30pm – two acts of intimately related choreography exploring how Southern purity culture and Christian doctrine shape women’s bodily autonomy and agency, and how the construction of white female purity is entangled with histories of racial violence in the American South. Featuring dancers and work from Nashville, Huntsville, and the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, as well as a silent auction at the Saturday show with Arts baskets, workout classes, and more! Tickets are free with an option to donate. [While not explicitly depicted, this work engages sensitive subject matter, including sexual abuse, self-harm, and suicidal ideation. Audience care is encouraged.]
Emma Morrison presents As You Are Under a Smile, a movement based performance exploring ritual and the stages of psychic development as they play out in the unconscious mind. May 30 and 31 at 515 Hagan. Click here for tickets.
Ongoing
Global Education Center has adult dance classes in Bollywood, Shar Qui Belly Dance Workout, Zouk, Capoiera, many styles of Latin dance, and more. Click here for days, times, and registration.
Ecstatic Dance Nashville is the first and third Sunday of each month, 10:30 am at various locations. Click here for details.
New Dialect Community classes through May 20
Mondays + Wednesdays
9:30 – 10:30 AM & 10:35 AM – 12 PM at Morgan Community Center.
Join us for a brand new series of somatic and contemporary movement sessions led by Nashville’s most innovative choreographers and instructors, and in a whole new format! This spring, thanks to major support from Metro Parks Dance, we’re offering 2 classes each morning. The day begins with a somatic warm up like Gyrokinesis® or Alexander Technique® to align and attune our minds and bodies, followed by a contemporary movement class like contact improvisation, floor work, or choreographic research, where dancers can deepen their creative practice and express themselves through movement. Folks of all skill levels and backgrounds, ages 16+, are welcome to join in one or both sessions.
Check out the May schedule and class fees here.
This is a gathering of events I am aware of, submitted by those on the email list, and by no means represents all that is going on in the Middle TN area. I provide it as a volunteer service to the local dance community as part of an effort to help us stay connected and support each other by raising awareness of local dance performances, workshops, and events, and rely on those on the list serve to submit the listings.