THE HARTFORD DANCE COLLECTIVE bridges the gap between dance and the community by curating unique performances featuring female leaders and providing open adult movement classes in Hartford, CT.
Since July 2017, the Hartford Dance Collective has curated performances in unique settings, featuring female choreographers from across the nation. We have shared dance at the Connecticut Convention Center, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Mortensen Riverfront Plaza, ShapeShifter Lab, Real Art Ways, TheaterWorks Hartford, Dunkin Park, Parkville Market, & multiple breweries around the Connecticut, to name a few; and we aim to continue to share the art form with a wide range of demographics. Along with many small programs that we present throughout the year, The Hartford Dance Collective curates the annual Hartford Dance Festival in Elizabeth Park with 25 performing groups, which is the largest free dance festival in Connecticut. Our studio space in Hartford, Connecticut, provides creatives with a home to hone in on their movement vocabulary and the opportunity for us to bring professional dancers to Hartford including dancers from Pilobolus, David Dorfman Dance, the Limon Company, the Radio City Rockettes, Doug Varone and Dancers, the Merce Cunningham Trust, and the Brooklynettes, to name a few. We hold the belief that everyone can dance and everyone should. Our professional and inspiring studio hosts open adult movement classes for the community featuring the Collective’s Resident Artists and Guest Instructors. A perfect place for a dancer to train, a former dancer to reignite their love for movement, or a member of the community looking to practice dance movement as a form of exercise, art, or meditation. Movement allows us to escape, which drives our commitment to curating experiences that allow for discovery and connection.
Organization DEI policy:
The Hartford Dance Collective (HDC) is committed to pursuing inclusion across gender, sexuality, culture, ability, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and identity. We encourage diversity and multiple perspectives and take pride in our commitment to build an inclusive environment as well as provide opportunities for greater community engagement in the arts. When we started the Collective, a major goal of ours was - and still is - to advocate for female choreographers and dancers to give them opportunities within a male-dominated industry. That being said, we hold the belief that gender is fluid, and for some even undefinable. When we say “woman”, we use it as a term for anyone who relates or connects to being a woman in some way. We are aware that some women are more privileged than others. Trans women and women of color are underrepresented and may not have as many opportunities as others and it is extremely important for us to be a collective that represents ALL types of women. We realize the large scale of this issue and would love to work to create change in the arts community. HDC continues to work on improving representation from all communities with programming, staff, board members, as well as audiences, performing artists, and students alike.
IN THE NEWS:
HARTFORD COURANT:
“The Beatles inspire Hartford Dance Collective’s ‘Yesterday,’ with live music at the riverfront”
“Parkville Sounds and Hartford Dance Collective join forces to create 4,500 feet of shared space”
“Parkville Sounds moving to larger space to partner with Hartford Dance Collective”
INNOVATION DESTINATION HARTFORD:
