New Dance Partners

New Dance Partners (2017)
The Ultimate Collaboration

September 22, 2017 - September 23, 2017 | Yardley Hall

Past Event

Pre-show talk with the choreographers both evenings (see details below)


New Dance Partners returns strong in 2017! Four companies, four choreographers, four premieres.


We’re thrilled to stage this innovative festival of dance for the fourth time! New Dance Partners is a collaboration where the Carlsen Center commissions choreographers to create original works for local dance companies, which then premiere on the Yardley Hall stage.

In 2017, the collaborative partners are:

  • Kansas City Ballet, working with Matthew Neenan, co-founder and choreographer, BalletX
  • Owen/Cox Dance Group, working with Kameron Saunders, UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance and COCA-St. Louis
  • Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company, working with Jennifer Archibald, founder and artistic director of ARCH Dance Company
  • Störling Dance Company (Olathe, Kansas), working with Heather Gray, associate director, Utah Regional Ballet II

The artistic advisor for New Dance Partners is Michael Uthoff. Burke Brown is the lighting designer. New Dance Partners is sponsored in part by George H. Langworthy Sr., G. Mark Sappington & Mark McGee, and the Richard J. Stern Foundation for the Arts, Commerce Bank, Trustee. This program made possible through a partnership with KCAIC.

Pre-show Talks

7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, September 22, 2017 - September 23, 2017

Pre-show talks will be held both Friday and Saturday nights with the featured choreographers:

Matthew Neenan, co-founder and choreographer, BalletX

Kameron Saunders, UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance and COCA-St. Louis

Jennifer Archibald, founder and artistic director of ARCH Dance Company

Heather Gray, associate director, Utah Regional Ballet II