Watch the next generation of dancers and choreographers in Kanopy Academy and Kanopy 2, our pre-professional training program, ignite the stage with new ideas and expressions—and original choreography and costuming developed and built by the dancers themselves.

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The Next Generation: Kanopy2 & Academy Showcase

Overture Center for the Arts

ConFluence: A Prelude is the launch of a world premiere and a multi-phased, creative collaboration between Kanopy Dance and Madison composer Michael Bell (Bell) that is designed to evolve over the course of several seasons. For the initial phase of this “master work in progress," Kanopy’s co-artistic directors, Robert E. Cleary and Lisa Thurrell, will choreograph original dances (solos, duets, group ensembles) for three principal movements in Bell’s new symphony, Regeneration: A Pentalogy.  



ConFluence: A Prelude

Martha Graham famously remarked: “To be great, art... must belong to the country in which it flourishes, not be a pale copy of some art form perfected by another culture and another people.” With her iconic “Appalachian Spring,” a slice of pioneer life set to a luminous score by Aaron Copland that exudes the optimism of a young frontier couple on their wedding day, the legendary Graham passionately drew on the “American experience.”

Graham: In HER Voice

The centerpiece, “Chalo Ramiye,” was commissioned by Kanopy from South Asian dancer and choreographer Udbhav Desai, who will also guest perform in the dance. “Chalo Ramiye” (or “let’s play in Gujarati”) is a “garba” folk dance performed in ritualistic reverence of the Hindu goddess “Durga,” a protector of all that is good and harmonious in the world. Performing the festive garba dance form is a major highlight of the nine-day Hindu festival Sharad Navratri that honors “Durga” and has been observed for centuries.

Winter Fantasia: Reimagined

Renowned world class-dancer and choreographer Tadej Brdnik directs Kanopy Dance Company in his premiere, “The Moment," which poignantly explores the human experience and illuminates the complex interplay between choice, circumstance and the boundless potential for personal transformation. This new work delves into the profound notion that a singular MOMENT, as simple as a glance, can alter the trajectory of our lives forever. “The Moment” will be staged creatively with dancers choreographically moving outsize props to define our personal, spiritual and communal spaces.

Shades of Light

Universal rhythms explored through music and movement – weaving together themes of transformation and the endless cycle of renewal. This powerful concert features Please let there be a paradise… by GRAMMY®-nominated composer Angel Lam. A hauntingly beautiful journey and reflection on love and loss, it sets the stage for the WORLD PREMIERE of Concerto for Jazz Trio by Dan Cavanagh, Director of the UW Mead Witter School of Music, that blends contemporary jazz with the spirit of reinvention. Concluding the concert, the orchestra brings to life Regeneration: A Pentalogy by local composer Michael Bell alongside the breathtaking WORLD PREMIERE of Renascence by Kanopy Dance, a deeply expressive journey through the ebb and flow of existence—birth, death, and the beauty that rises anew.

Kanopy Dance Company

Feb 27, 2026

Regeneration

May 18, 2024

The Next Generation: Kanopy2 & Academy Showcase

19 - 21 Apr, 2024

ConFluence: A Prelude

Kanopy Dance Company