Dissonance Dance Theatre/Ngoma Center for Dance

We love when Jada smiles. 🖤

Jada Janae Hicks, somewhere between hard work and joy — a moment from the first week of rehearsals for Dissonance Dance Theatre's 20th Anniversary Season.

Somewhere between the count and the breath — that's where the dance lives. 🖤

Kay Williams, in the moment. Week two of rehearsals for Dissonance Dance Theatre's 20th Anniversary Season is underway.

This is Season 20. 🖤

The artists of Dissonance Dance Theatre's 20th Anniversary Season — Company and Apprentices, one family. Two decades of Black-led contemporary dance in Washington, DC, and this is the room carrying it forward.

Featuring Janelle Acosta, Darius Myles Corbett, Tysheena Gibson, Jada Janae Hicks, Zachary Scott Jr., Teryn Trent, Kay Williams, Zariya Evans, Tanais Miller, Brie A. Turner, and Leah Warren.

Full bios at ngcfddt.org

The room where it starts. 🖤

Founding Producing Artistic Director Shawn Short sets a new work on the company — week one of Dissonance Dance Theatre's 20th Anniversary Season. Twenty years in, and the vision is still built by hand, note by note.

Notes hit different when you're locked in. 🖤

Kay Williams, week one. First rehearsals of Dissonance Dance Theatre's 20th Anniversary Season — where every correction is a step closer to the stage.

Week one energy: notes from the director... and Teryn Trent already found the camera. 📸😂

First week of rehearsals for Dissonance Dance Theatre's 20th Anniversary Season — where the work is serious, and the joy is too.

The future of Dissonance Dance Theatre is here. ✨

Meet our Season 20 Apprentices — Zariya Evans, Tanais Miller, Brie A. Turner, and Leah Warren. Four artists rooted in the DMV and beyond, trained at Howard University and Bowie State University, with credits spanning Step Afrika!, the Kennedy Center, and Eleone Dance Theatre.

New this season: DDT has merged its Trainee program into the Apprentice program — one unified pathway built to develop local dance artists of color and give their careers a professional launch. Apprentices train and perform alongside the Company, building toward full company membership.

Full bios at ngcfddt.org

We congratulate Dissonance Dance Theatre’s Resident Choreographer Kareem B. Goodwin • The Library for the Performing Arts Presenting the 2026 Dance Research Fellows! This year, Fellows focus on the legacy of José Limón and the Library’s Limón archives.

The 2026 Dance Research Fellows are: Sarah Cecilia Bukowski, Kareem B. Goodwin, Tristan Koepke, R. Sumi Matsumoto, Christofer A. Rodelo, and CJ Salapare.

The fellows receive a $10,000 stipend and dedicated support from a dance librarian as they work with the Library’s archives over the next six months.

Click our bio link to learn about their projects and stay tuned for more! ➡️