26th Annual Arizona Dance Festival 2025 at Tempe Center for the Arts

Arizona Dance Festival 2025

Desert Dance Theatre will present the 26th Annual Arizona Dance Festival 2025 at Tempe Center for the Arts (TCA) Studio on Thursday-Saturday, September 18-20, 2025 at 7:00pm-10:00pm. 

On Friday, September 19th at 6:00pm-6:30pm, special interactive performances will occur in the TCA East Breezeway. Featured groups include: Reconnect to Africa (Congolese Dance) and Step’s Junk Funk (Interdisciplinary Dance and Percussion). This portion of the evening is FREE to the PUBLIC. 

The Arizona Dance Festival will feature over 40 different dance artists and companies, showcasing an eclectic variety of choreography and dance performances from around the state of Arizona and out of state. This unique setting will give audiences a taste of what is happening in Arizona's dance scene. It is a perfect platform for dance companies to get exposure, promote their work, and to connect with others in the dance community and the general public. Each evening performance will showcase different dance artists including emerging artists as well as professional companies from all genres and styles of dance. 

A post-performance “Q & A” will be facilitated by the Arizona Dance Coalition directly after the show. The “Q & A” will allow the audience to engage in lively conversation with the artistic directors and choreographers for insights in the creation of their dance works.

“This project is partially funded by a City of Tempe - Community Arts Grant.”

“This project is supported in part by a grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, an agency of the State of Arizona.”

Featured Dance Artists and Companies:

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 - Line-up (Alphabetical Order)

ABCD Bollywood Connect-Dance & Arts Foundation (Chandler, AZ) - Semi-classical Bharatanatyam Fusion

Absoluta Directed by Anandha Ray / Renee Davis (San Francisco Bay Area, CA / Austin, TX) - Modern

Desert Dance Theatre/Step’s Junk Funk (Tempe/Mesa, AZ) - Interdisciplinary Modern & Percussion

Erika Alexxandrya and Maddie Coury (Chandler/Mesa, AZ) - Contemporary

Gauri Bhobe / Sanskaar Nritya Dance Academy (Chandler, AZ) - Bharatanatyam from India 

HAG Dance Company (Queen Creek, AZ) - Contemporary

Human Nature Dance Theatre (Flagstaff, AZ) - Modern

Jazz Spectrum Dance Company (Lake Forest, CA) - Classical Jazz

Scottsdale Community College Dance Program (Scottsdale, AZ) - Contemporary

Sedona Dance Project (Sedona, AZ) - Modern

Shane O'Hara * Solo Dance (Williamsburg, VA) - Modern 

Sharqia Dance Theater (Phoenix, AZ) - Middle Eastern

Wight Noise Dance Company (Peoria, AZ) - Modern

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 - Line-up (Alphabetical Order)

AnthroArts Collective (Phoenix, AZ) - Contemporary

Archana Alagiri (Chandler, AZ) - Bharatanatyam from India

Astarte Belly Dance Troupe (Gilbert, AZ) - Belly Dance 

Bodies Contemporary Company (Mesa, AZ) - Contemporary

Chaos Theory Dance (Tucson, AZ) - Modern

Desert Dance Theatre (Tempe, AZ) - Modern

Grace Crain and Koby Slavin - Collaboration - Modern Dance & Bass Clarinet

Hoorvash Dance Co. (Paradise Valley, AZ) - Classical and Modern Persian

Jenefer Miller /J.A.M. And Company (Phoenix, AZ) - Tap Dance

Lenora Noire (Phoenix, AZ) - Belly Dance

Ollin Yoliztli Dance Academy (Phoenix, AZ) - Mexican Folklorico

Osiris Dance Ensemble (Waddell, AZ) - Belly Dance

Paradise Valley Community College Dance Program (Phoenix, AZ) - Modern

Reconnect to Africa (Tempe, AZ) - African/Congolese

Shahrzad Mazoury, Raha Yaghoubi, Navid Mohammadpour (Mesa, AZ / Toronto, Canada) - Iranian Dance & Music

Step’s Junk Funk (Mesa, AZ) - Interdisciplinary Modern & Percussion

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 - Line-up (Alphabetical Order)

Alexa King (Chandler, AZ) - Fusion Belly Dance

AlignDance Theatre (Scottsdale, AZ) - Classic Jazz Dance with Classical Piano

Caitlin Rose + Company (Tempe, AZ) - Classical Jazz 

CaZo Dance Theatre (Mesa, AZ) - Modern

Chaos Theory Dance (Tucson, AZ) - Modern

ClasscalFusionDance/Diego Ramirez and Sergio Rubio (Peoria, AZ) - Contemporary

Desert Dance Theatre (Tempe, AZ) - Modern

Dimensions Dance Alliance (Glendale, AZ) - Contemporary

520 Dance Company (Tucson, AZ) - Contemporary

Hoorvash Dance Co. (Paradise Valley, AZ) - Classical and Modern Persian

KDC Performing Arts (Tempe, AZ) - Semi-classical Bharatanatyam and Kathak

MAC & Company (Chandler, AZ) - Aerial, Modern

Movement Source Dance Company (Phoenix, AZ) - Modern

Nevada Repertory Dance Theater (Las Vegas, NV) - Modern

Pooja Raghunath (Tempe, AZ) - Kuchipudi from India

Shahrazad Dance Company (Phoenix, AZ) - Belly Dance

Sonali Chatterjee and Sudha Tonduru (Phoenix, AZ) - Classical Jugalvandi of Odissi and Bharatnatyam

Valkyrie Yao (New York, NY) - Multidisciplinary

INFO: http://www.desertdancetheatre.org/.

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