Saint Mary’s and its Page Theatre were recently awarded a $55K grant to bring a modern dance company to Winona during the 2020-21 season. While details are still being finalized, we’re excited to introduce post-modern dance to the Winona community through several artist visits leading up to a performance in March 2021. This project arose from audience feedback requesting to hear directly from artists and choreographers to better understand modern dance and what is happening on stage.
This is the second Arts Tour grant Saint Mary’s has received from the Minnesota State Arts Board in just two years. The first, a grant of more than $75K, is currently supporting two dance residencies for the Winona Campus and community. The first residency with Ballet Hispánico, a New York-based, contemporary ballet company with a 50-year history of performing work rooted in Hispanic identity, took place in early October. Over four days, Ballet Hispánico taught an adaptive dance workshop, master classes for advanced ballet and modern dance students, facilitated mentorship workshops with elementary and middle school students, provided Latin social dance lessons, and performed works by three Latin choreographers. The residency served over 900 campus and community members.
The second residency is planned for March 2020 with Leela Dance Collective, a nationally and internationally performing dance company showcasing Indian classical dance and music on the world stage by supporting the creation and performance of cutting edge works of kathak dance.