Samantha Figgins. with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (Photo by Dario Calmese)
The Charleston Gaillard Center today unveiled its dance programming for the upcoming 2024/2025 season featuring a robust lineup of renowned national and international companies spanning multiple genres. This year's lineup—part of the highly regarded Dance Initiative —includes performances by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet Hispánico, Circa, Ephrat Asherie and Michelle Dorrance, and Richmond Ballet.
A vital component of the Charleston Gaillard Center’s programming, the Dance Initiative provides a platform for local dancers, choreographers, and students to engage with world-class talent, exchange ideas, and push the boundaries of their craft. As one of the only performing arts institutions in the southern United States presenting large-scale dance, the Gaillard Center strives to elevate Charleston’s cultural reputation by showcasing national and international dance companies, supporting new and foundational choreographers, and creating community and education programs that deepen the public’s understanding of the genre. The Dance Initiative enriches Charleston’s cultural landscape and fosters cross-cultural understanding and appreciation.
“The Charleston Gaillard Center is dedicated to presenting a diverse array of performances that highlight the artistry and cultural significance of dance,” said Lissa Frenkel, President & CEO of the Charleston Gaillard Center . “Our Dance Initiative is an essential part of this mission, providing opportunities for local artists and students to connect with global talent, and for our audiences to experience the transformative power of dance.”
2024/2025 Dance Program
Carmina Burana by Richmond Ballet
October 18, 2024 | 7:30 pm
Set to Carl Orff’s masterful choral score, John Butler’s Carmina Burana is among Richmond Ballet’s most popular works. In partnership with the Charleston Symphony and featuring 64 musicians and 90 singers from the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chorus, this monumental performance on the Gaillard Center stage will showcase the brazen strength and hypnotizing passion of Butler’s original choreography, bringing to life one of the most groundbreaking ballets of the 20th century.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
February 25 & 26, 2025 | 7:30 pm
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will return to Gaillard with performances celebrating lineage and legacy. AILEY’s extraordinary dancers will bring to life new works by choreographers for whom Mr. Ailey paved the way, as well as beloved classics including the masterpiece Revelations.
OPUS by Circa
Created by Yaron Lifschitz with the Debussy Quartet and the Circa Ensemble
March 25, 2025 | 7:30 pm
Ten acrobats from Australian contemporary circus company, Circa, and a string quartet celebrate the music of composer Dmitri Shostakovich in a work of stunning power, virtuosity, and physical poetry. Shostakovich’s quartets are by turns intimate, passionate, lyrical, ironic, and deeply moving personal testimonies by one of the twentieth century’s greatest composers. In Opus, three of his quartets form the musical and dramatic spine of a red-hot fusion of extreme acrobatics, lyrical movement, and group choreography.
The Center Will Not Hold
A Dorrance Dance Production
Created by Ephrat Asherie and Michelle Dorrance
April 15, 2025 | 7:30 pm
The Center Will Not Hold—born from “a little room,” a short duet created and performed by Ephrat Asherie and Michelle Dorrance in December 2022—is an expanded and reimagined work now includes a collective of 11 singular performers/choreographers deeply rooted in one or many of the following street, club, and vernacular dances: House, Breaking, Hip Hop, Tap Dance, Chicago Footwork, Detroit Jit, Litefeet, Memphis Jookin, Body Percussion, and more. The work features original music composed by Donovan Dorrance with live percussion by drummer and percussionist, John Angeles. It premiered as a 30-minute piece at New York City Center’s 2023 Fall For Dance Festival, and is currently being developed into an evening-length work.
CARMEN.maquia by Ballet Hispánico
May 2, 2025 | 7:30 pm
Embark on a journey through time and emotion as Ballet Hispánico commemorates 150 years of Carmen in a spellbinding dance performance. Choreographer Gustavo Ramírez Sansano's quintessential work breathes new life into Bizet's timeless tale, infusing it with raw passion and visceral energy. Join us as the narrative of Carmen leaps off the stage and into your soul, amplified through Ballet Hispánico’s mesmerizing movement and evocative choreography.
Tickets on sale Friday, June 28, at 11 am EST at gaillardcenter.org. Gaillard Center Members receive presale access. To learn more about the Membership program, contact the Advancement Office at info@gaillardfoundation.org or (843) 718-1578.
