2025 Groundwork Grantee Spotlight
The current Groundwork Grant cohort has been busy in the first half of 2025! Among the 19 grantees, there are consistent themes of collaboration, care for community, and innovative ways sharing dance. Learn more below about what a few of the grantee organizations have been up to in the studio, on stage, and out in their neighborhoods.
Bay Area Houston Ballet & Theatre
BAHBT announced their 50th season on May 2nd! This landmark season will include numerous community events, a gala, and four main productions. Visit their website to see the big announcement and join the celebratory season.
LINK: Season Announcement
Frame Dance Productions
Frame Dance continues to create bold, inclusive dance experiences across ages and communities. This season, the Frame Dance Ensemble premieres Falling for the Image, exploring self-perception and empathy through an all-ages cast. They recently performed at CarePartners and continue leading trauma-informed children’s classes at the Houston Area Women’s Center. Upcoming events include Mise en Scène in August and the Frame x Frame Film Festival in November—now accepting submissions. A Merce Cunningham-inspired work is also in development. This fall, Frame will launch Kinetic Classrooms, a new program bringing movement into early childhood education to support student learning, focus, and joy.
LINK: Lift Documentary Screening Dance Workshop
Houston Contemporary Dance Company
Houston Contemporary Dance Company completed their April Concert at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts with a glowing review and amazing positive feedback. The company is now preparing for its June 27th Miller Outdoor Theatre performance with a World Premiere by Houston’s own, Travis Propkop. For exciting news in their 6th Season, HCDC has expanded the company from 7 to 9 dancers for the full season, with 4 of the 9 born and raised in Houston.
LINK: Commanding The Stage
Indian Performing Arts Samskriti
Samskriti presented Purush: Dancing like Men in February, The Four Horsemen in March, and ARISI: Rice, Grains of Life earlier this month. The company is hosting a 3-day dance intensive led by one of India’s leading Bharatanatyam dancers, Priyadarsini Govind, June 6-8. Later this year, Samskriti will present Prakashya by the iconic Leela Samson’s Spanda ensemble, Avanika, featuring Priyadarsini Govind and her students, and Call of the Flute, curated by Samskriti’s Artistic Rathna Kumar, and featuring local Indian dance companies. Samskriti partnered with Indonesian and Sri Lankan dancers to create a new and exciting program, To a Different Beat, which premiered at the MIX MATCH Festival in January. The company celebrated 30 years of service to Houston with a Gala at the Junior League of Houston earlier this month. From one great leader to another, the President’s baton has passed from Srimathi Kumar to Sheela Rao, a dynamic person driven to perfection. New young, enthusiastic, and tech-savvy members have added a wonderful new dimension to Samskriti’s board and have added a Youth Committee to keep the organization visible on social media.
ISHIDA Dance Company
ISHIDA Dance Company, nationally recognized in Dance Magazine’s “25 to watch”, in collaboration with Asia Society will present inside my walls with critically acclaimed dancers and choreography by ISHIDA, Greek choreographer Andonis Foniadakis, and Stephen Shropshire based in the Netherlands. inside my walls premieres June 12-15, 2025, at Asia Society Texas Center.
LINK: Review: as long as there is in me
Karen Stokes Dance
KSD founder Karen Stokes was recently celebrated at Dance Source Houston’s annual fundraiser and community awards presentation, SPARK on March 3, where she was named 2025 DSH Artistic Honoree. Stokes was recognized alongside C.C. Conner Jr, who was named the 2025 Giannelli Service Awardee.
LINKS: Karen Stokes Honored for Artistic Excellence / DSH Honors C.C. Conner and Karen Stokes
Mezclada Dance Company
This spring, Mezclada performed Threading Connections at Texas A&M University as part of The Heartbeat: A Cultural Revival, an interdisciplinary series honoring the Harlem Renaissance. The piece explored connection through a fusion of breaking, modern dance, and Latin styles. In March, Mezclada toured The Each One, Teach One Show —a free, educational Hip Hop performance— to rural communities in Navasota and Round Top, Texas. Company auditions for the 2025–2026 season were held at PAC Dance Studio with strong participation. New company members will be announced this summer. Percussive Movement, a youth-focused educational performance blending body percussion, Latin rhythms, and Hip Hop, premieres this spring. Mezclada will host its inaugural Summer Intensive June 18–20 at PAC Dance Studio, welcoming youth and pre-professional dancers for training, choreography, and community building. From July through October, Mezclada will also present free community dance classes throughout Houston. In late August, the company will premiere Mind, Body, & Soul, a new evening-length work supported by the Houston Arts Alliance. In December, Mezclada will present A Hip Hop Christmas, a festive, family-friendly holiday production.
LINKS: Percussive Movement / Mezclada Events
Nia’s Daughters Movement Collective
Nia’s Daughters Movement Collective kicked off the year with vibrant programming across Greater Houston and beyond, including school performances, residencies in Houston ISD and Aldine ISD, and a Brazos Valley Tour featuring “The Fairytale Project,” NDMC’s signature show, with stops at the Brenham Heritage Museum and Texas A&M. The company celebrated Black Maternal Health Week with “Move w/ Mom,” a series of community-centered movement classes supporting joy, connection, and wellness. Nia’s Daughters commissioned a new song, “Wrapped Tight,” written and performed by Sha Davis, releasing April 28. The company is looking ahead to the “Official Juneteenth Return” on June 19, 2025, in Galveston, and recently celebrated the release of “D is for Dance: Dancing Through the Diaspora,” written by founder Stacey Allen.
LINK: Defender Network’s 2025 Ones to Watch
Open Dance Project
Open Dance Project kicked off its 10th anniversary season with its family production, The Wonderful Wizard Oz, performing at: MATCH’s Family Fun Day; 8 shows at MATCH, including sensory friendly and ASL/Audio Described performances; a private performance for Travis Elementary’s second graders; a free livestream performance for HISD; 6 shows at The Hobby Center as part of the ExxonMobil Discovery series; opened the Miller Outdoor Theatre’s 2025 season; and at The Hobby Center for their sensory inclusive relaxed performance series. Over 6,000 audience members enjoyed joining Dorothy and friends as she traveled from Kansas, to the magical Emerald City, and back! ODP teaching artists have been leading residencies, classes, and workshops at Travis Elementary, Paul Revere Middle School, Ortiz Middle School, Cook Elementary, Wharton Dual Language Academy, The HUB Houston, Hunter Dance Center, and Levy Park. Most recently, Open Dance Project presented Panopticon: Someone is Always Watching (May 2-10 @ MATCH) – the first of three immersive fan favorites being brought back by Open Dance Project in celebration of their 10th Anniversary Season!
LINK: Open Dance Project Celebrates 10 Years
Rivkah French Choreography
RFC is presenting free weekly Senior Movement Classes, led by Soren Rivero, from April to June 2025 at the Law Harrington Senior Living Center, located in Houston’s historic Third Ward. The Center is an affordable, LGBTQ-affirming senior living center that features independent living apartments for low-income senior individuals and couples. Free for participants, the movement classes will inspire the senses. Each class will look different, but one thing that stays the same is how participants will leave feeling after every class: refreshed and awakened. Bring your smiles and best jazz hands— we’ll focus on exciting grooves, hip rolls, lines, and having lots of fun!
LINK: Senior Movement Classes
Silambam Houston
Silambam premiered a new work, Kindred SOUL: The Legacy of King and Gandhi, at the Mix-MATCH festival in January, and will be presenting it again at the Miller Outdoor Theater on May 30. The company toured to Dallas with its collaborative cross-cultural performance The Baroque-Carnatic Connection in conjunction with the New York Baroque Dance Company, and at the invitation of Dallas Bach Society, in March. Silambam’s Director, Dr. Lavanya Rajagopalan toured to Phoenix in April to perform in the premiere of Bandhavam, a new production celebrating the essence of relationships. Silambam’s new initiative, Abhyāsa – a performance series for serious arts students who have completed their Ranga Pravesham/ Arangetram (solo debut performance in Indian arts tradition) launched in April. This series, hosted at the Silambam Houston Cultural Arts Center, is open to any and all Houston arts students and aims to provide a platform for emerging artists to present full-length traditional repertoire performances. Silambam provides the venue (at no cost) and techs (at minimal cost). Performers will be able to invite friends and family to watch, and in the process gain stage experience.
LINK: HTown Live – Timestamp at 14:05
Social Movement Contemporary Dance Theatre
In February, Social Movement performed in “The Heartbeat: A Cultural Revival” at Texas A&M University, an exhibition and series of performances paying homage to the Harlem Renaissance. In April, SMCDT performed at Austin Dance Festival and had an arts education residency, Dance and Culture: A Lecture Demonstration Series at Cedar Bayou Junior School in Goose Creek ISD. SMCDT’s newest project, Dance Hunger Action Choreography Commission Project, will premiere new works by local choreographers at the Hunger Action Month Dance Festival in September, nationally recognized as Hunger Action Month. Social Movement is looking forward to working and collaborating with Kinetic Vibez. The company also welcomed new board member Joel Longenecker and intern Keiarra Davis-Hathorne.
LINK: Conversations In Movement
Vitacca Ballet
Vitacca Ballet kicked off the year with their performance of Creation House, a compilation of original works by company members. In April, Vitacca hosted their signature event, UP/CLOSE, with internationally renowned choreographer, Garret Smith. This was a sneak peek of their performance of Smith Works at the Hobby Center on May 15 & 16. On May 31st, the company will host an end-of-season fundraising event entitled Ballet & Bubbles at Sonoma. This ticketed event will include a wine tasting, light bites, a silent auction, season ticket raffle, and live music. Their final performance of the season, LAUNCH, will take place at Miller Outdoor Theatre on June 6.
LINK: Performances
Wild She Dances
Wild She Dances hosted a February series of donation-based company classes open to all abilities and toured full-length work ‘SOM’ to Austin, Texas in March. WSD is in preparation for the first Wild Youth program, which is cultivating as a choreographic intensive for young dancers ages 10-18, and is also collaborating with Pluto Soundz, a Houston-based string ensemble, for a Fall 2025 performance.
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