The Walker Art Center and guest curator Benny Olk are seeking Minnesota dancemakers working in all forms to present their work as part of Choreographers’ Evening on Saturday, November 22, 2025.
Now celebrating its 53rd year, this annual dance showcase celebrates Minnesota’s vibrant and diverse dance community with powerful performances by a roster of local choreographers and movement artists. This year’s program is curated by performer and dancemaker Benny Olk.
Note from the Curator
A Constellation
As curator for Choreographers’ Evening 2025, I am thrilled to have a chance to see what the Minnesota dance community is engaged with and making, what questions we have, and what we’re working with. In these times of great upheaval and change, I ask how we can renew ourselves in community, share what we’re developing, and create together. I want to oppose flattening and erasure, and cultivate meaningful relation.
I am approaching curating this program as an opportunity to bring people and ideas together to form a constellation that asks us to challenge individuality. Together, we celebrate the flow of ideas through community, while uplifting and articulating the specificities of context. How can the container of this program allow for the distinctions between the artworks to be seen and honored? And can we find new meaning in their relation to one another? In the words of Merce Cunningham, “to allow not so much an evening of dances as the experience of dance.”
I welcome works that are sketches, images, ideas, in progress, excerpted, or fully realized. I want to support the deepening of each artist’s work in their own world, then expand them further through contextualizing that work in the constellation of the program.
I am engaged by work that rigorously asks questions of itself, and artists who are critically examining their role this time and this space. I am moved by devotion, ordinary, fantastical, tender, frenetic, patient, wild, unleashed.
Questions that get me going:
What is this doing here?
How did I get here?
Why this and not that movement?
What does it mean for me to do this, and not someone else?
Where does this come from, and is that the whole story?
Questions to consider:
Are you open to interventions within your work?
Are you open to reconsidering the elements that make up your artwork and placing them in a constellation with others?
About the Curator
Benny Olk is a Minneapolis-based dance artist, maker, and teacher. He graduated with a BFA in Dance from New York University, and an MA in New Performative Practices from Stockholm University of the Arts. He has performed in works by Lucinda Childs, Merce Cunningham, Moriah Evans, Anthea Hamilton, and Mirko Guido. His work has been shown at B100, Stockholm University of the Arts, and Red Eye Theater. His collaboration with Tristan Koepke has been presented at SPACE, Colby College, and CandyBox Dance Festival. His collaboration with Scott Stafford has been presented at Detroit Dance Festival and Franconia Sculpture Park. In addition to community in the studio and after the show, he finds community on the dance floor at the club.
Audition information
• Choreographers must live in Minnesota.
• Works typically range from three to six minutes in length and should not exceed seven minutes.
• Collaborations and ensembles are welcome to audition.
• Works-in-progress are accepted. This can include a live sketch, video viewing at audition, images, fabrics, or other materials to communicate the work in its completion.
• Live auditions are preferred; however, video submissions will be accepted.
• Please audition with the same work that you would like to present.
Participation Requirements
• Two-hour group photo shoot in mid- to late September or early October. (Date/time to be determined once artists are selected, based on everyone’s availability.)
• One-hour technical rehearsal with full company on November 18, 19, or 20, between 4 and 10 pm. Individual dates and time to be determined.
• Full company participation in dress rehearsal on November 21, starting at 12 noon, with a meal break 4–5 pm, and continuing until 9pm.
• Two performances on Saturday, November 22. All-artist call at 3 pm. Show #1 will start at 4 pm, show #2 at 7:30 pm.
Important Dates
August 7–9, 2025: In-person auditions
Mid-September 2025: Artists notified of final decisions
October 2025: Group or individual photo shoots (schedule to be determined)
November 18–20, 2025: Tech rehearsals between 4 and 10 pm
November 21, 2025: Dress rehearsal 12 noon–4 pm and 5–9 pm
November 22, 2025: Artist call at 3 pm; Show #1 at 4 pm; Show #2 at 7:30 pm
Technical Support
For details on the tech support provided to artists for the in-person auditions and performance event, please review the Tech Support Guidelines 2025.
Artist Fee
Each selected artist/artist group will receive a guaranteed fee of $850 for their participation.
Audition in Person
• To sign up for an in-person audition time slot, please click here and submit this In-Person Audition Form by Tuesday, August 5, at 11:59 pm.
• Sign-up for an audition time slot is on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Auditions are held in 15-minute intervals.
• Live auditions are preferred; however, video submissions will be accepted.
• Artists will be notified of final decisions from the curator by mid-September.
Live Auditions dates:
• Thursday, August 7, 3–5 pm, 6:30–9:30 pm
• Friday, August 8, 3–5 pm, 6:30–9:30 pm
• Saturday, August 9, 11 am–1 pm, 2:30–5:30 pm
Location:
McGuire Theater
Walker Art Center
725 Vineland Place
Minneapolis, MN 55403
Audition by Video
• To send a video of your work, please submit this Video Audition Form by Tuesday, August 5 at 11:59 pm.
• Video submissions must provide a URL link and passcode, if protected.
• Videos will be viewed up to 10 minutes. Please include start and end times, if the video is longer.
• Artists will be notified of final decisions from the curator by mid-September.
Before Your Visit
Paid underground parking is available on-site. Enter the ramp on Vineland Place at Bryant Avenue. Biking or taking Metro Transit? Learn more.
Visiting the galleries? Enhance your experience by joining a public tour or with self-guided resources accessible for free on Bloomberg Connects.
Personal photography is permitted throughout the Walker and the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, but please turn off the flash when visiting the galleries.
To help us promote future events and programs, this event may be photographed or recorded. By attending, you consent to appear in this documentation and its future use by the museum. Please let staff know upon arrival if you prefer not to be photographed.
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