“Dance that inspires, challenges, and entertains . . . from a variety of Minnesota choreographers and companies.” —Star Tribune
On Saturday, November 30, Choreographers’ Evening returns to the Walker for its 52nd year, celebrating Minnesota’s vibrant and diverse dance community. Choreographer jess pretty curates the annual showcase, drawing inspiration from Audre Lorde’s writing on the necessity of creative practice. pretty returns to the Walker following her 2019 appearance in Claudia Rankine and Will Rawl’s What Remains.
This year’s Choreographers’ Evening features performances by a roster of local movement artists examining art-making, vulnerability, and self-reflection. Choreographers include Gabriel Anderson, Dane Cree, Davente Gilreath, Juliet Irving, Tumelo Khupe, Kayla Schiltgen, D. Jinza Thayer, Vy Nguyen and Ella Kooyer, Maggie Bergeron and Nicholas Gaudette, and Tamin Totzke, Leslie O’Neill, and Laura Osterhaus. Morgan Thorson, a dancemaker featured in previous Choreographers’ Evenings, will DJ between the afternoon and evening performances in the Walker’s Cityview room.
Choreographers’ Evening 2024
Saturday, November 30, 4 and 7:30 pm
Tickets start at $15, fees included
McGuire Theater
NOTE FROM JESS PRETTY
“I am grateful for the invitation to curate the 52nd annual Choreographers’ Evening at the Walker.
I am moved by work that considers pleasure, joy, memory, archive, liberation, risk, vulnerability, reorientation, and transformation.”
—jess pretty
ABOUT JESS PRETTY
jess pretty received an MFA in Dance with a minor in Queer Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. She has shown her work at the Chocolate Factory Theater, La Mama Experimental Theater Club (2017 La Mama Moves Festival), New York Live Arts (as a 2016/17 Fresh Tracks artist), CATCH!, Gibney Dance Center, Brooklyn Studios for Dance, the CURRENT SESSIONS, panoply performing arts space, Green Street Studios, and three ACDA conferences. She has been an artist in residence at Kent State (2017), the Chocolate Factory Theatre, and the Center for Performance Research (2019-2020) and was a 2020 member of the Queer Art Fellowship. pretty has collaborated and been a part of the works of: Will Rawls, Claudia Rankine, Kevin Beasley, Okwui Okpokwasili, Peter Born, Catherine Gallasso, David Thomson, Katie Workum, Niall Jones, Jennifer Monson, Cynthia Oliver, Leslie Cuyjet, and Dianne McIntyre. She is the current steward of AUNTS, a punk/DIY performance series that hosts events, festivals, and shows to highlight the works of experimental dance makers in New York City and beyond.
pretty lives in Minneapolis where she is an Assistant Professor of Dance at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Her practices include writing, teaching, cooking, singing, conjuring, and dancing.
TICKETS
Ordering tickets is easy: visit walkerart.org/tickets or call 612.375.7600. Prices include all applicable fees. Box Office is open Wednesday–Sunday and one hour before performances.
ACCESSIBILITY
AD services are planned for the 4:00 pm performance. Please click here to purchase AD seats.
ASL interpretation is planned for the 7:30 pm performance. Please click here to purchase ASL seats.
For more information about accessibility, visit our Access page.
For questions on accessibility, content and sensory notes, or to request additional accommodations, call 612.253.3556 or email access@walkerart.org.
STUDENTS COME EARLY
Students own the rush line! Get in line an hour before showtime for $15 rush tickets. One ticket per person with student ID. (Some restrictions apply.)
GET TOGETHER
Experience these performances in a group of 10 or more people and save 15% on tickets. Purchase group tickets online, over the phone, or in person. The discount is automatically applied at checkout on orders of 10 or more tickets to the same performance.
MEMBERS DO MORE
Become a member and enjoy a 20% discount on performance tickets, receive unlimited free gallery admission, and more. Call 612.375.7655 or visit walkerart.org/membership.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Choreographers’ Evening is supported by a grant from the Jerome Foundation. Additional support provided by Judith Brin Ingber and Jerome Ingber.
The Walker Art Center’s Performing Arts programs are made possible by generous support from the Doris Duke Foundation through the Doris Duke Performing Arts Fund, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Producers Council
Performing Arts programs and commissions at the Walker are generously supported by members of the Producers’ Council; Christina Evans and Weston Hoard; Nor Hall and Roger Hale; King’s Fountain/Barbara Watson Pillsbury; Sarah Lutman and Rob Rudolph; Emily Maltz; Leni and David Moore, Jr./The David and Leni Moore Family Foundation; Therese Sexe and David Hage; and Mike and Elizabeth Sweeney.
Media partner
