DC/MD/VA Dance Events

7:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Brendan Drake – Ceremonials (2/2)

💃🏽 Contemporary

🎭 Dance Place

Drawing inspiration from Catholic iconography and Gay Porn, Ceremonials is an hour-long performance work exploring the not-so-subtle similarities between Christianity and eroticism.

The work connects 14th-century Christian mystic Julian of Norwich’s text Revelations of Divine Love with images of contemporary queer smut to consider how sorrow and ecstasy are such strange but familiar bedfellows. Ceremonials is a utopic fever dream that lives somewhere between passion play and an elegiac orgy.

6:00 PM – 7:30 PM

Cartier Williams- TAKE THAT!

💃🏽 Tap

🎭 Bender JCC of Greater Washington

Conceived, choreographed, and directed by Cartier Williams (Bring in ‘da Noise/Bring in ‘da Funk, Bamboozled), TAKE THAT! CONCERT is Cartier’s bold and personal vision — where tap dance collides with rap and indie soul. This dynamic one-hour show fuses intricate tap rhythms, raw rap bars, and laid-back indie swagger into something completely fresh and unexpected. Blending high-energy hip-hop with soulful indie vibes, it delivers a genre-bending evening that redefines live performance.

10:30 AM – 11:30 AM

Maryland Youth Ballet – Sleeping Beauty (1/3)

💃🏽 Ballet – Youth

🎭 Wolf Trap – Children’s Theatre-in-the-Woods

Explore the timeless tale of a princess, a spindle, fairy magic, and the power of love with Maryland Youth Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty! This enchanting performance is the perfect way to introduce children to the art of ballet. A Wolf Trap fan-favorite, Maryland Youth Ballet—which has instructed dancers for more than 60 years—brings the beautiful magic of this classic fairy tale to life!

7:00 PM – 9:30 PM

The Lion’s Den DMV

💃🏽 Hip-Hop

🎭 The Yellow Room

The Lion’s Den DMV is a Filipina-founded, warm and welcoming DMV-based dance and wellness community dedicated to creating spaces for people to meet new friends and freely express themselves. They believe how you move in your body impacts how you move in the world. Audience sizes are extremely small. Joining the wait list does not guarantee attendance. You will receive confirmation within 48 hours of request. Doors Open: 7pm, show starts 8pm. Address delivered upon RSVP.

10:30 AM – 11:30 AM

Maryland Youth Ballet – Sleeping Beauty (2/3)

💃🏽 Ballet – Youth

🎭 Wolf Trap – Children’s Theatre-in-the-Woods

Explore the timeless tale of a princess, a spindle, fairy magic, and the power of love with Maryland Youth Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty! This enchanting performance is the perfect way to introduce children to the art of ballet. A Wolf Trap fan-favorite, Maryland Youth Ballet—which has instructed dancers for more than 60 years—brings the beautiful magic of this classic fairy tale to life!

8:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Derek Hough’s Symphony of Dance -Encore

💃🏽 Various

🎭 MGM National Harbor

Emmy Award-winning dancer, choreographer, and Dancing with the Stars judge Derek Hough returns to the stage with Symphony of Dance: Encore. This incredible live show showcases Hough’s astonishing versatility, blending ballroom, contemporary, hip-hop, and more in a high-energy celebration of movement and music. Following sold-out tours and a hit Las Vegas residency, Hough brings his signature charisma and world-class choreography to MGM National Harbor for an unforgettable night of dance.

10:30 AM – 11:30 AM

Maryland Youth Ballet – Sleeping Beauty (3/3)

💃🏽 Ballet – Youth

🎭 Wolf Trap – Children’s Theatre-in-the-Woods

Explore the timeless tale of a princess, a spindle, fairy magic, and the power of love with Maryland Youth Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty! This enchanting performance is the perfect way to introduce children to the art of ballet. A Wolf Trap fan-favorite, Maryland Youth Ballet—which has instructed dancers for more than 60 years—brings the beautiful magic of this classic fairy tale to life!

7:00 PM – 8:30 PM

Making Moves: DMV by The National Center for Choreography-Akron (NCCAkron)

💃🏽 Public Conversation

🎭 Red Emma’s Bookstore

Making Moves: DMV is a free event with arts leaders from the region discussing the invisible labor and arts administration processes behind the scenes. This public conversation will include local dance case studies with national relevance that explore themes of labor organizing, adaptive thinking, and the power of community. Speakers include Christy Bolingbroke (Akron, OH),Quynn Johnson (Washington, D.C.), Ryan K. Johnson (Washington, D.C.), taylor knight (College Park, MD/Pittsburgh, PA), Mallory Miller (Washington, D.C.), anna thompson (College Park, MD/Pittsburgh, PA) and C. Brian Williams (Washington, D.C.).

8:00 PM – 10:00 PM

KanKouran 43rd Annual Conference and Concert 2026

💃🏽 African Dance & Drumming

🎭 Howard University’s Cramton Auditorium

Join KanKouran Dance Company for a powerful weekend of dance, drum, and cultural connection. Hundreds of participants from across the country will visit the nation’s capital September 4-6 to partake in three days of intense workshops in traditional African dance and drum, taught by master dancers and drummers from Mali, Senegal, Liberia, the Congo, the Ivory Coast, and Guinea, as KanKouran celebrates its 43rd Annual National Conference and Concert.

8:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Philadelphia Ballet – Stars and Stripes Forever!

💃🏽 Ballet

🎭 Wolf Trap – Filene Center

Join the Philadelphia Ballet for the ultimate celebration of American artistry. Experience the company’s vibrant interpretations of seminal works that shaped both American ballet and Broadway dance. Watch Jerome Robbins’ playful Fancy Free, George Balanchine’s patriotic Stars and Stripes and jazzy Who Cares?, and Eliot Feld’s spirited Variations on ‘America,’. Pre-performance discussion at 7 PM on the Farmhouse Lawn.

7:30 PM – 8:30 PM

Music From The Sole – I Didn’t Come to Stay 

💃🏽 Tap

🎭 GM – Center for the Arts, Concert Hall, Fairfax Campus

Music From The Sole is a tap dance and live music company that blurs the line between concert dance and music performance, and celebrates tap’s roots in the African diaspora. Led by Brazilian tap dancer and choreographer Leonardo Sandoval and composer and bassist Gregory Richardson, their work draws from Afro-Brazilian, jazz, soul, house, rock, and Afro-Cuban styles. This performance is appropriate for all ages.

7:00 PM – 8:30 PM

Dissonance Dance Theatre – Through the Dark,
The Light Beckons (1/2)

💃🏽 Contemporary Modern

🎭 Publick Playhouse

Five new works for the 20th Anniversary Season opener, honoring the African American contemporary modern tradition. Featuring original choreography by Shawn Short and guest choreographers performing in the styles of Horton, and Afro-modern.

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM

Dissonance Dance Theatre – Through the Dark,
The Light Beckons (2/2)

💃🏽 Contemporary Modern

🎭 Publick Playhouse

Five new works for the 20th Anniversary Season opener, honoring the African American contemporary modern tradition. Featuring original choreography by Shawn Short and guest choreographers performing in the styles of Horton, and Afro-modern.

7:30 PM – 9:00 PM

Compagnie HERVÉ KOUBI

💃🏽 Contemporary / Urban Dance / Capoeira,

🎭 GM – Center for the Arts, Concert Hall, Fairfax Campus

Led by the Algerian choreographer Hervé Koubi, Compagnie HERVÉ KOUBI makes its thrilling Center for the Arts debut. Drawing from Algerian and Mediterranean culture, the company combines contemporary and urban dance, capoeira, and martial arts with powerful imagery and entrancing choreography. 

8:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Georgian National Ballet – Sukhishvili

💃🏽 Georgian Ballet

🎭 GW – Lisner Auditorium

The world-famous Georgian National Ballet “Sukhishvili” will perform in the US to share with you a remarkable date – its 80th anniversary! To mark this occasion, a series of performances, exhibitions and other events will take place around the world throughout the year, giving you the opportunity to immerse yourself in the heritage of “Sukhishvili” and pay tribute to the incredible dance company that has become the face of Georgia. Despite modern elements and new ideas, “Sukhishvili” performances are always based on traditional Georgian dance, with its inherent intricate movements, colorful costumes and powerful storytelling.