Rhythmically Speaking's Groovers & Makers 2026: 4 Takes on Jazz Dance at The Southern Theater

Groovers & Makers 2026 is an evening of lively jazz and American social dance-inspired works for the stage featuring new dances from both local and visiting choreographers, performed by a company of 11 of the Twin Cities' most dymanic dancers.

Rhythmically Speaking (RS) will present their 18th annual Summer production, Groovers & Makers 2026: 4 Takes on Jazz Dance, July 30 - August 1 at the The Southern Theater. Though the format and name of this annual Summer production have shifted throughout the years, it has always delivered innovative, vibrant and thought-provoking takes on jazz and American social dance ideas from exciting movers and shakers in the field. We take great care to engage artists that share our appreciation of jazz - and related styles - as forms that encourages simultaneous expression of difference and similarity, creating community through their common roots of groove, interaction and improvisation. This production continues our Summer tradition of commissioning new work by local choreographers while providing opportunities for dance artists who are based outside of Minnesota to show their work here.

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Groovers & Makers 2026 features an exciting line-up of choreographers (i.e. the Makers) creating new works for the company. This year’s local artist is Karla Grotting, a celebrated dance artist with McKnight Fellowship and Citypages ‘Artist of the Year’ awards to prove it and a unique approach to jazz that is a sum of her deep and varied experiences. Grotting’s new work will use the hard swinging, emotionally wide-ranging, irresistible grooves of Danish group The Saxopaths and inter-Scandinavian composer Snorre Kirk to drive exploration of how we dialogue with our own thoughts. Maiya Redding of New York City, one of this year’s visiting artists, is an Assistant Professor in the Hofstra University dance program who was recently commissioned to create a new work for the Joel Hall Dancers (Chicago). Redding will be creating a work that reflects the music she was raised listening to while growing up in Chicago - classic jazz and house - exploring the duality and the similarities between them through jazz movement.

The other visiting artist this year is Alexis Robbins of New Haven, CT, the director of amrDANCE tap company and recent New England Dance Fund awardee. Robbins will be creating a tap dance piece through the lens of contemporary jazz that explores how we can collectively communicate through rhythm and learn more about ourselves in the process. RS Artistic and Executive Director Erinn Liebhard will also create a new work for the show, which will consider human fascination with time travel, exploring the rub between how we fallible are and time is not - at least not right now. The production will run a gamut of feelings while showing a breadth of what "jazz and American social dance-inspired" can mean. It will be danced by RS company members (the Groovers) Malia Craft, Jayde Grass, Doug Hooker, Amy Jones, Sara Karimi, Erinn Liebhard, Kelli Miles, Shannon Mulcahy, Jake Nehrbass, Kathleen Pender and Betsy Schaefer-Roob.

Rhythmically Speaking is a local and national leader in celebrating the rich history of these forms while nurturing their innovation. Since their founding in 2008, they have presented 119 original and remounted works and engaged 360+ artists and thousands of audience members and outreach program participants.