OUR RESPONSE TO
THE CLOSING OF A PERFORMANCE HOME 

Last week, we learned that The Cowles Center for Dance & the Performing Arts will close its doors at the end of March. All of us at Ballet Co.Laboratory are devastated to lose one of our performance homes – the only major stage in the state dedicated to local dance programming – and one we have performed on every year since Ballet Co.Laboratory’s founding. 

 The Cowles Center was the first theater to reach out to Ballet Co.Laboratory with an invitation to perform as we established. They opened their doors to us in the midst of the pandemic to create our 2020 ballet for film, which helped us keep artists employed, students performing, and virtual ticket revenue coming into our organization. This past December, we performed Nutcracker in Wonderland to sold-out audiences, and we were working to present two productions at The Cowles Center next season.

Many don’t realize that although the Twin Cities has many theaters, very few have a sprung dance floor that is suitable to dance on – especially en pointe. Finding an affordable theater with a safe floor, a large enough stage to accommodate choreography as intended, and 500+ seats is rare. The Cowles Center’s Goodale Theatre’s wings, sight lines, lighting plots, and acoustics were all designed specifically for dancers and dance audiences. 

Twin Cities' dance performance seasons are truly dictated by theater availability, not when it would be most beneficial for the artist/organization to perform. With the loss of The Cowles Center, securing dance performance venues will become even more competitive – forcing many of us to engage with theaters outside our budget and/or stages that are not suitable for dance. 

Throughout the week, we have received numerous messages from dancers and audience members stating they wish there was a way to help. We are here to tell you that there is. We humbly ask that you take a moment today to make a donation to your favorite dance organization or independent dance artist. If that is Ballet Co.Laboratory, we are so grateful. If it is another, we are grateful for that too. The Twin Cities dance community needs your support as we seek to find spaces to present our future work.

Thank you to our audience members and current/former Cowles Center staff who helped make so many of our productions possible. 

In sincere gratitude,

The Artists & Staff of Ballet Co.Laboratory