The following items are based on research conducted in 2006-2007 as part of the Minnesota Dance Mapping project, conducted by Dance/USA and funded by the McKnight Foundation. This project is nearing completion and the following data is preliminary.
There are over 130 dance companies, ensembles, collaborations and professional soloists making dance in Minnesota.
Genres represented include ballet, jazz, modern/contemporary, hip-hop, tap, and many varieties of culturally specific dance such as Ukrainian, Aztec, Panamanian, Chinese classical, Hawaiian, Aremenian and Javanese.
Combined operating expenses for these dance-makers total over $5 million per year.
They include over 1,200 performing dancers.
There are over 350 independent schools and studios teaching dance in Minnesota, not counting college and K-12 programs.
Home audiences for dance in Minnesota are documented so far at 294,000. This figure does not include all dance-makers and does not include un-estimated open-air event audiences.
41 Minnesota dance-makers toured within the USA in 2006, and 9 toured internationally.
The earliest founding date on record is for a folkdance company founded in 1927. The average founding date is 1992.
The Twin Cities dance community is unique for having a denser contingent of chamber ballet companies and medium-sized modern companies (budgets between $300,000 and $1 million) than any other major city except New York, with five companies in this budget range. Compare with Chicago, a city also having five such companies but with three times the population. New York City has 29.
The Twin Cities dance community is widely regarded by professionals in the national dance field as one of the half dozen most significant dance communities in America, in company with those in New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami and San Francisco.
Prepared by: John Munger, Director of Research and Information, Dance/USA
In 2006, Dance/USA conducted a first-ever comprehensive census of dance-makers and dance-teaching entities throughout the state of Minnesota. With the support of a $40,000 grant from The McKnight Foundation, the Minnesota Dance Mapping Project is an essential first step toward increasing the understanding of dance’s presence in Minnesota, as well as improving the availability of information that can be utilized by artists, presenters, funders, educational institutions, researchers, cultural planning organizations and other stakeholders.
The Minnesota dance community has grown dramatically over the past three decades. Many culturally-specific entities, smaller companies, independent choreographers and rural dance-makers around the state are not plugged into existing channels and thus do not show up on many radar screens. It is important to give them a face, a place, and a voice. Similarly, institutions that teach dance in Minnesota have never been formally catalogued and their operations quantified. By contacting all these entities for inclusion in a comprehensive census, this project will help to bridge these disconnects.
In consultation with an advisory group drawn from Minnesota’s leading dance and arts professionals, Dance/USA’s researchers investigated the variety of dance that exists throughout Minnesota. Research assistants based in Minnesota who know the area engaged with the community to gather census data. Dance/USA’s Director of Research and Information, John Munger, lead the project; census research itself began in February 2006.
The process of taking a census involves three steps:
1. First, existing lists and other location-sources of dance-making entities and dance education institutions will be compiled and merged into one master list of potential contacts.
2. Second, locally-engaged research assistants who know the dance community will contact each entity on this list to verify existing information and to capture basic data. For dance-making entities this data will include genres of dance, start-up dates, numbers of dancers, performance range, estimated audiences, budget sizes and other essential characteristics. For educational institutions this may include styles of dance taught, numbers of teachers, numbers of students and other data.
3. The third and final step is to compile this information into two forms: an accessible electronic database of the raw information suitable for further research by other parties, and a published summary and analysis highlighting major findings and placing this community in a national context. Results of the census, including copies of the summary report, will be distributed to all entries identified and documented, as well as to media, funders and others.
Research Contacts:
John Munger
Director of Research, Dance/USA
TeL 651-646-8076
E-mail: Jrmdance@aol.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Value of a Dance Community Census
Press Release
Mapping Advisory Board List and Press Release
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