Rowan Dance Festival
Rowan Dance Festival
Join us for our 2nd annual
ROWAN DANCE FESTIVAL
October 6th-8th, 2023
Wilson Hall, Glassboro Campus
The Rowan Dance Festival celebrates the past, present, and future of dance at Rowan. High school dance programs, local dance studios, and Rowan alumni are invited to participate in a three-day program of classes, performances, and receptions interacting with current students, faculty, and guest artists, creating a weekend to remember.
Proceeds from the Rowan Dance Festival will benefit the Melanie Stewart Scholarship Fund, if you would like to donate please click the link below.
Schedule and Details
High School Dance Day
Friday, October 6th, 2023
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Students from invited local high schools will participate in a masterclass, campus tour, lunch, and meet and greet with current Rowan students. The masterclass will be a Contemporary Dance class taught by Paule Turner at 11:00 AM on Pfleeger Concert Hall stage.
Dance Festival Day
Saturday, October 7th, 2023
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
A day-long festival for invited local alumni owned dance studios will include dance classes taught by Rowan University faculty and guest artists.
TIME | STUDIO 1 | STUDIO 2 |
10:00 am - 11:00 am |
Ballet |
Dance Improvisation |
11:00 am - 12:00 pm |
Ballet |
Dane Improvisation |
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm |
Contemporary |
Tap |
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm |
Horton |
Hip Hop |
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm |
Classical Jazz |
Hip Hop |
TIME | Pfleeger Concert Hall |
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm | Music From The Sole |
Gala Performance & Dance Party
This one-hour performance will celebrate the vibrancy of Rowan Dance Alumni, featuring performances from their affiliated studios, Rowan's contemporary dance company, Rowan University's Hoofers, as well as a performance from Music From The Sole. The performance will be followed by a dance party and reception to be held in Pfleeger Lobby.
Saturday, October 7th, 2023
8:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Wilson Hall, Pfleeger Concert Hall
Featuring performances by:
Alumni Masterclass and Brunch
Sunday, October 8th, 2023
10:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Alumni are invited to participate in a masterclass taught by Paule Turner followed by a final celebration brunch.

Guest Artist: Music From The Sole
Music From The Sole is a tap dance and live music company that celebrates tap's Afro-diasporic roots, particularly its connections to Afro-Brazilian dance and music, and its lineage to forms like house dance and passinho (Brazilian funk). Led by Brazilian dancer/choreographer Leonardo Sandoval and by bassist/composer Gregory Richardson, their work embraces tap's unique nature as a blend of sound and movement, incorporating wide-randing influences like samba, passinho, Afro-Cuban, jazz, and house.
Since their first performance in 2015 at Baltimore's Creative Alliance, Music From The Sole has grown to a group of 15 dancers and musicians, touring across the US and abroad. They have received support from the New England Foundation for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, O'Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation, New Music USA, and Dance/NYC, and recently premiered new works commissioned by Works & Process at the Guggenheim.
As part of its mission to bring tap dance- America's original vernacular dance form- to new audiences, they appear as both a dance company and a band at dance and music venues. Recent credits include appearances at Lincoln Center, Jacob's Pillow, the Guggenheim Museum, The Yard, Kaatsbaan, Portland Ovations, Caramoor Jazz Festival, Bryant Park, the 92NY, and Tap in Rio. They are 2022-23 resident artists at the 92NY, and partner frequently with organizations like the National Dance Institute, and Lincoln Center Education, engaging through dance and music with communities across NYC and beyond.