STORMCLUTTER

November 4–14, 2024

BRKFST Dance Company will present two wildly different works in celebration of their tenth anniversary—one contemplative and intense, and the other upbeat and energetic. Founded in 2014, this Twin Cities-based company utilizes breaking, abstraction and contemporary dance to create works that are both intellectually stimulating and physically rigorous. The Minnesota Star Tribune lauded the troupe, saying, “… in many ways BRKFST shows us the future of dance.”

The first piece in BRKFST’s Arts Center program is the company’s newest work, STORMCLUTTER, co-commissioned by The Cowles Center and Northrop with a score by BRKFST member Renée Copeland. Dancers, Dreamers and Presidents, set to Daniel Bernard Roumain’s composition of the same name, reformatted for the proscenium stage, follows STORMCLUTTER.

STORMCLUTTER explores relationships and our ongoing efforts to resolve opposing states of interpersonal tension. Misunderstanding, compassion, resentment, egoism, love, loss, betrayal – moving through or attempting to compartmentalize complex dynamics between family and friends and the emotional baggage we collect over time becomes an overwhelming task that piles up. While maturation requires us to accept that which we cannot change. BRKFST members illustrate the efforts individuals may take when working to resolve the inner chaos that triggers feelings of dissociation, paralysis, and isolation. The Arts Center is thrilled to be a National Performance Network (NPN) commissioner for this new work.

BRKFST interprets Dancers, Dreamers and Presidents as a commentary on American life that is filled with a mix of ambition, passion, blame, justice, hope, and love. And while this country is deemed the “land of the free,” it is riddled with systemic problems that seem impossible to overcome. For many, the American Dream remains just that—a dream.

BRKFST’s egalitarian and choreographic collaboration is rooted in the hip-hop adage, “Each One Teach One”. Regardless of class, race, experience, age or gender, everyone remains both teacher and student.

BRKFST’s lineage stems from breaking and hip-hop culture: earning respect from battles and embodying inclusivity by passing down their knowledge to the new generation. The lived experiences of this collective who identify as working class, queer and BIPOC, inform their compositions.

BRKFST performs regionally in Minneapolis, Minnesota, premiering work at the Walker Arts Center, Southern Theater, The Cowles Center and Orchestra Hall with The MN Orchestra; nationally in Des Moines, Iowa at Temple Theater with Des Moines Symphony, Hartford, Connecticut at Belding Theater with the Hartford Symphony and internationally in Dublin, Ireland for Dance2Connect (D2C) Hip Hop Festival. Their film Dreamers was an official selection in 11 international film festivals. BRKFST has set repertoire and original work with dancers at Winona State University in Minnesota (2024), Bates Dance Festival in Maine (2024, 2022), St. Olaf College in Minnesota (2023), Carleton College in Minnesota (2022), D2C Hip Hop Festival in Ireland (2022) and the University of Minnesota (2021).

BRKFST Dance Company accolades include 2024 Princeton University’s Caroline Hearst Choreographer-In-Residence, 2024 Creative Residency at The National Center for Choreography – Akron (NCCAkron), 2023 National Performance Network Creations, Development, and Documentation Grants, 2022 New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) National Dance Project (NDP) Production Grant, 2023, 2022 & 2021 Minnesota State Arts Board Grants, 2021 NEFA NDP Finalist, 2021 Mid Atlantic Arts USArtists International Grant, 2024, 2023 & 2019 Metropolitan Regional Arts Council Grants.