Essential Dance Companies

Part of the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance, Dayton Ballet is the second-oldest regional professional ballet company in the US, recently celebrating its 85th anniversary. This season, the 20-member company will perform Dracula: Bloodlines, Swan Lake, and the beloved holiday tradition, The Nutcracker. The season's final show, New Beginnings, is a repertory ballet showcasing the Ballet's new Artistic Director Brandon Ragland's vision for the next chapter of Dayton Ballet.

Rooted in the African American experience, the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company is a culturally diverse contemporary dance company committed to reaching the broadest audience through exceptional performance and arts-integrated education.

The Dayton Dance Conservatory Company is a pre-professional youth dance company committed to creating young ambassadors of dance who will continue to proliferate and sustain the art of dance in the Dayton area. DDCC offers pre-professional dance instruction as well as two annual concerts which include guest artists from the Dayton area and surrounding states.

Dayton Dance Initiative is an independent collective of professional dancers from the Dayton area. They strive to create a platform for artists to explore their choreographic sides, collaborate with dancers of different styles, and bring the community together through their art form. The DDI mission is to provide professional dancers a platform to collaborate and create with artists outside their own company or genre while deepening the Dayton community’s interaction with the art of dance.

Dayton Historic Dance is a non-profit organization teaching dance and dance history and performing as Madame Gigi's Outrageous French Can-Can Dancers.

Gary Geis Dance Company (GGDC) and Gary Geis School of Dance offer pre-professional dance and performance training to Springfield and the surrounding communities. Gary Geis School of Dance provides an affordable, diverse curriculum in ballet, jazz, modern, and tap, while GGDC provides upper-level dancers additional performance opportunities to prepare them for a career in dance and the arts.

Gem City Ballet was formed to educate young dancers on the joys and rigors of ballet performance, to make quality ballet performances available to a wider audience, and to provide new and experienced choreographers an opportunity to create new works.

Premiering in 2011 as Le Jeune Ballet National, Le Jeune Dance Company is the first professional company of its kind in the nation composed of ballet dance professionals at the very beginning of their careers. Le Jeune Dance Company performs as a repertoire company in Greater Cincinnati and other regional communities. Company repertoire includes classical ballet and contemporary dance, as well as cutting-edge choreography concepts.

The Miami Valley Dance Company is a nonprofit, pre-professional dance company that has been providing youth in the Dayton and Miami Valley region with the opportunity to express their artistic endeavors through dance since 1990. The company, made up of dancers ages 10–18, puts on two full-length ballets each year in addition to performing segments around the community.

The Miami Valley Dance Council was created to perpetuate and encourage a high standard of recreational dancing and dance leadership including but not limited to square, round, contra, folk, country western, ballroom, calling, cueing, and leading while creating a forum for recreational dancing in the region.

Miami Valley Folk Dancers is a recreational dance group dedicated to learning folk dances from around the world and increasing appreciation of the music and dances of diverse cultures. Members include singles and couples at every skill level. Since 1952, the club has sponsored more than 70 weekend workshops, many with internationally known instructors. Dances take place every Thursday evening at the Michael Solomon Pavilion at the Community Golf Course in Kettering.

The Pamana Dance Group is the premier dance troupe of the Philippine-American Society of Greater Dayton. The group performs a diverse repertoire of rich Philippine cultural dances showcasing vivid regional color and tradition. They regularly perform at A World A’Fair, at various cultural festivals, and by special invitation.