20th Anniversary Season Now Booking · Presenting engagements · Galas · Residencies · 2026–2028
Book DDT →
Present Dissonance.
Bring DC's Black concert dance to your stage.
For twenty years, Dissonance Dance Theatre has produced contemporary ballet rooted in the African American concert dance tradition — 127 works with guest choreographers from Ailey II, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Abraham.In.Motion, Centre National de la Danse à Lyon, and São Paulo Dance Company. Our 20th Anniversary Season is now booking through 2028.
Touring Repertoire
Three world-premiere productions from the 20th Anniversary Season are available for presenting engagements 2026–2028, plus mixed-repertory evenings drawn from the DDT canon.
Through the Dark, The Light Beckons
Five new works honoring the African American contemporary modern tradition — original choreography by Shawn Short and guest choreographers, rooted in Horton, Limon, and Afro-modern technique.
Until Love Comes Knockin'
An evening-length world premiere presented through Ngoma's Atlas Performing Arts Center partnership. Choreography by Shawn Short. Available for touring engagements Winter–Spring 2027.
Road of Angled Turns
A world premiere co-created with Guest Choreographer Kareem B. Goodwin — the company's designated touring work for Spring 2027 and beyond. Available for regional and national engagements.
Programming Options
DDT tailors each engagement to your venue, community, and educational mission. Every format is available as a stand-alone or bundled into a full-week residency.
Performance Formats
- Full-evening world premiere production
- Mixed repertory program (2–3 works)
- Lecture-demonstration (60–90 min)
- Children's matinee performance
- Gala or opening-night presentation
Educational Residencies
- Master classes — contemporary, ballet, Afro-modern
- Choreographic workshops with Shawn Short, MFA
- University guest artist residencies
- K–12 school performance and Q&A
- Senior citizen matinee programming
Community & Special Events
- Cultural-institution partnerships
- Festival and conference presentations
- Film-plus-live-performance evenings (Ngoma FilmWorks)
- DC Black Dance History lecture-conversation
- Corporate and private event bookings
Bring Dissonance to your room.
Not every stage is a stage. For twenty years DDT has performed in ballrooms, atriums, museum halls, and conference main stages — self-contained, tightly rehearsed, and built to fit inside your run of show. No theater required.
A Smithsonian gala. Black tie.
DDT performed at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian for the American Psychological Association's Minority Fellowship Program 50th Anniversary Gala — October 10, 2024.
The first in DC to work with Netflix.
Ngoma became the first DC dance organization to work with Netflix, casting for Shondaland's The Queen's Ball: A Bridgerton Experience (2022).
2,000+ at a national conference.
Commissioned main-stage performance for the U.S. Conference on AIDS, co-choreographed with Super Bowl choreographer Cynthia Gauthier.
Also presented at Jazz at Lincoln Center · The Kennedy Center · Arena Stage · Folger Theatre · Atlas Performing Arts Center · Publick Playhouse · International Spy Museum
Five formats · one company.
Built for the moment between the program and the meal. Self-contained, tightly rehearsed, and curated to your evening — including bespoke tribute work honoring an award recipient or a milestone anniversary.
Live movement through cocktails, a red carpet, or an exhibition opening. Dancers work the room rather than a stage.
Live excerpts paired with narration drawn from Ngoma's archive of over ninety years of Black concert dance in the nation's capital — the first comprehensive documentation of its kind. Built for museums, universities, and employee-resource-group programming.
An award-winning Ngoma FilmWorks documentary paired with live excerpt and talkback. MUTE won Best Documentary Short at the Cannes World Film Festival; Company D won Best Documentary at the DC International Cinema Festival.
Ten minutes on what it takes to build and sustain a Black cultural institution. A natural pairing for leadership convenings, Black History Month programming, and employee resource groups.
Right-sized for your room.
What we need — written for ballrooms, not theaters.
Tell us about your room.
Every booking begins with a conversation — your venue, your audience, your run of show. We respond within five business days with available dates and a tailored proposal.
Where DDT Has Been
Every engagement below is documented in Ngoma Center for Dance's public annual reports or dated press releases (2015–2025 archive available at ngcfddt.org/press).
Touring Specs
Company size, technical requirements, and travel logistics at a glance for theatrical presenting engagements. Full technical rider, marketing kit, and stage plot available on booking-packet request. (For non-theatrical gala & event specs, see the Galas & Special Events section above.)
Let's bring DDT to your stage.
Every booking begins with a conversation. Tell us about your venue, your audience, and the season you're building — we'll respond within 5 business days with a booking packet, technical rider, and available date ranges.