Fall Dance Concert November 20, 21, 22* 7 p.m., *2 p.m. Due to KU Athletics' schedule, the start time for the Nov. 21 show may change. Please check the website for updates as we get closer to the performance date. Livestream available November 20 & 22. The UDC Fall Concert features ballet, modern contemporary, lyrical, and free, improvised dance styles. Choreographic Fellow Junichi Fukuda, a professor of dance at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, has set a contemporary work on a large ensemble of students. He was selected by the dance faculty for the Department’s highly competitive Choreographic Fellowship. KU Professor Jane Barnette and Ariel Nereson, associate professor of dance at the University at Buffalo, debut a piece with ecological overlaps, working with graduate and undergraduate student dancers and collaborators from both schools. KU Dance Faculty Members Ashley Brittingham, Maya Tillman-Rayton, and Christian Boudreaux, are also choreographing for the evening-length repertoire concert. Student performance clubs MOVE @KU and KU Jeeva will also present works. Tickets are available in person at the University Theatre Box Office in Murphy Hall, by calling 785-864-3982, or online at dance.ku.edu. Lidded drinks or water bottles are allowed in the Crafton-Preyer Theatre. Infrared hearing-assistive headsets are available these performances. The facilities are accessible to persons using wheelchairs. Requests for special seating accommodations can be made by contacting the University Theatre Box Office, 785-864-3982.. Visit Venue Accessibility for more information.

Fall Dance Concert November 20, 21, 22* 7 p.m., *2 p.m. Due to KU Athletics' schedule, the start time for the Nov. 21 show may change. Please check the website for updates as we get closer to the performance date. Livestream available November 20 & 22. The UDC Fall Concert features ballet, modern contemporary, lyrical, and free, improvised dance styles. Choreographic Fellow Junichi Fukuda, a professor of dance at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, has set a contemporary work on a large ensemble of students. He was selected by the dance faculty for the Department’s highly competitive Choreographic Fellowship. KU Professor Jane Barnette and Ariel Nereson, associate professor of dance at the University at Buffalo, debut a piece with ecological overlaps, working with graduate and undergraduate student dancers and collaborators from both schools. KU Dance Faculty Members Ashley Brittingham, Maya Tillman-Rayton, and Christian Boudreaux, are also choreographing for the evening-length repertoire concert. Student performance clubs MOVE @KU and KU Jeeva will also present works. Tickets are available in person at the University Theatre Box Office in Murphy Hall, by calling 785-864-3982, or online at dance.ku.edu. Lidded drinks or water bottles are allowed in the Crafton-Preyer Theatre. Infrared hearing-assistive headsets are available these performances. The facilities are accessible to persons using wheelchairs. Requests for special seating accommodations can be made by contacting the University Theatre Box Office, 785-864-3982.. Visit Venue Accessibility for more information.

Fall Dance Concert November 20, 21, 22* 7 p.m., *2 p.m. Due to KU Athletics' schedule, the start time for the Nov. 21 show may change. Please check the website for updates as we get closer to the performance date. Livestream available November 20 & 22. The UDC Fall Concert features ballet, modern contemporary, lyrical, and free, improvised dance styles. Choreographic Fellow Junichi Fukuda, a professor of dance at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, has set a contemporary work on a large ensemble of students. He was selected by the dance faculty for the Department’s highly competitive Choreographic Fellowship. KU Professor Jane Barnette and Ariel Nereson, associate professor of dance at the University at Buffalo, debut a piece with ecological overlaps, working with graduate and undergraduate student dancers and collaborators from both schools. KU Dance Faculty Members Ashley Brittingham, Maya Tillman-Rayton, and Christian Boudreaux, are also choreographing for the evening-length repertoire concert. Student performance clubs MOVE @KU and KU Jeeva will also present works. Tickets are available in person at the University Theatre Box Office in Murphy Hall, by calling 785-864-3982, or online at dance.ku.edu. Lidded drinks or water bottles are allowed in the Crafton-Preyer Theatre. Infrared hearing-assistive headsets are available these performances. The facilities are accessible to persons using wheelchairs. Requests for special seating accommodations can be made by contacting the University Theatre Box Office, 785-864-3982.. Visit Venue Accessibility for more information.

Meet Jenna, a waitress and expert pie-maker who dreams of a way out of her small town and rocky marriage. Pouring her heart into her pies, she crafts desserts that mirror her topsy-turvy life, such as “The Key (Lime) to Happiness Pie” and “Betrayed By My Eggs Pie.” When a baking contest in a nearby county—and a satisfying encounter with someone new—show Jenna a chance at a fresh start, she must find the courage to seize it. Change is on the menu, as long as Jenna can write her own perfectly personal recipe for happiness. Brought to life by a groundbreaking creative team, this hilarious hit Broadway musical features original music and lyrics by Grammy Award-winner Sara Bareilles (“Brave,” “Love Song”), a book by acclaimed screenwriter Jessie Nelson (I Am Sam), original choreography by Lorin Latarro (Mrs. Doubtfire, Chess) and original direction by Tony Award-winner Diane Paulus (1776, Jagged Little Pill, Pippin). “WAITRESS is a little slice of heaven!” says Entertainment Weekly, and is “sweet, sassy and passionate,” according to New York Magazine. “It’s an empowering musical of the highest order!” raves the Chicago Tribune. Don’t miss this uplifting and hilarious musical celebrating friendship, motherhood and the magic of a well-made pie.

Rhiannon Giddens has made a singular, iconic career out of stretching her brand of folk music, with its miles-deep historical roots and contemporary sensibilities, into just about every field imaginable. A two-time Grammy Award-winning singer and multi-instrumentalist, MacArthur “Genius” Grant Recipient, Pulitzer Prize winner, and composer of opera, ballet and film, Giddens has centered her work around the mission of lifting up people whose contributions to American musical history have previously been overlooked or erased, as well as advocating for a more accurate understanding of the country’s musical origins through art. Giddens has released three albums under her own name and two in collaboration with Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, all on Nonesuch Records. American Railroad, her first album in collaboration with the Silkroad Ensemble, was released in November 2024, and her most recent album, a collaboration with Justin Robinson called What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, was released in 2025. A founding member of the landmark Black string-band Carolina Chocolate Drops and the all-female banjo supergroup Our Native Daughters, Giddens is as much a curator as a creator. She is the current artistic director of the Yo-Yo Ma-founded Silkroad Ensemble, hosts a TV show on PBS, My Music with Rhiannon Giddens, and has hosted two podcasts (Aria Code from New York City’s NPR affiliate station WQXR, which ran for three seasons, and American Railroad from Silkroad).

Chicago Tap Theatre is a vibrant dance company with a unique mission to preserve the quintessentially American dance form of tap and to take it to the next level of creativity and innovation. The company stands apart from other dance companies by bridging the gap between tap and other forms of concert dance (such as jazz, ballet and modern) by adopting a conceptual, narrative (i.e., story based) and more emotional approach to its work. Chicago Tap Theatre performs exclusively with live music provided by some of Chicago’s finest musicians, playing everything from Duke Ellington to David Bowie and many artists in between. The company has performed the works of Buster Brown, Eddie Brown and Bill Evans, and regularly performs classic, universal tap pieces, such as the BS Chorus and the Shim Sham. Chicago Tap Theatre has performed in traditional and non-traditional settings, including the historic Green Mill, Jazz Dance World Festival, the New York Musical Theatre Festival and Lollapalooza. Additionally, the company offers master classes and workshops. Artistic Director Mark Yonally is a sought-after master teacher in tap dance, improvisation, tap and jazz music history, and music theory for dancers.

OMG you guys!!! Legally Blonde The Musical is coming to Lawrence, Kansas! Fabulously fun and international award-winning Legally Blonde The Musical is the ultimate Broadway tribute to girl power! The story follows the transformation of Elle Woods as she tackles stereotypes, sexism, snobbery and scandal in pursuit of her dreams, and proves that you can be both legally blonde AND the smartest person in the room. This contemporary, topical story touches on many current hot-button issues, while delighting audiences with memorable songs and explosive dances. Legally Blonde warms the heart by proving that self-discovery never goes out of style! Elle Woods appears to have it all. Her life is turned upside down, however, when her boyfriend dumps her so he can start getting more serious about his life and attend Harvard Law. Determined to get him back, Elle uses her brain and ingenuity to get into Harvard, too. School begins with endless struggles, but with the help of her new friends, Elle quickly realizes her potential, and her true assets, as she sets out to prove herself to the world and make everyone a believer. Based on the iconic movie, Legally Blonde will take you from the sorority house to the halls of justice with Broadway’s brightest heroine and, of course, her Chihuahua, Bruiser. “A high-energy… hymn to the glories of girlishness.” – The New York Times

Cirque Kalabanté is a Montreal-based multidisciplinary circus company specializing in African arts, featuring energetic dance routines, inspiring music and gravity-defying acrobatics that will amaze the whole family. Cirque Kalabanté’s show WOW (World of Words) is an unexpected stage experience where art becomes dialogue and movement a universal language. Experience the immersive show exploring the transmission of knowledge, the meeting of cultures and the magic of shared respect. Between ancestral rituals and aerial innovations, WOW (World of Words) erases boundaries and builds bridges between tradition and modernity. Kalabanté Productions was created by Yamoussa Bangoura, a multidisciplinary artist of Guinean origin who has performed with Cirque Éloize, Cavalia and Cirque du Soleil, among other companies. Yamoussa dreamt of founding a circus school and an international show production company specializing in the African arts, a dream that was realized in 2007. The company began by performing shows in Quebec and, over the years, expanded to all of Canada, the U.S., and now all over the world. The studio/school in Montreal offers classes in African dance, cirque and drumming. Kalabanté Productions is proud to be able to share their work, achievements and skills to inspire others and to assist with the humanitarian mission to help the Guinean community, from which Yamoussa and many of his company members come.