Dissonance Dance Theatre/Ngoma Center for Dance

What the critics saw.

"As elegant as a swan in motion with a Caribbean essence and American street-dance cool." — Ramona Harper, DC Dance Journalism Project, reviewing Dissonance Dance Theatre's Diaspora, 2020.

Season 20 is coming. See it live.

ngcfddt.org

Legacy is built in conversation. Founding Director Shawn Short with company veteran Daniel Artis — and Textures Dance Company Founding Director Marcus Isaiah talking with his mentor during Season 20 rehearsal. Mentorship in real time.

From a Washington, DC studio to Sadler's Wells.

Kameron N. Saunders — alumnus of Dissonance Dance Theatre's Voices of Dance choreographic development program — premiered Proper Conduct with English National Ballet in spring 2026, among a small number of Black choreographers in ENB's history to create an original work for the company.

"Black choreographers have always had the talent — what they have too often lacked is the access, the infrastructure, and an institution that believed in them early. DDT was built to be that institution." — Shawn Short

Creating job opportunities is part of the mission. Meet Taylor Warren, Ngoma Center for Dance's paid video production intern — working alongside the Director to capture Season 20 on and off the floor.

Our pipeline is not a coincidence. It is a design.

2018: the year we scaled.

437 students in The Ngoma School. 14 new works premiered by Dissonance Dance Theatre across a five-production season. 283 more students reached through outreach, with a dedicated access program in Wards 7 & 8.

From the Ngoma Center for Dance Annual Report 2018.

ngcfddt.org

Guest Choreographer Series · No. 01: Ailey II.

Torens Johnson of Ailey II set two works on Dissonance Dance Theatre — Bedtime Stories and Lockdown. He's one of 12+ guest choreographers from internationally respected companies who have made work on DDT.

The full record is public: ngcfddt.org/repertoire

Sometimes you just need a stretch. Teryn Trent between moments at the Dissonance Dance Theatre Season 20 photo shoot — where the work and the play share the same floor.

Film meets dance.

Ngoma FilmWorks — the professional arts media program of Ngoma Center for Dance — launched in 2020 while stages were dark. Since then: Company D named Best Documentary at DC International Cinema, festival laurels across the US, Europe, and Asia, and Deep Inside: DC Black SGL Life now in development.

Our Stories. Our Steps. → ngcfddt.org

Add another one to the record: Dissonance Dance Theatre Resident Choreographer Kareem B. Goodwin is a fellow with the New York Public Library system.

Wins are normal here. We celebrate them as evidence.

Training that takes your child seriously.

The Ngoma School, the educational pillar of Ngoma Center for Dance, offers pre-professional training in classical ballet, Horton modern, and jazz for ages 5–18 at the University of Maryland College Park.

Financial assistance is available — it's part of how this school is built. 25% sibling discount for families with more than one dancer.

Move. Intelligently. → ngcfddt.org