Founded by Artistic Director Randy Swartz, Dance Celebration is the Greater Philadelphia region's major contemporary dance series and nationally-recognized leader in its field.  For the past 26 seasons, Dance Celebration has been a collaboration between Dance Affiliates and Penn Presents at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. 

The Dance Celebration annual series engages a broad range of world-class and emerging dance companies each season.  As a major cultural asset to the city and region, the program helps enhance the quality of life of both residents and visitors.
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Supporting Dance Celebration's primary mission of presenting and commissioning is a commitment to the presentation of diverse styles and choreography, cultures and nationalities; the cultivation of broadly-based adult and children's audiences; the enrichment of the school curriculum through quality children's matinees, arts education, and outreach; collaborations with performing arts partners in the field; and service to the local dance community through workshops, master classes, seminars and symposia.

Throughout its illustrious history, Dance Celebration has had ancillary series including the edgy NextMove Festival (1987-2003), the groundbreaking Monday Night Series (1986-1998), and numerous Special Events (1987-2006). Nikolais Dance Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Pilobolus Dance Theatre and Murray Louis Dance Company launched the inaugural season at Annenberg Center in 1983, followed in subsequent years by modern dance legends Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Alvin Ailey, Bella Lewitsky and Jose Limon.

Parsons Dance Company (1988), Mark Dendy (1989) Garth Fagan Dance (1990), and Rennie Harris PureMovement (1995) have highlighted the NextMove Festival series that featured 56 companies/productions.  International company highlights include the celebrated National Dance Company of Spain (Nacho Duato), Nederlands Dans Theater, Grupo Corpo, Sydney Dance and DanceBrazil.  Philadelphia’s own Philadanco debuted on the series and returned for the world premiere and very successful multi-year run of a DC-commissioned work, Xmas Philes.

Innovative Dance Celebration program initiatives have included “Core Company Commitment” in which six companies - Pilobolus, Parsons, River North Chicago Dance Company, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, MOMIX and Paul Taylor - were presented every other year and received a commission for a new work with its world premiere held in Philadelphia.  The “Live Music Initiative” supports collaborations between musical ensembles and dance companies to perform live during a company’s Dance Celebration engagement.  The Parsons/Ahn Trio and the Paul Taylor and Curtis Institute collaborations are examples of this initiative.

Significant funding for the 2008-2009 Dance Celebration season is provided by the William Penn Foundation and also in part by The Connelly Foundation, Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation, Samuel S. Fels Fund, Friends of Dance (Affiliates), Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Pennsylvania Presenters, The Philadelphia Cultural Fund, Virginia C. Mulconroy Fund of The Philadelphia Foundation.