CLEVELAND — The Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C®) Creative Arts Center of Excellence welcomes GroundWorks DanceTheater as a professional company in residence at its Metropolitan Campus beginning January 10, 2024. The company will use the dance studios in the Gill and Tommy LiPuma Center for Creative Arts for its rehearsal space.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, GroundWorks DanceTheater is nationally recognized for its contribution to dance and the enrichment of human experiences in collaboration with some of the most innovative voices in dance today.

“We are excited to establish a formal partnership that fosters connections with students, faculty, and the community at large,” said Emanuela Friscioni, director of Tri-C’s Creative Arts Academy. “GroundWorks and Tri-C share similar artistic values and a commitment to the greater Cleveland community, and we are eager to explore artistic projects that fulfill the missions of both organizations.”

Opened in 1963 as Ohio’s first and largest public community college, Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C®) established its Creative Arts Center of Excellence to offer a world of opportunities for degree-seeking students and those interested in exploring music, visual design, studio art, interior design, photography, dance, film, theatre, media arts, and journalism.

GroundWorks’ founding artistic director, David Shimotakahara, expressed his perspective on the educational and artistic collaboration.

“Through our work and connections with students, faculty, and staff at the College and Creative Arts Academy, GroundWorks looks forward to contributing to Tri-C’s rich legacy of empowering creativity and enriching lives, to being part of and responsive to a diverse, multicultural community, and to inspiring imagination in the next generation of thinkers and innovators,” he said.

GroundWorks joins the Contemporary Youth Orchestra as a creative partner in residence at the Tri-C Metro Campus. For more information, visit Tri-C’s Creative Arts Center of Excellence webpage and groundworksdance.org.

Contact Steve Sucato, GroundWorks DanceTheater Marketing & Communications Manager, at steve@groundworksdance.org for interviews, photos, or any other press questions.