Sonia Plumb Dance Company was formed nearly thrity years ago with the mission: to enrich and educate the community through innovative modern dance.We fulfill our mission through performances, classes, Apprentice Training Program, community outreach, arts integration residencies and collaborations with musicians and composers, artists and actors, puppeteers, poets and professors. We are known for reaching beyond the arts community with a diverse repertoire that often reflects upon larger societal issues.  

Artistic Director, Sonia Plumb, is deeply committed to exploring the societal and cultural content of each new project with robust education and outreach programming. Ms. Plumb is a National Artist Teaching Fellow, and has thrice received the Connecticut Office of the Arts Fellowship for Artistic Excellence. In 2015 Plumb was one of nine artists nationwide to receive a Community Legacy Project award for her arts integration program.

SPD annually serves more than 7,500 audiences of all ages – from adults who love watching life performances to students grades K-12 immersed in arts education to college students seeking professional training or expanding their knowledge through experience, to families with children on the Austim spectrum who want to take advantage of the physical and societal benefits of dance class engagement. From the inner cities of Greater Hartford to small towns throughout New England, to international venues, our programs inspire and educate in the classroom, in the community and on the stage. Our nationally recognized arts-integration residencies follow Common Core State and National Arts standards and integrate dance with science, math and literature.

Programs:

Sonia Plumb Dance Company has three primary program areas: Performance, Education and Community Outreach. 

Performances: Our season includes main-stage performances that feature the Company’s high caliber, innovative work. Throughout the rest of the year the Company tours throughout New England and New York to a variety of venues including: colleges, festivals and other theaters.  We aim to premire one full-length dance per year.

Arts Integration and Arts Access: From November through May we focus on bringing our arts integration residencies for grades K-8 to schools throughout Connecticut including: Hartford, New Britain, West Hartford, Farmington and beyond. In addition, we often provide student matinees connected to the Company’s performance season, offering students an opportunity to experience live performance. Turning the Triangle: Geometry and Dance, is just one of our many arts integration programs.

Apprentice Training: In 2016 we immplemented our Apprentice Training Program for talented high school graduates who wish to pursue a career in dance but canot afford to attend a four-year college degree program. Apprentices rehearse, teach and perform alongside Company members, learning dance and life skills along the way. Our graduates have gone on to teach and perform with a variety of dance companies and studios in greater Hartford.

Community Outreach: We offer a multitude of Community Outreach programs (both free and low-cost) that educate the general public about our work such as mini-performances, open rehearsals, lectures and Q&A’s with local professors and library talks that link our performance work with education for adults. 

Classes for ages 4 to 104+: In January 2020 SPD will begin offering on-going dance and wellness classes at a TBD location in Hartford, CT. We are the only dance company in Connecticut to offer a formal training program in modern dance. 

ImpaCT: In 2019 Artistic Director Sonia Plumb began laying the groundwork for a collective inniative to bring together Connecticut’s up and coming and underfunded dance community in an effort to promote dance and increase opportunities for dancers and audiences to see, learn and experience professional dance. ImpaCT is a subsidiary of SPD. 

During this time of the COVID pandemic we premiered Dance of da Vinci 2.0 outside at the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, CT. We subsquently presented Duos & Trios there as well. We are currently preparing to premier Penelope's Odyssey as LiveStream and potentially in person ticketed event for late January/early February.