Founding Harvard's 1st Contemporary Dance Company

Let me introduce you to the newest dance group at Harvard, Harvard Contemporary Collective. After a year of collaborative discussion and planning, Harvard’s first professional level contemporary dance company has become a reality.

In October of 2022, we began the year-long process of becoming an official Harvard organization during which we were required to operate at full capacity to be eligible. Although we had extremely limited access to studio space and no funding during this process, we did not let this stop our organization!

During our inaugural season at Harvard, we self-choreographed our own contemporary piece, self-funded our costumes, hosted weekly company classes and two workshops open to the public, and performed on five separate occasions in various productions at Harvard.

Click HERE to watch our debut performance!

After a successful fall semester we continued to provide the dancers in our organization with opportunities by bringing in a guest choreographer in the spring. We performed an original work choreographed by Jessie Jeanne Stinnett, director of Boston Dance Theater. We are thankful for the mentorship that Jessie has brought to our company and look forward to continuing to learn from her. We would like to thank you for your generosity that made bringing in a guest choreographer possible!

Click HERE to watch our spring performance of “Pulse”

As we build a strong reputation and presence on campus, your support would be of utmost value. We are reaching out to you to ask for your help to continue operating and growing as a company.

With your support, we hope to accomplish two main goals:

1. Each semester we will be welcoming a guest choreographer from the contemporary dance industry to set our performance piece for the season! It is extremely valuable to offer advanced opportunities to the company that go beyond student choreography and learning solely from our peers. Through these opportunities, members of the company will continue to grow and expand their contemporary repertoire in addition to gaining a connection in the dance world. Though this is an expensive endeavor, creating a professional environment was one of our original missions for this company!

2. Additionally, as college students, it is not ideal to ask our members to fund their own company costumes. We would love to garner the funds to provide these at limited to no cost to our dancers. This goal allows us to increase inclusivity and eliminates money as a barrier to opportunities for individuals within the company.

Beyond these two main funding goals, we will likely incur additional costs for travel, studio rental, company bonding activities, conducting auditions, and advertising/marketing.

Your donation is an opportunity to make a lasting, legacy impact at Harvard. Our university has two primary dance companies - one is almost 80 years old and the other is turning 30 this year! HCC's intention is to far outlive our time as Harvard students, and we hope that this company will continue to thrive and offer distinguished artists at Harvard the opportunity to grow, perform, and foster community.

Together, with your commitment to helping us reach our goals, we will leave a long-standing legacy in the arts community at Harvard. We would appreciate anything you can contribute, large or small!

Please feel free to share with loved ones, supporters of the arts, and anyone who may identify with our goals! Help us grow the Harvard arts community and provide a professional space for Harvard's contemporary artists to flourish, continue their training, and perform at a high level!

We are sending love to you and yours - thank you from HCC.

HCC Co-Founders,

Payton Thompson, Liliana Price, Gianna Zades