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DanceCo
info@DanceCoMN.com

DanceCo is a Twin Cities professional dance company that specializes in creating and performing original productions inspired by and created for young audiences. The company was founded by husband and wife team, choreographer Matthew Keefe and dancer Brittany Keefe.

In 2023, DanceCo hired a team of dancers and directors and are producing FREE summer dance programs in collaboration with the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation, St. Paul Parks, and Young Dance. New members include Hannah Benditt, Emily Compaan, Kendall Kramer, Anna Novak, Jennifer Mack, Leeah Schuhwerck, and Maria Vitelli.

Families can look forward to a kid-friendly production during MEA Weekend each year. See reviews of some of the past shows below.

Who is DanceCo

Choreographer Matthew Keefe has over 20 years experience in all facets of dance including performance, education, choreography and the business side. He holds an MFA in Dance from the University of Iowa and a certificate in nonprofit management from Rutgers University’s Center for Continuing Professional Development.

Dancer, Brittany Keefe has danced with Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, Ballet Memphis, Minnesota Dance Theatre, James Sewell Ballet, and performed as a solo performer in Europe with choreographer Luca Vigetti. She has worked with  Diane Colberg Bruning in Cali, Columbia and served as the School Director for Rockford Dance Company. Brittany teaches, coaches and is a certified Gyrotonic instructor.

Past Reviews of DanceCo Performances:

Expectation Station – September 2017 & 2019

DanceCo

My family and I had an opportunity to preview Expectation Station in 2017 and we are so excited for the full show. Expectation Station is an original Dance adventure created by DanceCo and featuring a Who’s Who of Twin Cities family entertainment. Engineer Paul of the Choo Choo Bob Show will be the storyteller, while the Roe Family Singers will be backing him up with music. The show will be presented at the Avalon Theatre (home of In the Heart of the Beast Puppet Theatre).

DanceCo was created by Matthew and Brittany Keefe. After moving to the Twin Cities with their young daughter, they discovered all the amazing things our city has to offer families, but found the area of dance relatively untapped and decided to fill it by starting DanceCo.

“DanceCo’s upcoming show is inspired by a year of parenting. Regularly, my daughter and I saw the Roe Family Singers perform and we went to Engineer Paul’s Story time at the Choo Choo Bob Train store. I watched my daughter fall in love with trains and train songs, just like her Dad. I saw an opportunity to craft a stage production that combines trains and their music with dance and theatre to make something new and delightfully different. A show that grandparents, parents and kids can enjoy together.” -Matthew Keefe

What to Expect From Expectation Station

Expectation Station is a train story told through dance and song. Wikipedia’s List of Train Songs fills 71 single-spaced pages of text. This is where the Keefe’s started; but I promise they’ve narrowed it down to a reasonable number. Our preview did not get to include Engineer Paul or the Roes, so we are looking forward to seeing the full production.

Last year, I reviewed the newly-formed DanceCo’s inaugural production – Wolf Tales. Because it was dance, I took my oldest daughter, assuming she would be the most appreciative. She did enjoy it, but I wished I could have brought my boys, too. This year, I brought the whole family, and I’m glad I did. My older two children enjoyed the performance, but it was my kindergarten son who had shiny, excited eyes throughout the whole performance (a truth you can see in the video above). He struggled to stay seated, which was okay, so did a lot of other kids and sometime’s they were invited to participate.

Our toddler also enjoyed the whole performance. This is saying a lot, because 2-year-old children just don’t sit still for anything. (Okay, the video above shows she was sometimes squirmy.) While the younger kids are going to be the most enthusiastic, all of my kids want to go back for the full production.

**Disclosure: We received tickets to this show, but this review was written before that offer was extended and it did not change any opinions.


Which Witch Is Which? – September 2018

Three dancers in a Danceco Production of Which Witch is Which
Which Witch is Which

Which Witch is Which? is has a mid-century detective  theme. Kids are asked to review the clues to help solve a kid-friendly mystery.


Wolf Tales at Minnesota Fringe Festival – July 2016 – Returning in 2021

This week my daughter and I had the opportunity to preview Wolf Tales, which will be one of the Minnesota Fringe Festival shows this year. When I asked my kids who wanted to be my date for a ballet review. My daughter yelled “Me!” and my boys yelled “Not Me!” That was easy. Except, it turned out that this would have been a really fun show for little boys as well as a tween girl.

This show is a mashup of Peter and the Wolf, Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs. Besides the familiar fairy tale connection, this is a good starter ballet because the wolf narrates between numbers, keeping the story moving and easy to follow. There is quite a bit of physical humor, and the show clocks in at just under an hour. There is a nice mix of music and dance styles throughout the show as well.

If your kids don’t know the story and music of Peter and the Wolf, this would be a nice introduction. You could follow up your outing with a movie night to watch one of the many really good versions out there.

Adults will get some of the more subtle humor and pop culture jokes. We’ve all seen and read re-tellings of our favorite fairy tales (The True Story of the Three Little Pigs), but this is the first time I’ve seen one with a cameo (or nine) by Chuck Norris!

Wolf Tales at Danceo
Image courtesy of Danceco

DanceCo, the company behind this show, is a new dance company with a mission to create and perform original dance productions geared toward children. Wolf Tales is their premier production. One of the cool things about the Fringe Festival is that children’s day passes are only $5.00. This would make it worthwhile to get your kids a day-pass just for this one show, and then send them off to grandma’s house while you take in a couple more shows without them. If you want to do the whole circuit with kids, there are 7 shows appropriate for young kids at the festival this year.


We were allowed to sit in on a dress rehearsal to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.

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