Dance Source Houston presents Barnstorm Dance Fest each year celebrating the breadth, depth, and diversity of dance in Greater Houston and beyond. Barnstorm showcases the vibrancy of dance in Houston and provides audiences with an exciting sampling of dance genres. Begun in 2015, Barnstorm includes three unique programs and showcases more than 25 works annually, including live performance and dance on film, as well as workshops led by festival choreographers, post-show artist panels, and more. The festival features dancemakers from our city, region, and across the country. Highlighting the emerging and established dancemakers working in a wide range of styles and featuring both newcomers and audience favorites, each program is presented twice during the festival.

Barnstorm Dance Fest 2024 Details:
May 28 – June 1 at MATCH

Applicant Eligibility:

  • Individuals, collectives, and organizations working in any dance genre.
  • Applicants do not have to be Houston area residents. A select number of out of town artists are featured each year.
  • Choreographers and cast must be 18 and older, or have an intergenerational cast and have received approval from Dance Source Houston.
  • Those whose works were selected for inclusion in Barnstorm for the past two consecutive festivals (2022 & 2023) are not eligible.

Selection Process: Each year DSH tasks a different panel of 3 dance leaders with curating the festival lineup by prioritizing DSH’s mission as well as the the core goal of the festival to showcase the breadth, depth, and diversity of dance in Greater Houston and beyond.

Live Performance Application

Deadline: CLOSED – Friday, November 3 at 11:59pm CST
Application fee: $20*
All applications and support materials will only be accepted through Submittable.

Time Limit: Proposed works should be between 5 – 15 minutes in length.  Excerpts of longer works may be submitted. Works may be complete or in progress at time of submission.

Genre: Dance Source Houston encourages submissions from all genres of dance.

*Fee:
An application fee of $20 must be paid for each submitted piece. Pay the application fee here. The fee is waived for individuals and organizations with a current Dance Source Houston membership as of the submission date.

Timeline:
Applications will be accepted September 7 – November 3.
Artists will be notified of the panel’s decision by the end of January 2024.

Dance on Film Application

Deadline: CLOSED – Friday, November 10 at 11:59pm CST
Application fee: $15*
All applications and support materials will only be accepted through Film Freeway.

Time Limit: Proposed works should be between 3-9 minutes in length. Films must be complete at time of submission.

Genre: Dance Source Houston encourages submissions from all genres of dance.

*Fee:
An application fee of $15 must be paid for each submitted film. The fee is waived for individuals and organizations with a current Dance Source Houston membership as of the submission date. Members will receive a discount code to apply the waiver.

Timeline:
Applications will be accepted October 10 – November 10. Artists will be notified of the panel’s decision by the end of January 2024.

Questions?

Have questions about the festival? Read our FAQs for the answers to commonly asked questions. If it’s not answered there please send us a message at [email protected] with “Barnstorm Question” as the email subject. Thanks!

Past Festivals

ARCOS Dance 

Alisa Mittin 

Andee Scott 

Becky Valls 

Catalina Alexandra 

City Dance / Jaimee Vilela Navarrete 

Cori Miller 

Dark Circles Contemporary Dance 

Dionne Noble 

FLY Dance Company 

Jasmine Hearn 

Joel Rivera 

LEON Contemporary Dance Company 

LaFeiama 

Lori Yuill 

MET Dance 

Nritya Dance Company 

Open Dance Project 

Sonkiss’d Dance Theater 

Texas A&M Dance/Jane Weiner 

Tribe Kalyani 

Ad Deum Dance Company

Amy Elizabeth

Ashley Horn

Autumn Knight

Brittany Bass

ChapmanDance

Courtney D. Jones/CDJ DANCE

Dark Circles Contemporary Dance/Joshua L. Peugh

Dwain Travis

Emily Robison

Felicia Thomas

Group Acorde

Helanius J. Wilkins

Houston Repertory Dance Ensemble

iMEE

Jacquelyne Jay Boe

Jasmine Hearn

John Beasant III

Laura Gutierrez

Roxanne Claire

The Theorists

6 Degrees

AJ Garcia-Rameau 

ARCOS 

Abijan Johnson

Bombshell Dance Project 

Brother(hood) Dance! 

Danielle Georgiou Dance Group 

ENZO CELLI | Vivo Ballet

Elijah Gibson

Felicia Thomas

Group Acorde

Heather vonReichbauer

Jennifer Mabus

John Beasant III

Kalpana Subbarao

Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company 

Laura Harrell

Michelle Cantua

Nritya Dance Company

Open Dance Project

Tawnya Kannarr

Timithy Holecek

Ty Lewis

Abijan Johnson

Alexa Capareda

Allen LaPoint

Ashley Horn

Ayan Felix

Elijah Gibson

Eric Williams

Evelyn Toh

Indian Raga

Jordan Fuchs

Kara Stenz & Katie Rodrigues

Kate Rash

Kathak Rhythms

Lindsay Gary

Lisa Harris

NobleMotion Dance

Sal Maktoub

Sam Hendricks

Samskriti

Shanon Adame

The Theorists

Travis Prokop

Adam Castaneda

Ayan Felix 

Derek Nicholson 

Full Circle Dance

Group Acorde 

iMEE 

Jaime Frugé-Walne 

Jennifer Mabus 

Joel Aguilera 

Kalpana Subbarao

Luke Smith

MotionVivid 

Open Dance Project 

Rasika Borse & Soul Feet Dance

Renzo Jimenez 

Shaun Keylock 

Tejas Dance 

Teresa Chapman 

The Anjali Dance Company 

Uwazi Zamani

Anna Bauer

Bones and Memory Dance / Heather vonReichbauer

Carlos Perez

Claudia Orcasitas

Jacqueline Bobet

Jennifer Mabus

Jessica Figueroa

Joel Aguilera

Kanami Nakabayashi

KoumanKe’le’ African Dance & Drum Ensemble

Mark Gonzalez

Mohini Studio / Saraswathy Lakshmivaraham

Nia’s Daughters Movement Collective / Stacey Allen

Rivkah French Choreography

Roberta Paixao Cortes

SalaRu Sri Lankan Cultural Academy / Saliya Bandara Ilankoon

Shaun Keylock Dance Company

Tehillah Hartmann

Ty Lewis

Ventana Ballet

*Due to the necessary shift from the in-person, live performance format to the 2020 digital version, not all selected artists were able to participate in the festival.

Aimed Dance

Ayan Felix

Blake Daniels

ChrisMastersDance | Ex-Fiancée

Clara A. Mohagen

Donna Crump

Evelyn Toh

Ilia Borodine

Jakari Sherman | Company XV

JuJu Strolling Thru

Justin Curry

Kay Collymore

Kemi OG

Kirstin Grbic ft. S.O.U.L.A.S.P.H.E.R.E.

Mark Freeman

Marta Arjona | Maite Blasco | Raquel Rodríguez

Matty Owens

Morgan Sandlin

Sadhana & Bhavana Gollapudi

SETSVN

Shaun Keylock

Social Movement Contemporary Dance

Sonali Loomba

The Pilot Dance Project

Timothy Amirault

Two To Tango 

Tyler Orcutt

YungChris

Aileen Li

Anna Bauer & Jairus Carr

Chathuri Nirosha

Helanius J. Wilkins

Jessie Ferguson

Katie Nicole Harmon

Kaylah Alexander

Keeley Dunnam

LaKesha Sowell

Loren Holmes

Jennifer Akalina Petuch & Annali Rose

Jen Passios & Jacob Regan

Jennifer Salter

Jennifer Scully-Thurston

John Beasant III

Justin Curry

Lauren Serrano

Mark Freeman

Matty Owens

Nia’s Daughters Movement Collective

NobleMotion Dance

Quinton Brooks

Stacey Allen

Tempest McLendon

Terrill D. Mitchell

TranScend Motion | Sarah Tran

Travis Lake

Uwazi Zamani

*Artists in italics denote dance on film.

2023 Festival curators: Lavanya Rajagopalan, Armando Silva, and Jennifer Sommers