Tannery World Dance and Cultural Center

Tannery World Dance and Cultural Center We are a nonprofit world and contemporary dance studio dedicated to providing world class, accessible

https://linktr.ee/twdcc

Tannery World Dance & Cultural Center(TWDCC) facilitates a working home for professional world & contemporary dance artists, while providing dance education that is committed to access, equity, and excellence. Tannery World Dance & Cultural Center’s (TWDCC) programming nurtures, promotes and supports professional and emerging artists from Santa Cruz and the Bay Area. While allowing traditional art

forms to flourish, we encourage world and contemporary artists to take risks, probe traditional definitions, and forge new ideas. Unique to Santa Cruz, Tannery World Dance & Cultural Center(TWDCC) provides a platform for artists of color, artists using traditional structures in contemporary performance to tell their story, and artists looking to breakthrough established forms of presentation. TWDCC provides ongoing community conversation; audiences have opportunities to watch, engage, and learn from performance, curated festivals, artists talks, and community dance classes. TWDCC links artists, audiences, and community throughout Santa Cruz and the Bay Area.

WINTER DANCE FEST ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: NAIA NEAL ✨Join us for an evening of highly dynamic, technical, and expressive conte...
02/04/2026

WINTER DANCE FEST ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: NAIA NEAL ✨

Join us for an evening of highly dynamic, technical, and expressive contemporary dance, drawing from a wide spectrum of traditions and artistic voices. Saturday, February 28th @ Cabrillo Crocker Theater 7:30PM

Naia began her dance training at the age of 7 at Dancenter, a local dance studio in her hometown.

A graduate of the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program, where she was awarded the 2024 Denise Jefferson Memorial Scholarship, she now holds an apprenticeship with Ailey II and a contract with Pangea Dance Collective. Ms. Neal has performed works by Christopher L. Huggins, Hope Boykin, Jonathan Lee, PeiJu Chien-Pott, Clifford Williams, Darshan Singh Bhuller, Ephrat Asherie, and Micha Scott. She also performed in the 2022 Ailey Spirit Gala, Alvin Ailey’s Memoria during Ailey’s 2023 New York City Center season and at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) in 2024, and most recently made an appearance with Ailey II during their 2024-2025 season.

Ms. Neal, also a creative choreographic artist, centers black voices throughout her work. Premiering her first work “Echoes of Her Essence” in the fall of 2025, she showcased the beauty, pain, and strength of black women.

She is now a 2025-2026 Harlem Stage Waterworks Fellow working on the premiere of her latest work “Dear Us”.

TICKETS: https://cabrillovapa.universitytickets.com/w/event.aspx?id=2076

✨ WINTER DANCE FEST Tickets are LIVE — link in bio or via QR code! ✨In honor of Black History Month, Winter Dance Fest f...
02/01/2026

✨ WINTER DANCE FEST Tickets are LIVE — link in bio or via QR code! ✨

In honor of Black History Month, Winter Dance Fest features a powerful lineup of brilliant Black choreographers. Our annual festival showcases highly dynamic, technical, and expressive contemporary dance, drawing from a wide spectrum of traditions and artistic voices.

This season, we are especially excited to welcome back the iconic Dawson Dance SF, alongside the brilliant Talitha Abdiel and emerging artist Naia Neal—an inspiring lineup of bold, visionary movement-makers.

You won’t want to miss this unique evening of high-caliber contemporary dance and artistry.
🎟 Tickets are live — https://tr.ee/TzXIthZLrG

Have you Saved the Date?! WINTER DANCE FEST 2026 Saturday, February 28th Join us for an evening of highly dynamic, techn...
01/27/2026

Have you Saved the Date?! WINTER DANCE FEST 2026
Saturday, February 28th
Join us for an evening of highly dynamic, technical, and expressive contemporary dance, drawing from a wide spectrum of traditions and artistic voices.
@ Cabrillo Crocker Theater 7:30PM

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: TALIHA ABDIEL is a multidisciplinary artist working across dance, film, music, writing, and visual art. Her work explores the intersection of the divine and human beings, moving between flesh and spirit, reality and dream. Rooted in theology, metaphysics, anthropology, and embodied intuition, her practice seeks to reveal the unseen forces that shape identity, desire, and world transformation.

Born in upstate New York to a lineage of artists and mystic rebels, Abdiel was encouraged from an early age to trust her inner world and creative instincts. She went on to earn her BFA from California Institute of the Arts in 2021. Since then, she has performed and choreographed internationally, presenting original work at theaters, festivals, and galleries worldwide including; LA Dance Project, Dance Lab New York, Centre National de la Danse (Paris, France), Dock 11 Theatre (Berlin, Germany), and the Biennale di Venezia Dance Festival (Venice, Italy), among others.

Through an ever-evolving multidisciplinary approach, Abdiel continues to merge movement, image, and sound to create a world that is visceral, spiritual, and deeply human.

Tomorrow! Join us for one of our favorite events of the season 👏🏾Each year TWDCC hosts our student Choreography Night, a...
01/23/2026

Tomorrow! Join us for one of our favorite events of the season 👏🏾

Each year TWDCC hosts our student Choreography Night, a showcase of our dancers’ very own creative work. These emerging artists work so hard on their pieces and we can’t wait to share them with you!

Tickets are almost sold out! Grab yours today ❤️🫶🏾👋🏽

SAVE THE DATE❕❕Winter Dance Fest season is upon us, and we are thrilled to bring this stellar event back to the Santa Cr...
01/17/2026

SAVE THE DATE❕❕

Winter Dance Fest season is upon us, and we are thrilled to bring this stellar event back to the Santa Cruz stage for its 11th year.

A core event of TWDCC, Winter Dance Fest features a powerful lineup of brilliant BIPOC choreographers. Our annual festival showcases highly dynamic, technical, and expressive contemporary dance, drawing from a wide spectrum of traditions and artistic voices.

This season, we are especially excited to welcome back the iconic Dawson Dance SF, alongside the brilliant Talitha Abdiel and emerging artist Naia Neal—an inspiring lineup of bold, visionary movement-makers.

✨ Save the date! Ticket link coming soon.

You won’t want to miss this unique evening of high-caliber contemporary dance and artistry.

After a restful winter break, TWDCC is thrilled to be back in the studio with our dancers 🤍And as we welcome 2026, we’re...
01/12/2026

After a restful winter break, TWDCC is thrilled to be back in the studio with our dancers 🤍

And as we welcome 2026, we’re excited to spotlight our brilliant students and share the inspiration they’re carrying into the year ahead. These photos of our company dancers, captured by , reflect just how powerful and STUNNING they are, and we are so, so proud of them. Definitely adding these to our vision board 🥹👀👏🏾 Stay tuned for more pics soon!

Wishing our community a gentle, healthy, and joyful New Year. We can’t wait to see you in classes, at performances, and at our events throughout 2026 ✨

✨ Meet Zenha. ✨As we approach the end of the year, we’re honored to share a testimonial from one of our scholarship fami...
12/19/2025

✨ Meet Zenha. ✨

As we approach the end of the year, we’re honored to share a testimonial from one of our scholarship families, a parent who generously offered these words to reflect the impact of Tannery World Dance & Cultural Center.

Zenha is a joyful, talented young dancer whose time at TWDCC has been deeply meaningful. Through dance, they’ve found not just movement, but belonging, healing, confidence, and community.

As Zenha often says:
“I can let all of my feelings out when I dance.”

Their parent shared:
“TWDCC is a place of community, acceptance, and JOY!
They have ignited a passion for dance in my child; dance is their therapy and healing balm.
TWDCC works tirelessly to be inclusive of all youth.
This is a shining example of equity in action.”

Because of scholarship support, Zenha has been able to train, perform, and grow as part of our youth program and Company—feeling seen, safe, and celebrated in a space that reflects their culture and identity.

💛 Now through December 31, we’re in our TWDCC Parent Fundraising Campaign.
As part of our year-end giving efforts, we’re raising funds for our SCOPE Scholarship Program to increase our ability to support dancers like Zenha and ensure access to dance for families who need it most.

👉 If you’re able, please consider making a year-end gift:
https://santacruzgives.org/nonprofit/twdcc/

Every dollar truly makes a difference—and all contributions made by December 31 support this effort.

Hello, community ❤️TWDCC is excited to share that our organization is part of the 2025 Santa Cruz Gives campaign! ✨👏🏾Thi...
12/08/2025

Hello, community ❤️

TWDCC is excited to share that our organization is part of the 2025 Santa Cruz Gives campaign! ✨👏🏾

This year, we’re raising funds to grow SCOPEDance, our youth scholarship program designed to ensure access, equity, and excellence in dance for low-income and under-represented young people in Santa Cruz County.

SCOPEDance supports dancers ages 4–19 with free or reduced-cost training. We currently suppprt 20% of our student body. Our 2025 goal: $50,000 to support our students in 2026.

These scholarships open doors not just to high quality dance education, but to confidence, creativity, discipline, belonging, wellness, and community.

If you believe in the power of the arts to transform young lives, we invite you to join us.

Donate today: https://santacruzgives.org/nonprofit/twdcc/ 💛

Thank you as always for your consideration.

Hi community! We have ONE more day to get your merch orders in in time for the holidays! Read more below:Every other sum...
12/02/2025

Hi community! We have ONE more day to get your merch orders in in time for the holidays! Read more below:

Every other summer, our Company dancers travel to NYC to train with professional dancers—a truly unique and deeply meaningful tradition for our young artists and for us as their teachers. This trip lets them train, perform, and immerse themselves in the heart of the dance world.
Even more special: the journey takes us to Director Micha’s home studio, Garth Fagan Dance in Rochester, NY—the birthplace of the inspiration that led to founding TWDCC. Returning with our dancers to that legacy is something we cherish, and we’re raising funds to help make it possible once again. 💛

To kick things off, our amazing parent organizers are launching a Tannery Merch Sale:
“Hi Tannery Families! We are excited to share that we are doing a Tannery Merch Sale to support the 2026 Company New York trip. All proceeds will contribute to the cost of the trip for the dancers. Feel free to share the ordering link with friends and family or order all your holiday gifts! Holiday orders and payment due by 12/2! Otherwise the sale will be ongoing. See order form for material and sizing. Thanks for your support.”
✨ Order your thru the
Tannery Merch Order Form (link in bio

Thank you for supporting our dancers, our company, and this meaningful tradition. Every purchase helps make this transformative experience possible—and you get some stylish Tannery merch to show for it! 💛🩰🗽

Born in Dominica to cultural icons Alwin and Anita Bully, Sade’s artistic roots were nurtured in Kingston, Jamaica, unde...
11/26/2025

Born in Dominica to cultural icons Alwin and Anita Bully, Sade’s artistic roots were nurtured in Kingston, Jamaica, under the tutelage of the late Tony Wilson, OD. Though deeply drawn to the arts, her academic excellence led her to the University of the West Indies, where she earned her medical degree before answering another calling, the stage. She moved to New York to train at The Ailey School and went on to spend six acclaimed years with Garth Fagan Dance, earning praise from major publications for her “razor-sharp extension,” versatility, and “elegance, the blazing sort.” After leaving the company in 2016, she transitioned into choreography, presenting work across Europe and the Caribbean. Today, Dr. Sade Bully-Bell serves as Artistic Coordinator at the American International School of Kingston (AISK) and Artistic Director of the Tony Wilson–founded Company Dance Theatre (CDT), all while embracing her most cherished roles as wife to Mark and mother to River and Zen.

SaBorn in Dominica to cultural icons Alwin and Anita Bully, Sade’s artistic roots were nurtured in Kingston, Jamaica, un...
11/26/2025

SaBorn in Dominica to cultural icons Alwin and Anita Bully, Sade’s artistic roots were nurtured in Kingston, Jamaica, under the tutelage of the late Tony Wilson, OD. Though deeply drawn to the arts, her academic excellence led her to the University of the West Indies, where she earned her medical degree before answering another calling—the stage. She moved to New York to train at The Ailey School and went on to spend six acclaimed years with Garth Fagan Dance, earning praise from major publications for her “razor-sharp extension,” versatility, and “elegance—the blazing sort.” After leaving the company in 2016, she transitioned into choreography, presenting work across Europe and the Caribbean. Today, Dr. Sade Bully-Bell serves as Artistic Coordinator at the American International School of Kingston (AISK) and Artistic Director of the Tony Wilson–founded Company Dance Theatre (CDT), all while embracing her most cherished roles as wife to Mark and mother to River and Zen.

Address

1060 River Street Suite 110/111
Santa Cruz, CA
95060

Opening Hours

Monday 6am - 9pm
Tuesday 6am - 9pm
Wednesday 6am - 9pm
Thursday 6am - 9pm
Friday 6am - 9pm
Saturday 9am - 10pm
Sunday 10am - 7pm

Telephone

18314251440

Website

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