SHORTcuts, An Evening of New Works by Open Dance Project Company Members & Houston-Based Guest Artists

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Open Dance Project (ODP) launches its 2026-27 season with SHORTcuts, an evening of world premiere dance theater “shorts” by ODP company members Sonia Engman, Zuri Humphrey, Margo Smolik and Elyssa Vega and special guest choreographers Laura Harrell, Robbie Moore, and Adele Nickel. The evening also features the historical restoration of Gregg Bielemeier’s “Romance Dance” (1993) restaged by Shaun Keylock and performed by ODP company member Atticus Griffin. Continuing its commitment to family audiences, ODP will offer a one-hour Family Matinee on Sunday October 25 at 4PM with a special pre-performance multi-generational workshop on stage with the dancers and choreographers. Led by ODP Artistic Director Annie Arnoult, workshop participants will build a collaborative piece to be shown at the beginning of Sunday’s show. Family Matinee: October 25 at 4PM. Pre-Show Community Workshop on Stage at 3PM (workshop free with ticket to 4PM show). Open Dance Project’s dual emphasis on performance and education is foundational to its mission and vision, reflected most significantly in ODP’s hiring of self-identified maker/performer/teachers as company members. “Our company members are a dream team of collaborators. They invent, transform, and develop movement ideas for our ensemble works all season long. SHORTcuts gives us an opportunity to focus on their ideas from start to finish and to support the birth of new works by some of the very strongest new choreographers in the dance world,” says ODP Artistic Director Annie Arnoult. ODP is thrilled for the return of the Shortcuts program featuring the choreographic voices of its creative collaborators for the first time since 2022.