JUNE 20 (8 pm) & 21 (7 pm: THE GATHERING

Kia The Key & C0mpany brings this dance event to the Dance Complex at 536 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge. The Gathering is an evening length  performance experience that brings communities together through the joy, power, and history of Street and Club dance. Weaving live DJ sets, poetry, storytelling, and movement, the work creates an immersive environment where rhythm, memory, and shared presence take center stage. Rooted in African Diasporic social dance traditions, The Gathering honors the cultural spaces where these forms were born, including family gatherings, clubs, parks, basements, basketball courts, and outdoor cyphers (in hip-hop culture, a circle of rappers/dancers improvising). For this Dance Complex Series performance, the theater is intentionally re-imagined as a communal space, cultivating the same energy, freedom, and connection found in those original gathering places. The audience is not just watching; they are part of the exchange. At its core, The Gathering is about togetherness. It creates a space for dancers, non-dancers, and community members to connect across differences, feel with one another, and recognize shared humanity. They are full of joy, rhythm, and spirit, with the performance being both a celebration and a declaration that affirms Street and Club dance as living cultural practices that are powerful sites of community, belonging, and joy. Created in collaboration with professional dance artists from New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, the work reflects inter-generational knowledge, lived experience, and collective joy. Inspired by the artist’s upbringing immersed in Hip-Hop culture in Springfield, Massachusetts, The Gathering invites audiences into a personal and communal journey through American social dance shaped by resilience, creativity, and celebration. KIA THE KEY & COMPANY was established in 2022. This project-based dance company is one of the primary spaces where Shakia “The Key” Barron develops and shares choreographic research. Based in Western Massachusetts, the company is grounded in Street and Club dances. Through this work, Shakia explores how these forms carry cultural memory, communal wisdom, and embodied knowledge that is deeply connected to the African Diaspora. The company brings together a diverse group of dancers across race, nationality, and background. Working with dancers that reflect a wide range of lived experiences and diversity deeply informs the company’s creative process and stories told. Shakia “The Key” Barron is an accomplished choreographer, performer, and educator specializing in African Diasporic Street and Club dance forms, with a focus on Hip-Hop, House, and Funk styles. She is the Dr. Virginia Apgar Assistant Professor of Dance at Mount Holyoke College and the Artistic Director of Kia The Key & Company. She has choreographed and directed over 70 works presented at colleges, festivals, and renowned dance institutions including Bates Dance Festival and Jacob’s Pillow. As a performer, Barron has toured nationally and internationally with Face Da Phlave Entertainment, Illstyle and Peace Productions, and Rennie Harris Puremovement, and has shared stages with major Hip-Hop artists and NBA halftime productions.Tickets for this event may be obtained at www.dancecomplex.org

JULY 24: DEREK HOUGH SYMPHONY OF DANCE: ENCORE

Following the sold-out successes of “Derek Hough Symphony of Dance”, “Derek Hough Dance for the Holidays:, and “Derek Hough Live: The Tour”, the amazing EMMY® award winning Derek Hough returns with this all new and innovative and exciting dance “ENCORE” experience for 2026. Hough has been wowing American audiences with his talents for years. From being a pro in Dancing With The Stars to becoming a judge and starring in Hairspray Live, this man of many talents has done it all! Don’t miss the dancing king as he dances his way to you! The Boch Center Wang Theatre at 270 Tremont Street brings this live dance show that features new high-energy choreography, stunning staging, astounding versatility and, as always, Derek’s magnetic ad unrivaled stage presence.  He brings the audience along in a journey through of true fusion of dance and music as he explores styles ranging from ballroom, tap, salsa, hip-hop and everything in between, making this show perfect for everyone.The co-creators, directors and supervisers of the choreography for the tour are the two-time EMMY® winners, Napoleon and Tabitha Dumo, also known as NappyTabs. They were the creative genius behind (Jennifer Lopez’s ‘All I Have’ Residency; Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour; along with the GRAMMYs® creative direction, Derek Hough Symphony of Dance: Encore is produced by Greg Young of Mojave Ghost, a Tony Award & Drama Desk-Award nominated producer. He’ has also produced the award-winning Broadway shows tha tinclude Bob Fosse’s Dancin’, The Illusionists, Little Women, and Wait Until Dark, as well as , Las Vegas Residencies for Derek Hough: No-Limit! and Donny Osmond’s Show. Tickets for this unforgettable production b may be obtained atwww.bochcenter.org