Saint Louis Dance Theatre (STLDT) closes its Love Languages season with a company premiere of Stephanie Martinez’s Kiss, a work hailed by the Idaho Statesman as “enthralling twists in music and movement,” running May 29-31, 2026, at COCA’s Catherine B. Berges Theatre.
Martinez, named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” in 2022, has created more than 70 works for companies including the Joffrey Ballet, Ballet Hispánico, BalletX and Cincinnati Ballet. A choreographer of Mexican and Native American heritage based in Chicago, she founded PARA.MAR Dance Theatre in 2020 and became the first Chicago woman of color to choreograph for the Joffrey’s main company.
Kiss world premiered in October 2020 on an industrial red carpet laid across a parking lot in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood, where nine masked dancers performed for socially distanced audiences seated on camp chairs. Born out of pandemic necessity, the work has since been staged by Cincinnati Ballet, presented at the Carmel Dance Festival and expanded into a full-length collaboration with Ballet Des Moines. STLDT marks the first St. Louis company to perform the work.
Martinez has a history with STLDT, having created Destino, Roto for the company in 2017 as part of Dance St. Louis’ “New Dance Horizons V: Women Who Inspire” at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.
“Stephanie’s work embodies everything we believe about dance at STLDT – that it belongs to everyone, not just the concert hall,” said Erin Warner Prange, STLDT’s executive director. “A work that began in a neighborhood parking lot, offered to the community, now arrives on our stage as part of a season dedicated to human connection. Stephanie and STLDT share a core value: world-class dance should be accessible to everyone. Our Champions for Community initiative which includes our Senior Embrace program, Community Night, Youth Access Program, and Kids Circle programming are prime examples of how we live that out in St. Louis.”
The Spring Series program also features additional repertoire selections, with the full lineup to be announced at stldancetheatre.org.
Tickets start at $25 (student) and are available at stldancetheatre.org
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