Impact Report
Jul 2022 - Jun 2023
Northrop in the heart of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus.
Video by Melissa Bartz.
Northrop’s 2022-23 Season sizzle reel.
Photo by Paula Lobo.
(Star Tribune)
Northrop’s 2022-23 Dance Series wowed audiences! There was classical ballet, theatrical evening-length events, three original Northrop Centennial Commissions, and five dance with live music presentations—all on Northrop's Carlson Family Stage or with our presenting partners at Walker Art Center and The Cowles Center.
For the first time, Northrop's Film Series was centered around silent films with live music accompaniment—including Northrop’s historic pipe organ. From rarely seen films of hypnotic charms and feminist protest curated by UMN’s Maggie Hennefeld to classic horror and sci-fi with improvised flair, all film screenings were offered in-person, via livestream, and on-demand.
From soloists making their Northrop debut, choral concerts with accompaniment, and a very meaningful symphonic celebration, every event in the Northrop Music Series featured our historic Aeolian-Skinner Opus 892 pipe organ—one of the largest remaining concert hall pipe organs in the United States.
During the 2022-23 season, three extraordinary Centennial Commissions grew from seeds of imagination to full-blown beauties, debuting on the Carlson Family Stage and at The Cowles Center, our valued partner. Northrop’s dedicated community, through ticket sales, donations, and other giving, supported varied artists to nurture stunning and inspired new dance works. They experienced meaningful and collaborative residencies with campus and community, and they explored ways that art connects us all. Northrop’s Centennial Commissions program started as a way to support artists whose Northrop performances were postponed and canceled due to Covid-19. Its culmination will occur during Northrop’s 2029 centennial.
Three behind-the-curtain celebrations brought attendees up close and personal with some of the world’s best dance artists. Proceeds from these fundraising events helped support Northrop Centennial Commissions.
Limón Dance Company Cast Party
A meet and greet with dancers, plus remarks from Limón Dance Company’s Artistic Director Dante Puleio, made this post-show event a memorable one.
Joffrey Ballet Cast Party
Joffrey Ballet mingled with ticket-holders and enjoyed drinks and appetizers, live music, and remarks from the company’s Mary B. Galvin Artistic Director, Ashley Wheater MBE.
State Ballet of Georgia ENCORE Dinner
This intimate dinner celebration included a social hour, silent auction, and live music. Before the show, guests mingled and heard from State Ballet of Georgia’s Artistic Director, Nina Ananiashvili.
A special thank you to our patrons whose generous support makes Northrop's transformative arts experiences possible. Make your mark on Northrop's future by becoming a Friend today.
We gratefully acknowledge the support from Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Anna M. Heilmaier Foundation, Curtis L Carlson Family Foundation, Minnesota State Arts Board, project support from the National Endowment for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts and RBC Wealth Management. We extend a special thank you to our event sponsors the Graduate Hotel Minneapolis, PNC Bank, and RBC Wealth Management.
Jake Lieder, Emily Bolles, and Trevor Hendrix star in University of Minnesota Duluth Department of Theatre's Spring 2023 production of Singin' in the Rain at the Marshall Performing Arts Center.
Photo by Thressa Schultz.
Though the iconic building sits at the heart of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus, Northrop U of M Tickets and Events provided event ticketing, membership, donation, registration, and other services to the five-campus UMN System and greater communities. Additionally, Northrop staff managed the online calendar for thousands of events taking place on the UMN Twin Cities campus, and more.
Northrop's vision aligns with the teaching, research, and service mission of the University. To achieve it, we serve and work with our partners, students, faculty, staff, and supporters. In 2022-23, we collaborated across the campus and beyond. We offered events to engage people, broaden minds, elicit compassion, make them laugh and sing, and inspire positive change in our world.
Our setting at a world-class university provides us unique opportunities and obligations. We join forces with UMN departments in all disciplines, community organizations, and renowned arts and educational institutions around the world. Events in 2022-23 included:
Audience members watch Aaron David Miller improvise a score for a screening of The Phantom of the Opera.
Photo by Tony Nelson Photography.
The Institute for Advanced Study, University Honors Program, and Northrop once again copresented the Spotlight Series of six free discussions online and in-person at Northrop’s Best Buy Theater. The 2022-23 series focused on how data connect to individual people and to the human condition. Researchers and scientists gave insights into global food insecurity, nursing methods, and brain development. Topics included the Land-Grab University project as outlined by a Citizen Potawatomi tribal member; the role and meaning of public art in society; and a unique partnership between professors in the UMN dance and biomedical engineering departments that has led to a compassionate modeling tool called Bodystorming.
Students attend the Pilobulus Rules @ Play Student Matinee.
Photo by Jayme Halbritter Photography.
During the 2022-23 school year, about 6,400 K-12 students experienced the wonder and inspiration of the performing arts, in-person, online, and through school visits during Northrop programs. To expand our reach and serve as many students as possible throughout the Metro and Greater Minnesota, Northrop created a new dedicated role of Education Coordinator. This new staff member helped expand opportunities and bring customized educational programming into the schools and coordinated visits to our specially designed matinees for students.
With five Student Matinees held at the heart of the bustling UMN campus to choose from, teachers and homeschool instructors brought curious students by the busload. Northrop Ambassadors and helpful staff welcomed them. Northrop’s bus subsidies program and its livestream and on-demand matinee offerings all broaden Northrop's reach to the state's youngest residents.
Students were treated to the “Pride of Minnesota,” at the lively, joyful, and participatory indoor concert of the award-winning UMN Marching Band. Goldy Gopher and the talented student performers brought the energy and enthusiasm of a pep rally and left many of the students in the audience believing they could be on stage one day!
Students in grades 5-12 learned how legendary Mexican-American dancer and choreographer José Limón impacted the modern dance world, saw excerpts from the Northrop Centennial Commission Migrant Mother by Raúl Tamez, and, in an inspirational vignette, saw student dancers from UMN’s dance program perform with the professional dance company.
In a fun-filled guided journey through Latinx dance and culture, students heard personal stories of belonging, participated in a Q&A with trained teaching artists, got up on their feet to learn some dance moves, and viewed excerpts from the Ballet Hispánico repertoire. They came away with a deepened experience of dance.
Fun, engaging, and accessible, Pilobolus performed two high-energy, Rules @ Play matinees that explored how rules actually provide ways to solve problems and overcome challenges. Through discussion and performance, Pilobolus entertained and encouraged students to think creatively and kindly.
Photo by Jayme Halbritter Photography.
Fact one: Pilobolus is named for a fungus! Fact two: If Quincy, a dancer, could choose a superpower, they would definitely want to be able to fly. These are among the fun facts students learned about the performers they were about to see. With the help of the Northrop education coordinator, design team, volunteers, staff, and others, and guided by Minnesota State Educational Standards, Northrop delivered lesson plans, related reading, eye-catching, informational video slideshows, and talking points for discussion for each Student Matinee. Through these materials, students learned about the performers, choreographers, composers, and companies, as well as the history and context of the performances they would witness.
Offstage, our institutional values of inspiration, excellence, connectivity, inclusivity, and collaboration drive efforts to make it easy and affordable to bring K-12 students to Northrop, and also reach out to more students where they are. With the help of local performing arts partners, visiting dance companies, and area community groups, we implemented numerous activities to enhance performing arts appreciation through up-close-and-personal arts experiences.
In a new initiative to create interest in arts jobs for students of color, twelve Northrop employees volunteered their time to engage with a group of Inspire MSP students and give them hands-on activities in Northrop departments. They learned what a career in the arts might look like. They practiced asking donors for contributions, designed show posters, floor plans, “lighting looks” for the stage, and more. These students came away being able to “see themselves in the arts.”
Through the Minneapolis Public School Arts Cultural Experience Program partnership, a Limón4Kids workshop brought second and third grade students at Bethune Community School four days of fun and engagement with the arts. They learned the ingredients of modern dance, facilitated by Limón Dance Company’s artistic director, and attended the student matinee.
Project Success volunteers staff the table where families pick-up performance tickets.
Photo by Jayme Halbritter Photography.
Dancers from Pilobolus teach a movement-based class with students at Franklin Middle School.
Photo by Cristina Castro.
With its central location in the bustling main quad of the UMN Twin Cities campus, students find their way to the iconic Northrop building for outdoor concerts, on-stage performances, lectures, film screenings, and other arts-related events—as well as taking part in study-ins, convocations, graduations, and ceremonies. Meeting up in the Student Lounges before a show, grabbing a meal at The Bistro, finding a quiet window ledge to hit the books, or planning a club event, UMN students gather here for memorable occasions and daily activities throughout their time on campus.
In addition to world-class dance companies, concerts, comedians, and other guest artists, Northrop hosts students’ creative endeavors. Thousands of students from across campus flocked to The Indian Student Association Presents: Shakti, the Vietnamese Student Association of Minnesota Presents VSAM’s 2023 Tet Show: Beyond the Starry Night, Somali Night 2023 presented by The Somali Student Association, Jazba—a Bollywood-fusion dance competition, UMN A Cappella Presents: Battle for the Vox, Welcome Week events, and many commencement celebrations. From state-of-the-art facilities, comfortable, inviting spaces, and dedication to serving student needs, Northrop is a welcoming spot for student expression.
Limón Dance Company performing Psalm.
Photo by Jayme Halbritter Photography.
Participants take part in Ballet Hispánico's Latin Social Dance.
Photo by Melissa Bartz.
In addition to serving UMN and K-12 students and groups, Northrop is committed to expanding access to all of our events. To do this, we work with community partners including Tickets for Kids, Hope Kids, Vet Tix, Project Success, and smARTpass. We helped bring youth and adult audiences from a variety of backgrounds to 2022-23 events at no cost. Project Success offered free child care to their Northrop attendees at key events. At the Invisible Cities/Story Stitch by Green Card Voices, immigrants and their neighbors exchanged stories and shared a meal together. With the aid of the Ukrainian American Community Center, Northrop distributed 300 free tickets to recent arrivals from Ukraine affected by the war in their home country. Transportation, a warm welcome, and tickets to the Kyiv City Ballet performance gave participants a break and a taste of home.
A collaboration between the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, Northrop, Welcome Week, Multicultural Student Engagement, and the School of Music, Amplifying Solidarity is a program of free outdoor events with the intent to use the arts to lift the voices of people who have been marginalized, to welcome the community, students, faculty, and staff back to campus, and to celebrate our campus community. This series of 10 free, weekday events held throughout the summer and fall of 2022 outdoors on the Northrop Plaza Stage featured BIPOC, Queer, and Womxn+ artists. Nearly 900 people stayed to watch, listen, or dance to the music. Featured artists were Annie Mack, Suzy Plays Guitar, LA Buckner & BiG HOMiE, Funktion Junction, Tango Society of Minnesota, DeTrell Melodies, Nur-D, Kalpulli KetzalCoatlicue, Socaholix, and PaviElle.
Performers from A.I.M by Kyle Abraham engage in a panel discussion.
Photo by Jayme Halbritter Photography.
Photo by Tony Nelson Photography.
A Season’s rewards don’t come to fruition without careful tending, growth, and the thoughtful effort of all stakeholders. Northrop’s incredibly generous donors, valued advisory boards, dedicated long-time and newly welcomed, engaged partners, and enthusiastic patrons make it possible.
Holly Radis-McCluskey.
Photo by Glen R. McCluskey.
Intersection: Limõn Dance Company and University of Minnesota Dance Students
Photo by Jayme Halbritter Photography.
Inspire. Grow. Nurture. Bring joy. Transcend and move. Northrop mission: “Rooted in the belief that the arts are essential to the human experience, Northrop is committed to cultivating intersections between performing arts and education for the benefit of all participants now and for generations to come.” Nothing from the 2022-23 Northrop season summarizes the essential core of this statement better than the words, movement, dance, instruction, and transcendental beauty of Limón dancers working in concert with UMN dance students, at Northrop, on a piece with a complex narrative and diverse background. Please enjoy this documentary overview of the experience.
None of our world-class performances, transformative educational experiences, and deeply-rooted partnerships would be possible if not for our loyal, generous, and committed supporters. Today, we ask you to help keep this connection strong by supporting our upcoming work onstage, on campus, online, and in our communities.
Experiences like the Limón residency and commissioned work depend on this generous support to allow the Northrop Centennial Commissions project to continue to create new works, elevate artists, and bring extraordinary presentations to the stage. As we excitedly prepare for Northrop’s 100th Anniversary in 2029, we honor this rich history, and look forward to a vibrant future.
Thank you—we are profoundly grateful for your continued support of Northrop and its commitment to the arts, planting the seeds, nurturing the arts, and ensuring the world-class experiences spread and grow, encompassing a larger and larger share of our communities for many years to come.