About Us

Paul Gillis Photography

Jane Franklin Dance partners with digital and visual artists, neighborhood participants, composers and musicians.  A vibrant part of the metro area cultural community, the company has been presented at the Velocity DC Dance Festival at Sidney Harman Hall, Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival, Source Festival, INTERSECTIONS: A New America Arts Festival at Atlas Performing Arts Center, Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Dance Place, Grace Street Theater, Dance Bethesda, Old Dominion University’s Choreographers’ Showcase, New York’s International Dance Festival, Charlotte Dance Festival in North Carolina, Richmond’s “Yes, Virginia-Dance!” and internationally in Mexico with the interactive Temporal Interference, which was then performed at College of Arts & Media at University of Colorado Denver.

Collaborative projects have received funding in multiple years from the Virginia Commission, the Alexandria Commission, and the Arlington Commission for the Arts, American Composers Forum – Washington DC Chapter and from foundations including Arlington Community Foundation and Washington Forrest Foundation.  Jane Franklin is a recipient of the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region Creative Communities Initiative grant for a dance/video project inspired by round wall skateboarding.  A kinetic sculpture dance, Incidence, was presented by Mead Theatre Lab, a project of the Cultural Development Corporation.  Recently Jane Franklin received a Special Opportunity Award from the Alexandria Commission for the Arts for a two-part temporary public art project.  Jane Franklin is a recipient of the American Association of University Women Elizabeth Campbell Award for the Advancement of the Arts in Arlington.

Jane Franklin Dance conducts ongoing outreach for older adults and youth.  Forty + a performing group of community based dancers past the age of 40 has been seen at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “Diversity Day, in concert programs by Jane Franklin Dance, and in workshops and performances at numerous centers serving older adults.  Two books by Baltimore writer Elizabeth Spires have been adapted into performances for children.   Jane Franklin Dance has been recognized by Virginia’s Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts and the company tours for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Paul Mellon Arts in Education Program and the Virginia Commission’s Tour Directory.  The company performs for young audiences through The Arts Council of Fairfax County Creative Arts Program and the Arlington County Humanities Project.