We’ve selected a choreographer line-up for our 18th annual Summer production – Groovers & Makers 2026 – happening July 30 – August 1st 2026 at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis! Meet the folks with whom we are so excited to work this coming Summer:
Karla Grotting – Twin Cities-Local Choreographer
Karla Grotting is a dancer, choreographer, and educator working with a unique blend of dance styles. She has proudly performed with Flying Foot Forum, Combustible Company, Off-Leash Area, Jazzdance: by Danny Buraczeski, Keane Sense of Rhythm, and the MN Jazz Dance Co. She is on faculty at St Olaf College. Her teaching philosophy emphasizes the history of jazz dance, tap dance, social dance forms, and improvisation; exploring the connections of these histories and their relationship to concert and theater jazz dance. Karla has most recently choreographed for musical theater works at the University of MN Theater Department (CABARET) and Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis (How the Grinch Stole Christmas). Karla has been a McKnight Dancer Fellow and City Pages’ Artist of the Year.
Karla Grotting’s new work for the show will explore the hard swinging, emotionally wide-ranging, irresistible grooves of inter-Scandinavian drummer/ composer/ band leader Snorre Kirk.
Maiya Redding – Visiting Choreographer (New York, NY)
Maiya Redding is from Chicago and now resides in NYC. She graduated from SUNY Purchase in 2016 with a BFA in Dance. In 2022, she earned her MFA in Dance from Hunter College. Since graduating, has been an adjunct professor at Hunter College, Montclair State University, and Hofstra University, currently serving as a Special Assistant Professor, teaching modern, jazz, and ballet. In the summer of 2023, she was selected by the University of North Carolina School of the Arts as one of the choreographers for their Choreographic Institute Residency Program, where she choreographed her work “Rely on Time to…” Recently, Maiya was nominated for the Black Excellence Award of Chicago for her piece “Chicago Luvin,” choreographed on the Joel Hall Dancers.
Maiya will be creating a work that reflects the music she was raised listening to while growing up in Chicago – classic jazz and house – exploring both the duality and the similarities between them through jazz movement.
Alexis Robbins – Visiting Choreographer (New Haven, CT)
Alexis Robbins (she/her) is a choreographer, performer, producer, educator, writer, and dance advocate based in New Haven, CT. Robbins received her B.A. in Dance and B.S. in Exercise Science from Hofstra University, and is an alumna of the Tap Program at Jacob’s Pillow. As the Artistic Director and Choreographer of her project based dance and music company, kamrDANCE, Robbins has shown her work throughout NYC, New Jersey, and New England, and created five dance films. kamrDANCE has produced many sold-out, evening length performances and split-bills, and is currently creating The Mercy Velvet Project, a full-length, multidisciplinary 90’s rock opera with dance and live instrumentation. Robbins is a 2025 New England Dance Fund awardee from the New England Foundation for the Arts, and an Artist Fellowship awardee from the Connecticut Office of the Arts. Robbins has been a guest choreographer and teacher for various universities and organizations including Montana Dance Arts Association, Springfield College, Connecticut College, and Hofstra University.
Alexis will be creating a tap dance piece through the lens of contemporary jazz that explores how we can collectively communicate through rhythm and learn more about ourselves in the process.
RS Artistic and Executive Director Erinn Liebhard will also be creating a new work for the show. We hope you can join us this Summer to experience the vibrant connections created by new artistic works inspired by jazz and American social dance 🙂
Rhythmically Speaking 