dance

There's plenty of song and celebration this season with holiday concerts and shows around Kansas City.

At SantaCaliGon Days, Independence’s annual festival, a troupe of dance moms serves soft pretzels to help pay for expensive competitions and costumes. Their salty, pillowy pastries have gained a following of their own.

The Crossroads bar Society has become Kansas City's hub of social dancing, with two nights every week dedicated to salsa, bachata, cumbia and merengue. For beginners, it's a place to practice your moves — for experienced salseros, it's an "injection of life."

The Crossroads bar Society has become Kansas City's hub for Latin dancing. For beginners, it's a place to practice your moves. For experienced salseros, it's an "injection of life." Plus: Frog gigging is a dying art that still draws thousands to Missouri marshes.

In the late 1800s, a new dance took the country by storm, and Kansas City was home to one of its biggest stars. Meet Doc Brown, “Prince of the Mincing Step," “King of the Order of Mixed Gaits," and “Cakewalk Champion of Missouri and the World.”

The American dance craze known as 'the cakewalk' began as a form of resistance by enslaved Black people — a showy promenade that concealed a mockery of slave owners. Now, modern devotees are marking the life of its most charismatic and famous champion, Kansas City’s own Doc Brown.

Kansas City has been swinging since the 1930s and a vibrant dance community keeps the tradition active. Whether you're a beginner or pro, KCUR put together this guide to the different styles of swing dance, and the meet ups, classes, and organizations that the city has to offer.

When hip-hop hit Kansas City streets, the effect was immediate. The new sound took over record stores, local high schools and underground dance parties. As the country celebrates 50 years of the art form, Kansas City honors its own contributions to the culture.

The inaugural market had more than 10 Indigenous vendors as well as dancing exhibitions and a vaccine station. Organizers said it brought people of many different tribes together and taught the public about Native American culture.

A piano phenom from Overland Park is making waves in the world's most prestigious competitions, and he's still in middle school. Plus: The Kansas City Ballet is getting into the spooky mood with the North American premiere of "Jekyll and Hyde," bringing the 1886 gothic horror classic to life through dance.

Kansas City audiences will be the first on the continent to see Robert Louis Stevenson's Gothic novella in ballet form. Celebrated choreographer Val Caniparoli consulted with dancers in the area to help shape the work.

The marching band and drill team’s founder, Willie Arthur Smith, is retiring after more than 50 years of entertaining crowds in Kansas City and beyond.