Your Stage, Your Artists

Your Stage, Your Artists

When I left my principal dancer position after a decade of spending six months performing and six months bound by a contract that prevented me from working elsewhere, I knew there had to be a better way. Professional dance artists in Columbia deserve sustainable careers—without feeling they must leave for a “real” arts city to thrive. 

Audiences deserve more, too: 

DYNAMIC PERFORMANCES CREATED BY ARTISTS WHO ARE RESPECTED, SUPPORTED AND FULLY INVESTED IN THEIR CRAFT.

Columbia Repertory Dance Company exists because this community believes professional dance belongs here. The stage we step onto is not just ours—it is yours. And the artists who bring it to life are your artists.Cola Rep Dance Co Dancer Carrie Preus in Stephanie Wilkins An Internal Growl  at the Koger Center for the Arts August 2025

When you give, you invest directly in local professional dancers who have chosen to build their careers in South Carolina. Your support allows them to create new work, collaborate at a high level, and perform with integrity and purpose—right here at home. Every dollar we raise is reinvested into strengthening the experience for both dancer and patron, because 

A healthier creative process results in more powerful performances.

Professional dance does more than entertain. It challenges, inspires, and connects us. It strengthens Columbia’s cultural identity and ensures that excellence is something we cultivate, not import.Photo by Kevin Kyzer: Nicolas White and Sidney Ramsey in Stephanie Wilkins Ache at CMFA Artspace in 2023
 

Our season reflects that commitment. Each year, we engage in multidisciplinary performances across Columbia—from intimate gallery spaces to full-scale productions on major stages—while collaborating with community partners to provide South Carolina dancers with meaningful, year-round professional opportunities.

Our August evening-length premiere at the Koger Center for the Arts anchors the season, followed by appearances supporting fellow nonprofit organizations, touring engagements, and partnership performances throughout

the year. In Spring 2027, we will produce the South Carolina Dance Festival, welcoming professional and pre-professional companies from across the region to Columbia to experience—and contribute to—the vibrant dance community we are building.

Join us. Stand behind the artists who move our city forward. When you support Columbia Repertory Dance Company, you are not simply funding a performance—you are building a sustainable future for professional dance in our community.

With gratitude,

Bonnie Boiter-Jolley

Co-Founder & Managing Director; Cola Rep Dance Co