Innovation, collaboration, and celebration: USC Kaufman’s Fall 2025 lineup marks 10 years of dance excellence.

By USC Kaufman Staff

The USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance is proud to announce its lineup of performances and events for the Fall 2025 semester, continuing the School’s 10th Anniversary Celebration. With special guest artists, new faculty works, a landmark cultural residency, and a collaboration with Ballet BC, the fall honors a decade of artistic excellence and creativity.

Special guests, Artists-in-Residence, and faculty makers for Fall 2025

The making and staging of new and existing works with guest artists and faculty makers is a key component of USC Kaufman’s mission to provide unique rehearsal and performance opportunities for its dance majors. The fruit of their work comes full circle at the end of each semester during the school’s professionally-produced showcase performances.

To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the School, USC Kaufman welcomes back Aidan Carberry and Jordan Johnson (BFA ’19), inaugural members of the Kaufman BFA program and founders of L.A.’s own JA Collective. As artists-in-residence from September 8-29, the duo will create a world premiere with BFA students, marking their first return to campus as guest choreographers. JA Collective has recently performed with San Francisco Dance Works and internationally as part of Friends of Forsythe in Portugal and France. The company will also take part in the upcoming USC Visions & Voices performance Decades of Dance in LA at Bovard Auditorium on September 18.

Fall 2025 also amplifies continuing relationships with incredible dance artists from both coasts. Beloved Alvin Ailey dancer-turned-choreographer Hope Boykin returns for her third residency at USC Kaufman. Boykin’s last work … Loving Well, captivated audiences at the school’s debut at the Jacob’s Pillow International Dance Festival in 2023, as well as The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in 2022. Additionally, Emmy Award-winning choreographer Tyce Diorio, whose energetic 2023 piece, Balkan Beatbox, was a crowd favorite, will also be returning for new work set on USC Kaufman BFA students. Both bring their unique voices back to Kaufman for mentorship and new creative processes. Students will also have the opportunity to work with Paris-based artists Bintou Dembélé and Leïla Ka, who are part of USC Kaufman’s largest international dance exchange to date.

To honor faculty contributions to the School’s evolution, founding faculty members d. Sabela grimes and Jackie Kopcsak will create new works. Grimes’ hybrid hip-hop piece ‘Til I Thirst famously closed Kaufman’s first public performance in Fall 2015 — and his work continues to evolve and inspire. Kopcsak, who also serves as USC Kaufman’s Assistant Dean of Programming and Special Projects, will create her third original work for Kaufman students. 

Renowned choreographer Kyle Abraham, USC Kaufman’s Claude and Alfred Mann Endowed Professor in Dance, will also return this fall to work with students in a series of technique classes and repertory workshops. Abraham has contributed several prominent works to the USC Kaufman repertory, including the creation of Medulla Problems, which was featured during the school’s debut appearance at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 2024.

A landmark collaboration: City of Angels / City of Light

City of Angels / City of Light: Sneak Peek and Q&A
October 16 & 17 | 7:30 PM 
Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center

USC Kaufman hosts an informal “sneak peek” into the creative work of two renowned French choreographers. In this true Transatlantic Exchange, dancers from USC Kaufman will share the stage with students from the Paris Conservatory (Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris). French Choreographers Leïla Ka and Bintou Dembélé will be present to introduce their work and participate in various panel discussions and Q&A.

Encore performance: USC Kaufman with Ballet BC at The Soraya

Ballet BC and USC Kaufman: BOLERO X
November 15 | 8:00 PM
The Soraya Center for the Performing Arts

Vancouver-based Ballet BC, Canada’s leading contemporary dance company and the resident company of The Soraya, returns to SoCal. Dancers from USC Kaufman will perform alongside Ballet BC company members in a work by Israeli choreographer Shahar Binyamini. Set to Maurice Ravel’s iconic score, Binyamini’s BOLERO X has received emphatic reviews in Montreal and Vancouver, hailed as breathtaking, a triumph, and a sweeping expression of joy.

USC and student-centered performances and events

Decades of Dance in L.A.: Celebrating 20 Years of Visions and Voices and 10 Years of USC Kaufman
September 18 | 7:00 PM
Bovard Auditorium

Presented by USC Visions and Voices and the USC Kaufman School of Dance.

Senior Spotlights (Friends & Family)
October 24 | Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center
A stunning evening of solos and group works by the Class of 2026.

Advanced Composition
October 29-30 | Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center
Original choreography from juniors and seniors highlighting their growth as artists. 

Soph Launch
November 6 | Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center
A studio showing of works-in-progress by Second-Year BFA students.

Trojan Family Weekend
November 6-8 | Campus-wide
A special campus-wide welcome for the families of current students.

Elective Experience
November 21 | Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center
USC students from across disciplines share final works from fall elective courses in Hip-Hop, Ballroom, and more.

Fall BFA Showcase
December 4-6 | Bing Theatre
The semester’s culminating event features world premieres by leading choreographers and the extraordinary talent of USC Kaufman’s BFA students.

Performances, dates, and times are always subject to change. Visit us online for future updates and ticket information.

Public programs/performances are open to all eligible individuals. USC Kaufman operates all of its programs and activities consistent with the University’s Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor.