ABOUT tbd. dance collective

Company Reel

2018 - 2022

produce modern + contemporary dance performance

create choreographic and performance opportunities for local dancers

collaborate with artists + organizations in the community

engage the community through affordable movement workshops + classes

a bit of HISTORY

tbd. dance collective formed in the late winter of 2014 when a group of dancers  seeking more performance and choreographic opportunities in Nebraska began generating and performing work together. Some had been dancing together for many years in Omaha with various companies, projects, and artists including Mary Waugh Taylor, Maya Taylor, Stephanie Kelley, UNO's The Moving Company, and Omaha Modern Dance Collective. With a wide variety of backgrounds and experience, these dancers gravitated toward one another with one common goal - to keep moving. Without a name for what they were, or a plan for what they were doing, the group began creating together. 

In Spring of 2014, while filling out an application for the Omaha Under the Radar Festival, the name tbd. dance collective was used as a temporary placeholder in order to submit work. Their name truly was, to be determined, until they could think of a better one - which they couldn’t.  Before long, the community began recognizing them as tbd. dance collective and thus, the name stuck. 

In February of 2015, Salt Lake City-based choreographer + community organizer, Liz Ivkovich, organized the first Making Space performance in Omaha, and in doing so, initiated a collaboration that would eventually lead to a partnership between KANEKO and tbd. dance collective. Making Space was an informal, evening length production featuring new, original works by various choreographers + movement artists, and performances by members of tbd. After a well received first performance, Making Space became a biennial event hosted by tbd. dance collective, and the first of many performances that would occur within the galleries of KANEKO. 

In Fall of 2017, co-directors Kat Fackler + Stephanie Huettner founded tbd. dance collective as a non-profit organization, beginning a new journey for the group. Moving into 2022, tbd. has created over 70 original works, 15 evening length productions, worked with nearly 100 collaborators, and created or participated in dance experiences in which 5,000 people have been in attendance. In 2017 they launched MOVEMENT, a collaborative performance + workshop series at KANEKO, and in 2018, DANCE CLUB, an open level community dance class now hosted by Holy Family Community Center.  

Due to a lack of dance venues in Omaha, tbd. created work within non-traditional spaces, and forged relationships with artists and organizations who could help make performances happen. Early projects included performing at The Petshop Gallery during Benson First Friday, at The Slowdown during The Omaha Under the Radar Festival, in an experimental noise show at Bancroft Street Market, and in Omahagraphy - a choreography competition hosted by Motion 41 - which they won! As a result of winning this competition, tbd. was able to organize and produce their first evening length production, Collected Things, in May of 2015. This performance featured various choreographic works created by members of the collective and additional guest artists. 

Each collaboration introduced new venues, spaces, sounds, visuals, and opportunities to expand the presentation of dance, which became a defining element of tbd.’s work. Each performance led to new partnerships and projects, support from the community, and an enhanced vision for modern + contemporary dance in Omaha. 

tbd.’s site-specific work includes movement in galleries, bars, stairways, parks, warehouses, and in ponds. The group has created work utilizing a parachute, headlamps, bike lights, full body nylon bags, wooden sticks, a giant modular platform on wheels, and Styrofoam. tbd. has collaborated with live musicians, filmmakers, photographers, lighting designers, visual artists, and organizations throughout Omaha to create unique dance productions that continually expand upon and challenge perceptions of dance and movement based performance. 

From the beginning, tbd. was, and always will be, an experiment. It is explorative at its core, and radiates the unconventional when moving through new, and unfamiliar space. As a group, we function somewhere between the realms of dance company, artist-driven collective, and non profit organization. Within this experiment, we hope to build and contribute to a thriving and exciting movement community in the Midwest.