Columbus Dance Theatre is a contemporary ballet company, school, and local arts presenter. Founded in 1998, CDT will present its 12^th annual season in its home theatre, the Fisher Theatre, and at various venues throughout metro-Columbus and nationally.   CDT is a nationally recognized arts organization with a significant history of community involvement through its professional company, school, and its new role as a leading sponsor of independent artists in Central Ohio.  Columbus Dance Theatre will partner with multiple arts and community organizations during this ninth season including:  Opera Columbus, Carpe Diem String Quartet, Thurber House, The Lancaster Festival, Children’s Dance Workshop of Florida, WOSU-Television, Mid-Ohio Food Bank, and First Community Church. Dozens of artists of national and international caliber will participate in CDT’s season. Columbus Dance Theatre will unite the Columbus arts community in a season of dance that both entertains and encourages social understanding.

Who is Columbus Dance Theatre –

Columbus Dance Theatre revitalized the Columbus dance scene in a way that nothing else really has . . . Jay Weitz, Columbus Alive 2005

Columbus Dance Theatre is a dance institution committed to enriching the cultural life of our community through its resident professional company, its educational programming, and through its role as an umbrella organization for the dance community.

Founded in 1998 by Artistic Director Tim Veach, CDT's professional contemporary ballet company and its affiliated academy have been an integral part of the central Ohio dance community for eight years. With a student body ranging in age from three through seventy, individually planned training programs are created and designed to meet the diverse needs of both recreational dancers and pre-professional students.  In addition to ballet, open classes are also offered in jazz, tap, modern dance, and yoga. The professional company of CDT is a contemporary ballet company performing the work of Artistic Director Tim Veach and selected guest choreographers.  The company has appeared at various festivals and performances throughout the U.S. and performs multiple times each year in Columbus with such productions as Tim Veach Dance, Ten Cents a Dance, New Dance Project, and Matchgirl. 

Columbus Dance Theatre now performs annually with Opera Columbus and has partnered with such organizaitons as:  The Columbus Symphony Orchestra, WOSU Television, WOSU Radio, The Lancaster Festival, and BalletMet Columbus.  CDT is a recipient of multiple grants from the Ohio Arts Council, The Columbus Foundation, and the Greater Columbus Arts Council.  Past corporate sponsors include:  Fifth Third Bank, SBC/AT&T, and Bricker & Eckler.  For the 2006-2007 season AEP will join the CDT family of sponsors.

CDT met an exciting goal in 2003 by moving into a new facility at 592 E. Main St. in the Market Exchange District.  With its new pressence downtown and the opening of its own theatre specifically designed for dance, CDT has positioned itself to serve the Columbus Cultural Community as a dance company with a mutli-tiered season, a school, and a presenting space for other performing arts groups.  This move dramatically changed the company's ability to perform as it now has its own 100 seat theatre on site.  Endowed by long-time CDT patron Stacy Fisher, the Columbus Dance Theatre Performance Space was renamed the Fisher Theatre in 2005. 

How Does the Community Benefit from CDT

 "The arts are central to the economic and cultural stability of any urban center," Veach said. "The arts bind a community together and create a sense of place.  We go to performances in the Downtown, and in so doing we create a place where people live, not just work."  The Columbus Dispatch 06-04-06

Aside from the artistic and educational benefits provided by Columbus Dance Theatre, CDT is an umbrella organization providing grants of space and opportunities for small to mid-sized groups to utilize its downtown facility.  CDT currently hosts a wide variety of performance groups, including the Columbus Fringe Festival and the Columbus Gay Mens Chorus who make their home in the CDT offices, the CM2 dance organization, and other local dance and theatre companies looking for rehearsal and performance space to share. CDT has enhanced its Fisher Theatre this year, and now features new lighting and sound equipment, a cyclorama, a marley-covered sprung-wood floor, masked wing space that allows for a variety of entrances and exits, and a stage management booth. The 100-seat theatre is in high demand as a rehearsal, performance, and meeting venue in Columbus.