SHADES DANCE THEATER PRESENTS: THE RETURN
June 19–20, 2026
at the KSU Dance Theater
Atlanta, Georgia
THIS IS NOT A REVIVAL. THIS IS THE RETURN.
A night where freedom feels like music, and music feels like home.
Shades Dance Theater returns to Atlanta for Juneteenth weekend as one of the city’s cultural highlights with a new program, THE RETURN. Founded by Atlanta native Cameron Terry, the company comes home for an evening where movement meets the music that shaped generations. Building on the success of 2023’s Love, Fantasy and Euphoria and 2024’s Mixtapes, THE RETURN moves across a musical landscape that feels both familiar and electric. From jazz enthusiasts to lovers of ’90s R&B and ’70s soul classics, to those who remember when that rap track first hit the streets, this dynamic program offers something for everyone.
Friday, June 19 at 7pm
Post-Show Curtain Chat included
Saturday, June 20 at 8pm
Run Time: 100 minutes
KSU Dance Theater
Marietta Campus 860 Rossbacher Way
Marietta, GA 30060
Located inside the Joe Mack Wilson Student Center
Questions? Email admin@shadesdance.org
WORLD PRemieres
harlan
The company comes home with HARLAN, a vibrant work created in memory of Nelson Kendall, a devoted jazz lover. “Nelson wouldn’t want us to be sad,” Terry says. “So we gotta dance!” Set to the electrifying sounds of a New Orleans brass band, the piece bursts with rhythm, groove, and bold musicality—jazz done the Shades way. This marks the first work in the company’s repertoire set to jazz, expanding Shades Dance Theater’s musical landscape.
TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME
A love suite revealing the many shades of intimacy. In this work, Shades Dance Theater invites audiences to explore love in ways that are not always so blatant—asking the quiet question: how do you tell someone that you love them? Set to the music of Nina Simone, Sade, Jazmine Sullivan, Boyz II Men, and Jill Scott, the piece moves through tenderness, longing, confession, and devotion, offering different reflections of love. Because nobody does love quite like Shades Dance Theater.
RED VELVET
This is classic dance theater in Cameron Terry’s signature style—mixing old school with new school. Shades Dance Theater celebrates the 50th anniversary of Marvin Gaye’s album I Want You with Red Velvet, a lush, sensual work rooted in classic soul. Gaye’s unmistakable voice and layered vocals create a rich musical landscape for choreography that is intimate, magnetic, and deeply expressive before the piece shifts toward the sounds of today
jigga man
The company expands its repertoire with Jigga Man—a new work set to some of the most iconic tracks by the one and only Jay-Z. A fearless response to every hater and naysayer, the piece moves like a choreographic diss track, turning swagger into stamina and leaving no question about who wears the crown. Fast, sharp, and rhythmically exacting, the work reveals the company in a way audiences haven’t seen before.