The Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center at UMSL is home to the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival, Spring to Dance Festival and MADCO, all of which were included on the inaugural St. Louis Post-Dispatch Go! List. (Photo by August Jennewein)
Two festivals and a dance company that call the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center at the University of Missouri–St. Louis home are among St. Louis’ best in arts and entertainment. That’s according to the inaugural Go! List, which celebrates the St. Louis Post-Dispatch critics’ and readers’ A&E favorites.
The three UMSL winners and their respective categories include:
- Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival – Best jazz festival (critics’ pick)
- MADCO – Best local dance company (critics’ pick)
- Spring to Dance Festival – Best dance festival or series (critics’ and readers’ picks)
Calvin Wilson of the Post-Dispatch touted the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival for its impressive evolution and ability to attract top artists like the Monterey Jazz Festival band featuring Dee Dee Bridgewater. Wilson also weighed in on MADCO, the dance company-in-residence at the Touhill, and the Spring to Dance Festival.
“In a field of imaginative and hardworking ensembles, MADCO (Modern American Dance Co.) gets the edge,” he wrote. “The company is consistently entertaining, but also takes envelope-pushing risks.”
The Post-Dispatch reporter praised the Dance St. Louis-created Spring to Dance Festival for how it has “incalculably enhanced the status of St. Louis in the dance world” and called its $15 ticket “one of the biggest arts bargains in town.”
Visit STLtoday.com to view the full Go! List.
