Company
Jacksonville
Dance Theatre
Founded in 2012 · The longest-standing professional contemporary modern dance company
15th season · national touring and home season in Jacksonville, FL
About the company
Jacksonville Dance Theatre (JDT) is a 501(c)(3) contemporary dance and performance company co-founded in 2012 by Rebecca R. Levy, who has served as its artistic director since its inception. As the longest-standing professional modern dance company in Jacksonville, JDT has produced 15 home seasons, an annual dance film festival, and national and international touring engagements — all under Rebecca's creative and organizational leadership.
As artistic director, Rebecca is responsible for the full scope of the company's creative vision — selecting and developing repertory, commissioning guest choreographers, directing rehearsals, and shaping the artistic identity of every season. Her leadership has been instrumental in establishing JDT as one of the few nonprofit performing arts organizations in Jacksonville that employs its performers, instructors, guest artists, and collaborators as working professionals.
Under Rebecca's direction, JDT has built a reputation for work that is technically rigorous, emotionally present, and unafraid to take on complex subject matter — from bodily autonomy and feminism to mental illness, community, and the forces that divide and unite us.
By the numbers
15
Home seasons
2012
Co-founded
501c3
Nonprofit status
#1
Longest-standing pro modern dance co. in Jacksonville
IN-PROGRESS WORK
Tribes
World premiere: March 2027
A Dance in Light and Shadow is an evening-length choreographic work inspired by the life and legacy of Marc Chagall — particularly his series of stained-glass windows representing the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Choreographed by Rebecca R. Levy, the piece fuses contemporary dance, visual storytelling, and historical narrative into a powerful performance exploring resilience, exile, identity, and the enduring role of the artist in the face of cultural suppression.
Each of the twelve sections is drawn from one of Chagall's windows for the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem — their color, energy, and symbolism translated into movement, light, and sound. The stage becomes a living canvas, drawing contemporary parallels to modern-day struggles against antisemitism and cultural erasure.
Work-in-progress premiere: September 2026 · International Dance Festival of New Orleans.
Circo del Pantano
FEATURED WORK
Upcoming Performance October 25th, 2026
A modern dance circus conceived, directed, and choreographed by Rebecca R. Levy — blending the raw physicality of contemporary dance with the thrill of aerial performance. Bold, boundary-pushing, and impossible to look away from. The World premiere was October 18, 2025 at the Nathan H. Wilson Center for the Arts, Jacksonville.
Developed in collaboration with JDT artists, FSCJ faculty, and danceWORKS, Circo del Pantano marks the culmination of Rebecca's 2024–25 sabbatical research into the choreographic potential of vertical space. A landmark production for both JDT and FSCJ — and a defining moment for dance in Jacksonville.
Circo del Pantano, 2025
FEATURED WORK
DISORDER
Original Work - 2021
Disorder (2021) is one of Rebecca's most significant original works — a full-length choreographic investigation of mental illness, its impact on the individual, and the systems that shape how we understand, diagnose, and treat it. Raw, detailed, and deeply human, the work brought professional contemporary dance into direct conversation with one of the most urgent public health conversations of our time.
Disorder was supported by the Art Ventures Individual Artist Grant from the Community Foundation of Northeast Florida — one of the region's most competitive individual artist awards — in recognition of the work's artistic ambition and its potential to contribute meaningfully to the public conversation. The grant affirmed not only the quality of Rebecca's choreographic practice but the belief that dance can be a vehicle for social impact.
WATCH THE CHAPTERS
DISORDER: Chapter One
DISORDER: Chapter Two
Original works by
Rebecca R. Levy
The following original works were choreographed by Rebecca R. Levy and produced by Jacksonville Dance Theatre between 2009 and 2024. Select works are available to view via the links below.
Tomb (2024)
Choreography by Rebecca R. Levy
La Mesa (2022)
Choreography by Rebecca R. Levy
Body (2019)
Choreography by Rebecca R. Levy
The Thing She Said – Make a Different Choice (2017)
Choreography by Rebecca R. Levy
Three tasks for 5 minutes each, once a day, 25 days (2016)
Choreography by Rebecca R. Levy
Protecting Sparsity (2014)
Choreography by Rebecca R. Levy
Kitchen Sink (2009)
Choreographed by Rebecca R. Levy
Disorder (2021)
Choreography by Rebecca R. Levy
Support JDT
Jacksonville Dance Theatre is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Your gift supports working artists, original choreography, and dance education across Jacksonville.
Awarded Grants to JDT
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Cultural Service Grant
Awarded by the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville in recognition of Jacksonville Dance Theatre's contributions to the cultural life of the region. This grant supports JDT's ongoing mission to create and promote excellence in professional contemporary dance — locally, nationally, and internationally — through performance, education, and community outreach.
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PNC Arts Alive Grant
Awarded in support of the JDT Bridge Project, an outreach initiative bringing professional modern dance to underserved communities across Jacksonville. The program reflects JDT's commitment to dance as a vehicle for connection, reflection, and change — extending the work beyond the concert stage and into the broader community.
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![Logo of The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida with a colorful globe design and the tagline 'Giving Back. Giving Forward.']()
Art Ventures Individual Artist Grant
Awarded by the Community Foundation for Northeast Florida in 2020 in support of Disorder — an original choreographic work investigating mental illness, its impact on the individual, and the systems that shape how we understand and treat it. The Art Ventures grant is one of the region's most competitive individual artist awards, recognizing work that pushes boundaries and contributes meaningfully to the public conversation.
