Tu Dance Program

The Opening
Toni the Human
Wingborne
Toni the Visionary
For You
Clear as Tear Water
— Intermission —
Once Dance Grabs You, You Can Not let Go
Toni the Artist, the Dancer
Video Tribute by Alicia Graf Mack
Witness
Toni the Community Builder
Four Corners (excerpt)
Video Credits

It was a bittersweet evening at The O’Shaughnessy in Saint Paul, as renowned local dance troupe TU Dance were honoring the life and legacy of their co-founder and artistic director Toni Pierce-Sands. Pierce-Sands, who died of cancer in November 2025 at the age of 63, was internationally recognized as one of the greats in modern dance, having been a part of the prestigious Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York for a decade before returning to her native St. Paul and forming TU Dance in 2005. Over the last twenty years, the company has become a stalwart in Twin Cities dance and Pierce-Sands (Fierce Pierce, as she was often called) was the central piece of that. It was a testament to Pierce-Sands that the large main floor of the auditorium was completely full.

The Opening started with three musicians (percussion, drums, and piano) with only that bell like percussion starting. The dancers filed in separate groups first three, then seven, then nearly twenty dancers, and their aligned choreography started slowly in lines before opening to full group movements. As they exited and entered stage in large groups, the musicians also built up their backing sound. A group of younger dancers was an early moment of recognizing the multi-generational impact TU dance has. The large stage got very full, but it didn’t feel crowded, and those full body movements felt just right for the moment. The dance numbers were interspersed with tributes to Pierce-Sands and served as a kind of memorial. Wingbourne had two dancers (MerSadies McCoy & Connor Simone) and was a beautifully choreographed number that highlighted the strength, dexterity and partnership in the interplay of the duo. It should be noted that these dancers had muscle definition that would leave Greek statues feeling like they had been slacking on leg day.

The next speakers were from Brooklyn based EVIDENCE, A Dance Company, with Arcell Cabuag, a dancer, and Ronald K. Brown, choreographer and artistic director of the group. The next two dance numbers were choreographed by the Brown and assisted by Cabuag and were a beautiful transition in the evening. For You was a 2003 piece and had Cabuag dancing, while Clear as Tear Water (2006) had McCoy back on stage in a number originally created specifically for Pierce-Sands. From the start, you could see in those crisp and strong movements how it had been made for her, and deep respect to McCoy for representing it so well. After the intermission, we had a video compilation of Toni Pierce-Sands interviews and performance clips, reminding the audience what a true talent she was. Witness had dancer Sa’Nah Britt with a striking stage (a whole backing row of candles) and Witt had a powerful Alvin Ailey choreographed number, using body and gown for some excellent visuals as she worked across the entirety of the stage. A final number in Four Corners started with the stage full of dancers and threaded its way through a series of dance vignettes of sorts, from individuals to small groups, always moving. It had such a vibrancy with a great backing song, and between that, the dance skill and the joy, it was perhaps the truest tribute possible to the legacy of Toni Pierce-Sands.