Teaching, creating, performing, and promoting quality dance education to the North Alabama community.
The Downtown Dance Conservatory, planted in the heart of historic downtown Gadsden, Alabama, offers quality classical and contemporary dance education for the primary to pre-professional level dancer.              

Located in the historic Kyle Building of the Hardin Center, the facility houses three well-equipped studios with an eclectic atmosphere for dancers to learn and develop their skills. With an enrollment of more than 300 dedicated students training on a weekly basis, the Conservatory’s influence also spans throughout the surrounding community with programs such as Downtown Dance Artists’ Ensemble, “Dancing with a Heart of Giving” annual charity effort, dance history projects, and other various outreach programs and exhibitions. Artistic Director, Linze McRae, holds the  Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies of the Royal Academy of Dance, graduating in London, England.  The Downtown Dance Conservatory is in association with the internationally recognized Royal Academy of Dance, The Alabama Dance Council, and is a full member of the National Guild of Community Schools for the Arts through the Gadsden Community School for the Arts.  

The Conservatory is dedicated to preserving the art of dance through technique, expression, and innovation, taking pride in its non-competitive atmosphere to increase the sense of dance as a cooperative and connected form of art.

For more information and a current schedule of classes visit our website:
http://www.culturalarts.org/department/show/downtown-dance-conservatory

DDC in the Press:
Downtown Dance Conservatory & Etowah Youth Orchestra’s Le Casse Noix Moderne - New York City:
http://www.dciny.org/images/stories/news/lecasse-noixmoderne-pr.pdf
Downtown Dance Conservatory’s Echoes in the Amphitheatre:
http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20121017/ENT/121019796
Downtown Dance Conservatory’s The Glass Slipper:
http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20130523/ent/130529921
DDC & EYO’s Corbeau:
http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20091022/NEWS/910229953

Original Neoclassic Works:
Fury Piece, 2007
Muses of Gaia, 2008
Krystallnacht, 2009
Gypsy Allegretto, 2010
Lament/ Romance in G, 2011
Speigel Im Speigel: Mirror In Mirror, 2011
Precious Things, 2012
Venus in Retrograde, 2013



Full-Length Original Productions:
A Celebration of Eden, 2002
One Midsummer’s Eve, 2005
Legend of Evenstar, 2006
Tales from Wonderland: The Hidden Chapters, 2007
Waking Beauty, 2008
Cathedrals of Winter, 2008  & 2013
Return of Spring, 2009
Vasilisa & The Ballet Suites, 2009
Prudence in Pepperland, 2010
Corbeau, 2009 & 2011
Return to the Secret Garden, 2011
Le Casse Noix Moderne: The Nutcracker, Gadsden & New York City, 2010 & 2011
Noccalula’s Fall, 2012
Echoes in the Amphitheatre, 2013