In addition to the performances presented by the Victoria Theatre Association, the Victoria Theatre, the Schuster Center, and the Metropolitan Arts Center/the Loft Theatre serve as home to many of Dayton’s performing arts organizations. Our resident companies include:

Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra
Founded in 1933, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra holds a distinguished place in the Gem City’s history as one of the community’s oldest and longest-standing cultural institutions. Today, rich in artistic tradition and under the leadership of Music Director Neal Gittleman, the Orchestra makes its home at the Schuster Center. Under his direction, the Orchestra has received the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music for two successive seasons.

Dayton Opera
For more than 45 years, Dayton Opera Association productions have mirrored the full spectrum of human experience to a diverse regional audience. With each production, Dayton Opera, under the leadership of General & Artistic Director Thomas Bankston, strives to assemble the finest artistic personnel and highest quality voices from the esteemed U.S. and international opera houses. A new era in Dayton Opera history began with the opening of its new home, the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, which provides an opera experience like nothing Dayton has previously experienced. In addition, Dayton Opera presents and produces a growing number of education programs, as well as a popular opera preview program.

Dayton Ballet
Founded in 1937, Dayton Ballet is one of the oldest professional dance companies and schools in the United States, with an ever-increasing regional impact. Under the direction of Dermot Burke, Dayton Ballet presents 40 productions each season, and has become widely known for presenting American dance classics and for premiering new works by emerging American choreographers. Dayton Ballet reaches more than 17,000 Miami Valley children each year, through the Young Audience Program and The Muse Machine, in addition to more than 400 students through the Dayton Ballet School and Dayton Ballet II, a pre-professional training and performing company of talented young dancers.

The Human Race Theatre Company
Founded in 1986, The Human Race Theatre Company moved to the Metropolitan Arts Center in 1991, taking up residence at The Loft, a 219-seat theatre. In addition to The Loft Series 1, produced in collaboration with Victoria Theatre Association, The Human Race produces The Loft Series 2, the Musical Theatre Workshop series, and special event programming.  The Human Race, under the direction of Artistic Director Marsha Hanna and Executive Director Kevin Moore, also maintains education outreach programs for children six to 16, guest artist and artist residencies in area schools, The Muse Machine In-School Tour, Youth Summer Stock, and The Human Race Conservatory. 

Dayton Contemporary Dance Company
Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, founded in 1968 by MacArthur Fellow Jeraldyne Blunden, is an internationally celebrated modern dance company, rooted in the African American tradition. DCDC holds the world’s most comprehensive repertoire of classic works by African American choreographers and is known for its virtuoso artistic performances and excellence in education and outreach initiatives. DCDC’s first and second companies perform more than 60 times every year throughout the Miami Valley and tour nationally and internationally, serving as cultural ambassadors for the greater Dayton community.

Rhythm in Shoes
Rooted in traditional forms of American music and dance – swing tunes and tap, hoedowns and clogging – the varied repertoire of Rhythm In Shoes, directed by choreographer Sharon Leahy and composer Rick Good, is at once original and recognizable. Since 1987, this critically acclaimed body of work has infused the spirit of traditional dance and music with a thoroughly modern sensibility. Based in Dayton, Ohio, the creative capitol of the Heartland, RIS has toured in 47 states as well as Canada, Japan, and Ireland, pursuing the company’s mission: to engage the world in music and dance.

CITYFOLK
Celebrating its 25th season of arts presentation in 2006-2007, Cityfolk is Dayton’s premier traditional and ethnic arts organization. In 2005, Cityfolk won the first CMAcclaim Award, awarded by Chamber Music America for outstanding presenters in the ensemble music field. Through its year-round season of concerts, in-school educational activities, the annual Cityfolk Festival and other programs, Cityfolk brings the Dayton area the finest in traditional music and dance from around the world. For more information on Cityfolk’s history, commitment to education and programming updates, call (937) 223-3655 or visit www.cityfolk.org.

The Muse Machine
Since its inception in 1982, The Muse Machine has grown from a cadre of volunteers working out of the founder's basement in Dayton, Ohio, to a multi-city network of professionally staffed programs reaching hundreds of thousands of young people each year.

In addition, the Puerto Rican Cultural Society, Dayton Public Radio WDPR-FM 88.1, and Culture Works also have their offices in the Metropolitan Arts Center.