Bandaloop
Bandaloop is an Oakland-based nonprofit vertical dance company that combines climbing technology and choreography to perform on walls, buildings, and cliffs across 30+ countries. It serves performing arts venues, corporations, governments, and education programs through performances, studio rentals, and team-building experiences.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1991
- HeadquartersOakland, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Bandaloop does
Bandaloop is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit performing arts organization founded in 1991 in Oakland, California, that pioneered the discipline of vertical dance — choreography performed on walls, cliffs, building facades, and other vertical surfaces using climbing technology and proprietary rigging systems. The company's core product is large-scale, publicly accessible vertical dance performances presented across theaters, museums, public spaces, UNESCO heritage sites, and natural cliff environments in over 30 countries. It has cultivated more than 150 dance artists and production technicians over its 35-year history and operates BANDALOOP Studios, an 8,000 sq ft fully-rigged vertical dance facility in West Oakland that opened in November 2023.
The organization serves four primary customer segments: performing arts organizations and festivals booking headline performances, corporations seeking brand activations and team-building experiences (e.g., BMW's 50th anniversary), government and cultural institutions commissioning public art, and education/community learners participating in youth and adult programs that reach 500+ students annually. Revenue is generated through a hybrid of earned income — performance fees, studio rentals, corporate experiences, and ticketed events — and contributed income from individual donations, foundation grants, corporate sponsorships, and capital campaigns. Major institutional funders include the National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, James Irvine Foundation, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, Zellerbach Family Foundation, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Distribution is handled through direct booking and SOZO Impact as worldwide management representative.
The company's strategic positioning combines a pioneering artistic brand (including Broadway's first vertical choreography credit for the 2025 musical REDWOOD with Idina Menzel) with a diversified earned-plus-contributed revenue model and a growing physical infrastructure footprint. Leadership comprises founder Amelia Rudolph (now Director of Special Projects), Artistic Director Melecio Estrella (since 2002), and Executive Director Thomas Cavanagh.
Bandaloop firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Bandaloop
- Legal name
- Bandaloop
- Website
- https://bandaloop.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1991
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Bandaloop is an Oakland-based nonprofit vertical dance company that combines climbing technology and choreography to perform on walls, buildings, and cliffs across 30+ countries. It serves performing arts venues, corporations, governments, and education programs through performances, studio rentals, and team-building experiences.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Bandaloop industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Performing Arts / Dance Performance
- NAICS
- Dance Companies (711120)
- SIC
- Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Dance & Movement (Ballroom, Contemporary, Social Dance) (EDAAAGAD)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Performing Arts Camps (Theater, Musical Theater, Dance) (EDAMALAI)
Keywords
Where Bandaloop is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Oakland
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Bandaloop business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others
Revenue model
- Performance Fees: BANDALOOP generates revenue through fees for live vertical dance performances at venues including theaters, museums, corporate events, public spaces, festivals, and UNESCO heritage sites globally.
- Studio Operations: BANDALOOP Studios in West Oakland serves as a hub for training, community classes, youth programs, and studio rentals generating operational revenue.
- Education Programs: Regular classes, camps, and intensives for youth and adults at home studios and in mountain settings, plus team-building programs for executives.
- Donations and Fundraising: Nonprofit funding through individual donations, foundation grants, corporate sponsorships, and capital campaigns like the $1 million Anchor Fund campaign.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | General Manager salary range |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
Bandaloop product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Bandaloop is a nonprofit vertical dance company that creates and performs large-scale, publicly accessible dance works on walls, buildings, cliffs, and architectural surfaces using proprietary climbing and rigging technology. Beyond performances, it operates BANDALOOP Studios in West Oakland (rental, training), delivers education programs for youth and adults (classes, camps, intensives), runs the UPDRAFT Artist Residency, and offers corporate team-building experiences.
Product overview
Bandaloop is a vertical dance company offering a portfolio of performing arts products and services. The core offerings include large-scale vertical dance performances presented across diverse contexts (urban/modern, nature, historical/UNESCO sites, arena/stadium, and indoor venues), alongside education programs (classes, camps, intensives for youth and adults), artist residency and training (UPDRAFT), team-building corporate experiences, and venue rental at BANDALOOP Studios in West Oakland. Key performance works include the LOOM trilogy (FLOOD, FIELD, FLOCK), recent premieres (MOMENTUM CURVE, BIRD STRIKE, RESURGAM), and Broadway vertical choreography for REDWOOD. The company also produces the annual BANDALOOP Gala and ongoing community programming like 'Somewhere to Oakland.'
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- BANDALOOP Studios: 8,000 sq ft fully-rigged vertical dance space in West Oakland, providing studio facilities for the company's training, rehearsals, and community programs.
Products and services
- Vertical Dance Performances Large-scale, publicly accessible vertical dance performances booked by theaters, museums, festivals, corporations, governments, and cultural institutions across urban, natural, and historical venues globally.
- UPDRAFT Artist Residency and Training Group Artist residency and training program nurturing the field of vertical performance, providing resources and professional development for dance artists.
- Education Programs All-ages education programs including regular classes, camps, and intensives for youth and adults at the home studio and in mountain settings. Serves 500+ students annually through partnerships with schools and international teaching artists.
- Team Building Experiences Corporate team-building experiences and off-sites using vertical dance principles, delivered through BANDALOOP Studios in Oakland.
- BANDALOOP Studios Rentals Rental of the 8,000 sq ft fully-rigged vertical dance facility in West Oakland for rehearsals, classes, events, filming, and vertical dance practice by visiting artists and organizations.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 300 performances in over 30 countries over 35 years
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Bandaloop
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Bandaloop technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Bandaloop partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.
- La Jolla PlayhousecoreCollaborative partner for REDWOOD musical featuring Idina Menzel, which premiered at La Jolla Playhouse and transferred to Broadway in 2025.
- BMWflagshipCorporate collaboration for Momentum Curve premiere at BMW Headquarters in Munich, Germany celebrating BMW's 50th anniversary.
- SOZO ImpactcoreSOZO Impact serves as BANDALOOP's worldwide management and booking representative, handling all business inquiries and coordinating global performance opportunities. Contact: Rika Iino, Founder/Producer.
- The Momentary (Bentonville, AR)coreOngoing artist-in-residence partner hosting multiple world premieres including FLOCK. BANDALOOP has conducted several residencies and premieres at this contemporary art space.
- Destiny ArtsminorOngoing partnership for youth arts education programs in Oakland, supporting BANDALOOP's work with local youth.
- City of OaklandcoreCultural funding recipient and partner for public performances at City Hall and Frank H. Ogawa/Oscar Grant Plaza. The city recognizes BANDALOOP as an arts and cultural anchor in West Oakland.
- Sogorea Te' Land TrustminorIndigenous land trust organization. BANDALOOP acknowledges paying Shuumi Land Tax annually and recognizes Ohlone territory.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Bandaloop competitors and assessment
Company assessmentRegional players
- ODC/Dance: San Francisco-based contemporary dance company with a long-standing Bay Area presence. Comparable as a West Coast dance organization with education, performance, and community programs, though ODC operates from a conventional proscenium model rather than vertical/architectural settings.
- Alonzo King LINES Ballet: San Francisco contemporary ballet company also operating in the Bay Area. Comparable in regional scale and as a peer nonprofit dance organization with significant foundation support and an education arm (LINES School of Ballet), though without Bandaloop's vertical specialization.
Direct peers
- Pilobolus: Connecticut-based shadow and creative-movement dance company with a similar structure of repertory touring, corporate commissions, education programs, and artist residencies. Both companies are pioneering American dance troupes that monetize a single, highly differentiated choreographic signature.
- MOMIX: Moses Pendleton's Connecticut-based dance company known for visually innovative, illusion-driven movement performances that tour globally and play to arts festivals and corporate events — a comparable commercial model to Bandaloop's touring vertical dance productions.
- STREB / Elizabeth Streb: New York-based action dance company that explores extreme physical movement and engineering-driven performance. Like Bandaloop, STREB treats performers as athletes operating at the boundary of human capability, and both companies share a pioneering, category-defining ethos.
- Diavolo | Architecture in Motion: Los Angeles-based dance company that uses architectural structures and large-scale physical environments as the foundation for movement, much as Bandaloop uses walls and cliffs. Both are pioneering companies that fuse dance with non-traditional physical infrastructure.
Broad incumbents
- Mark Morris Dance Group: New York-based dance company with global touring, an affiliated school, and substantial foundation and earned revenue. Comparable as a diversified dance nonprofit with performance, education, and community programming revenue streams similar to Bandaloop's mix.
- Cirque du Soleil: Montreal-based global entertainment company that fuses circus, dance, and theatrical spectacle at a vastly larger commercial scale. Comparable as a high-production-value, internationally touring performance brand that competes for the same corporate-event and festival buyer.
- Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Iconic New York-based modern dance company with a similar nonprofit structure, national touring, education programs, and broad foundation support. Comparable as an institutional American dance company, though at materially greater scale and operating from a classical-repertory base.
- Hubbard Street Dance Chicago: Major contemporary dance company with national touring, education programs, and community engagement. Comparable as a similarly structured American dance nonprofit operating across performance and education revenue streams, though not specialized in vertical work.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Bandaloop social profiles
Digital presenceBandaloop financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Bandaloop leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles13 records
Bandaloop funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Bandaloop M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Bandaloop
What does Bandaloop do?
Bandaloop is a nonprofit vertical dance company that creates and performs large-scale, publicly accessible dance works on walls, buildings, cliffs, and architectural surfaces using proprietary climbing and rigging technology. Beyond performances, it operates BANDALOOP Studios in West Oakland (rental, training), delivers education programs for youth and adults (classes, camps, intensives), runs the UPDRAFT Artist Residency, and offers corporate team-building experiences.
Is Bandaloop a public or private company?
Bandaloop is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Bandaloop founded?
Bandaloop was founded in 1991. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Bandaloop based?
Bandaloop is headquartered in Oakland, United States, in the North America region.
How does Bandaloop make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Performance Fees are the primary driver. The others are studio Operations, education Programs and donations and Fundraising.
Who are Bandaloop's main competitors?
Regional players on record are ODC/Dance and Alonzo King LINES Ballet. Direct peers are Pilobolus, MOMIX, STREB / Elizabeth Streb and Diavolo | Architecture in Motion. Broad incumbents are Mark Morris Dance Group, Cirque du Soleil, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.
Does Bandaloop have an API?
No public API is recorded for Bandaloop.
What industry is Bandaloop in?
Bandaloop's product category is Performing Arts / Dance Performance. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAAAGAD, Dance & Movement (Ballroom, Contemporary, Social Dance), with a secondary code of EDAMALAI, Performing Arts Camps (Theater, Musical Theater, Dance). Its NAICS code is 711120 and its SIC code is 7900.