Happy February and Happy Black History month from all of us at SCDT!

For the past six seasons, South Chicago Dance Theatre has been more active than ever during Black History Month. We take members of the Main Company, Associate, and Emerging Artist Programs into various Chicago-area schools to help the students celebrate Black History Month!

Our performance ranges from 30 to 45 minutes in length and is a fun representation of Black culture and it’s influence on music, dance, poetry, and socially! We perform a dance to the Black National Anthem (“Lift Every Voice and Sing”) that excites the kids and teaches them about the colors on the African American flag. We also expose kids to Black artists’ creation of jazz music and dance that became very popular during the Civil Rights Era. Finally, we finish the show with our grand finale – a dance to an upbeat version of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream Speech”! It’s truly a fan favorite that gets the whole audience clapping and reminds kids that MLK’s speech in 1963 still has a lasting impact today, even in the halls of their school.

At the end of each performance, us dancers get to introduce ourselves and answer questions from the children. These sweet kids always have a plethora of questions ranging from why we starting dancing to how old we are and if we are all friends! Not only do the students get to see a dance show and have exposure to the arts, but they can learn through movement and interaction with our performance!

Black History Month series in February is ALWAYS one of our favorites that we look forward to year after year. Happy Black History Month!!