It's FESTIVAL Season!
Do you know what time it is? Well if you don't - now you do! November is quickly approaching and we have so much coming up (check up on our social media...HINT HINT!) that we simply cannot wait to share with an audience! Our annual South Chicago Dance Festival commences in November and we are excited to kick it off with the arrival of Choomna Art Center coming to join us all the way from Seoul, South Korea.
If you are unaware of our Choreographic Diplomacy program, check it out! It truly is one of the things that got me so excited about Kia and working with the company. We are GLOBALLY engaged, people!! Kia is a big time dreamer and that dream includes collaborating and working with dance organizations throughout the entire world. Our first Choreographic Diplomacy was a three-year partnership with Choomna in South Korea, though our timeline got a little thrown off due to Covid. But if dancers are anything, we are resilient, and we know how to make it work (just as much as Tim Gunn, I might say). Our three year partnership with Joseph Kim (Artistic Director of Choomna Art Center) finishes off this season with a 2-week visit from the South Korean company and later, a 2-week trip to Seoul for SCDT in February of 2022!
To say we are thrilled is an understatement. As dancers, an experience to work with other professionals in the industry is exciting as it is. But on top of this, to work with a company oceans away and collaborate to form a piece of choreography that transcends language barriers and cultural differences to focus on the art of dance and it's innate way of speaking through movement...that's something REAL special. Personally, I can't wait to have new energy grace our space and to be inspired by the artists in the promotional photo above. It's bound to be a learning, growing, and exciting experience.
Are you interested in seeing our collaborative work? We are hosting an open showing of the work after a Korean Traditional Dance Class on Monday, November 8 from 6-8pm. Come see the work, meet the artists, and enjoy a night of dance with SCDT! The link to register for this free event is as follows: SCDTchoreographicdiplomacy.eventbrite.com
Help us start our South Chicago Dance Festival right!!! We can't wait to see you there!
Where we've been & where you can see us Next!
South Chicago Dance Theatre is in SESSION! It's been two quick months of rehearsal already, but we have done quite a bit in the short time we've been back. I feel like it's about time I update you on what we've done and what's coming up. Compared to last season, our audience has many opportunities to see us live as we are frequently around the Chicago area performing!
Where we've been:
- Did you see us at Dance for Life? What an amazing honor it was to participate in this years' annual Dance for Life event put on by Chicago Dancers United. On August 26, 2021 the event was held outdoors and the audience turnout was amazing. SCDT performed an excerpt of Kia S. Smith's "Architect of a Dream" and the crowd was on their feet at the end. It was a performance to remember!
- Maybe you enjoyed a night out at Navy Pier and recognized us performing at Chicago Live Again's event on September 25, 2021! Our beautiful backdrop for this outdoor performance was one you did not want to miss. We performed Kia's excerpt of "Architect of a Dream" again as well as "I Too Sing America" which was also a part of our 2020 Black History Month performance series. Our first time performing this piece live was exhilarating and so fun. Our group had a blast and felt so supported by fellow dancers and performers who stuck around to watch our performance!
Where you can see us next:
- What are you up to this weekend? If nothing, check out Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival! SCDT is performing both October 8 & 9 at Ruth Page Center for Dance. The show includes multiple companies and performers from all around Chicago. We cannot wait to perform Crystal Michelle Perkins' (ahem - Princess Grace Award winner woo woo!!) piece titled "Lit-Anies". We've been hard at work in studio piecing together the work that we learned over Zoom last season. This will be our first live performance of the choreography and it is athletic and powerful. Come on out to see it - you won't regret it!
- Coming up in November we have many events that contribute to our annual South Chicago Dance Festival. We have school shows, master classes, a concert of dance films to be premiered virtually, and so much more. Stay up to date with us on social media (@southchicagodancetheatre on Instagram and South Chicago Dance Theatre on Facebook) to find out more in real time! What we are most excited for is the arrival of our South Korean dance company partnership friends! We are so lucky to have the honor to collaborate with them again and are looking forward to our in-studio experience with the dancers!
More to come of course! This year is jam-packed and bound to be a good way. I'll be here updating you every step of the way, per usual!!
Let us know where you'll be seeing us next or if you enjoyed a past performance on our social media. We love connecting with our audience and look forward to seeing you at one of our upcoming events!!
A Week in our Life
I get asked it far too often..."what's it like being a professional dancer?" Our job is one of the most physically, emotionally, and mentally challenging careers, yet many people are inquisitive about what it really entails. I LOVE answering this question because, personally, I feel that others can only truly understand how and why we do what we do if we take the time to explain it AND if those who are listening can feel the passion with which we explain it. Dancers don't do what they do because of the compensation or the status. We are driven by the pure love of the art and the challenge and growth it brings to our everyday life.
Every professional dance career looks a bit different - some are gig based, some dancers are part-time around another career in an unrelated industry, some are company contracted with different schedules than ours. But here you are at southchicagodancetheatre.com, so I'm going to write what I know and give you a full glimpse into a week in our life, most particularly what we've been up to this month!
Alarms go off at a different time for each of us...I'm an early riser and require a lot of coffee to function, so I'm usually up around 6:15am to prepare for my day and allot myself enough time for traffic along my commute to Hyde Park School of Dance where we rehearse Tuesday through Friday each week. Arrival time at the studio is around 9am in which we prepare for Pilates warm-up from 9:15-9:30am. The wonderful Sam Dauer has created a 15 minute Pilates warm-up routine to prepare us and activate certain essential muscle groups for us as dancers. Next up from 9:30-10:45am is Company Class (to those of you dancers - our company classes are open classes! Come check them out, you won't regret it!) Tuesday we have Modern with our Artistic & Executive Director, Kia S. Smith, Wednesday is Ballet with Sarah Schaefer, Thursday is Ballet with Kia, and Friday is Contemporary with Ethan Kirschbaum. We are privileged to have such wonderful teachers and I can't tell you how important it is for us to train in a variety of styles with the repertoire we have!
After class is complete, we typically take a short break and return to the studio around 11am to begin rehearsal. Rehearsal can include a multitude of things. Recently, we were preparing for our upcoming shows, so we would find ourselves doing full runs of pieces we are familiar with while also reviewing or teaching previous repertoire to our emerging and guest artists. Rehearsal runs until 2pm and if there's one thing I can guarantee you, it's that it is SWEATY and a lot of hard work - but us SCDT dancers love to make it an upbeat environment and never fail to have a good time. Later this season, rehearsal may include residencies from our 5 new commissioned works this season in which we would learn new pieces created on our company by outside choreographers. Regardless of what we do with our three hour rehearsal chunk, it is productive and challenging.
Post-rehearsal, we have jobs outside of the studio. Many of us, myself included, teach at local dance studios for children. It's exciting to share our love and passion for dance with the next generation as I know I gained my love for the art form from my inspiring teachers growing up! Others work at local gyms, restaurants, reception desks, coffee shops, etc. We even have a few dancers who are in school working towards more/prestigious degrees. If there's one thing to know about dancers, it's that we are not lazy humans! A body in motion stays in motion, and rest assured...we are ALWAYS moving!
Hopefully you have more of an idea as to what we do on a daily basis - our career is anything but ordinary, but it's our "normal". We've all grown up with hectic schedules and are used to managing our time well and giving our all to whatever we do. We're all out here just living the dream!!
Continued success for one of our Favorites!
We have a lot to celebrate!! We are incredibly proud to announce that one of our five commissioned choreographers for the season has received a Princess Grace Award!! Crystal Michelle Perkins (choreographer of Lit-Anies, premiered in 2020 on SCDT) was awarded an honoraria in choreography. This accomplishment is huge and we feel so very lucky to have worked with Crystal. We await her return in 2021 as she intends to expand her work on our company and officially work with us in person!
The Princess Grace Award is an award of high esteem that is given to those in the realm of theatre, dance, and film in order to fund and advance their career with an awarded grant. These artists are emerging in their chosen field and are dedicated to continued education in their craft. More than 800 Princess Grace Awards have been given out since the foundation's inception and can be awarded to performing artists as well as creative generators. Crystal is a bold, dedicated, and passionate choreographer and we are proud to see her name listed next to other prestigious award recipients such as Kyle Abraham and Robert Battle. This is a wonderful accomplishment on the upward path of her career and we are thankful to be a part of her journey in any way we can be!
As a dancer, working with Crystal was such a rewarding experience. We participated in a residency with Crystal in 2020 solely over Zoom. To watch Crystal teach choreography, organize the choreography in a space she wasn't physically in, and attach it to sound after constructing the framework was something else. She is a proven mastermind in beautifully stringing together intentional stillness with powerful and athletic movement. The contrast in her work is clear and creates intrigue as a viewer. Crystal's ability to impact an audience through movement is the reason why she's received this high honor. Crystal - we are proud, we can't wait to work with you more, and we applaud you on your many successes!
Season 5's Whirlwind of a Start
I’m back, y’all!! Kelly Anderson – Season 4 and 5 Company Member here to dish everything your way through our SCDT blog! Welcome to Season 5!!
Our season started a bit earlier this year – we came together in the beginning of August to dive into three rigorous weeks of rehearsal with Kia S. Smith’s choreography and Jessica Miller Tomlinson’s incredible rehearsal directing. Our purpose for starting so early? We were selected to be a part of Chicago Dancer’s United’s Dance For Life annual performance! This is such an amazing honor for Kia as a choreographer, for us as a young company, and for each of us dancers as young members of the Chicago dance community. All in all, it was an experience we did not want to miss out on!
We came back with the six returning members from the previous season and welcomed a full slew of guest artists and new emerging artists to be a part of this performance. We reconstructed a 5-minute excerpt of Kia’s “Architect of a Dream” which was part of our Black History Month show, set to the powerful words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Bringing this piece back to life was a privilege and to be quite honest, I forgot how much I loved performing it! I wrote about it last year, but this piece gave me actual CHILLS in rehearsal last season. There’s something so difficult to explain but so special to feel about experiencing dance that provokes thought, means something, and demands change in our world.
One of the most exciting parts about our preparation for Dance for Life was that it would be our first live performance since I joined the company! The state of our world has made it so difficult to truly see dance the way it was meant to be seen – live, in person, and fully and viscerally experienced. To have the opportunity to once again perform for people in a safe way at the beautiful Pritzker Pavilion was nothing short of amazing. It brought true joy to stand at the end of the piece with my fellow dancers, take in the applause, and soak up the dream of performing for so many people that we’ve all desired from the start of our training. This is what we train for!! Obviously we were thankful to still be dancing – even if it was simply for a screen – last year, but there is no comparison to dancing for a live audience.
Dance for Life 2021 was just what we needed to jump-start what is bound to be an incredible season. We have SO much in store, I am already struggling to catch my breath! I’ll be here all year updating you on our adventures, so don’t worry – you’ll get your SCDT behind the scenes fill as always!
For now, I just leave you with a giant THANK YOU for your continued support. We are all ready to make this season the best one yet!
Season 4 - Tied up in a Bow!
Blog Family! This is my final blog to you from season 4! (Have no fear - season 5 is about to be a BLAST and I'll still be here throughout it all to update you!) You've been with us through virtual shows, choreographic residencies, meeting our team, and supporting us in every way! As always, we are so thankful and can't wait to bring more dance to you in our 2021-2022 season!
Here's a brief recap of each month with SCDT so you (and I) can remember what an impactful season it was, even amidst a global pandemic!
September: Our season starts! We welcomed new board members, new company members, new administrators, and new emerging artists! We were thrilled to be able to spend time in the studio together learning Monique Haley and August Tye's repetoire.
October: We continued to prepared for South Chicago Dance Theatre while we also had our very first virtual residency with Crystal Perkins! We loved having her and can't wait to meet her in person soon!!
November: South Chicago Dance Festival VIRTUAL EDITION 2020. What an adventure. Our annual festival turned virtual and we rolled with the punches! Our first filming and lots of virtual panels and community classes. What a time to remember!
December: We got straight to work with our Quad City Arts partnership! We filmed a demonstration video that was formed into a documentary of all the styles we train in as professional dancers. Then...we celebrated with a big holiday rehearsal party!!
January: 2021, a fresh start to the year AND a fresh start on two brand new pieces choreographed by Kia for Black History Month. It was a ton of work, but we really made it happen! (P.s. we were in DANCE MAGAZINE!)
February: The filming of our Black History show proved to be tiring but SO worth it. We were thrilled with the hundreds of viewers who turned in and gave us such positive feedback!!
March: A short break after a big show and then, you guessed it, right back to it!! We started rehearsals and the creative process for our evening length work for the home season - "Cartography of Peace". March was a lot of experimentation and creation.
April: Rehearsal after rehearsal!! April was an intense month of stringing together our newest work.
May: Rehearsal, but also a LIVE performance for Christine Porter's Homegoing Celebration! It was pure talent in one room and such a special thing to be a part of!
June: Filming week! We filmed AND premiered "Cartography of Peace" by Kia Smith with our lovely collaborators Alexandria Hill (violinist) and Joelle Lamarre (soprano). We also performed live at a Juneteenth event at Athleta on Weed St! Such a fun month overall.
This summer, you can catch us at Dance for Life as well as Night Out in the Parks events!! Stay tuned friends, season 5 is just around the corner!
Thanks for following us along through this crazy year!
Dancer Spotlight: Kelly Anderson
Meet our amazing dancers and get to know more about them in our Dancer Spotlight Series! This month we are highlighting our own Kelly Anderson - Company Member, Blog Manager, and Social Media Manager!
Name: Kelly Anderson
Age: 23
Hometown: Milwaukee, WI
Favorite Color: YELLOW - the happiest of the colors!
Favorite Style of Dance: Contemporary
Favorite Choreographer: I'm always blown away by the creative and theatrical work of Crystal Pite, but I also love the intricate, quick, and detailed work of Aszure Barton. The female choreographers in our industry inspire me!
When did you start dancing?: I started taking dance recreationally when I was 4 - my mom said I never stopped dancing or moving. I didn't take my training more seriously until middle school when I began competing at local dance competitions. I never expected to become a professional dancer, I was nowhere near a "natural" but I loved it so much and always gave it my all!
College: Western Michigan University! A proud Bronco. I graduated with a BFA in dance and a minor in Social Psychology.
Siblings: I have two older brothers who are both married. My oldest brother has 3 sons and I am the most proud Aunt of those sweet little boys!
Why do you feel passionate about dance?: Oh, for so many reasons it's such a challenge to narrow it down. It's fascinating to me how much dance can form confidence in people of all ages. Dance has truly shaped me into who I am today. Dance has made me more confident, responsible and prompt, disciplined in my craft, and passionate about sharing dance with others. It's given me an endless amount of energy and allowed me to shine bright in all that I do. I always aim to not let dance define who I am, but rather recognize that dance has helped me to love who I am as a person. I am forever grateful for that.
If you weren’t a dancer, what career would you choose?: SO tough. Part of me feels like I would love to own my own business, but I also know I would have to be active in whatever I do (I literally cannot sit still for more than 10 minutes straight!!). I also love fashion and shopping and could definitely see myself diving into that world if dance wasn't involved. BUT - I love kids too and would want them to be a part of my career as well. I guess the answer is I DON'T KNOW. There are a lot of options, but nothing ever truly outweighed my passion for dance.
If you could do a duet with one person, who would it be?: ANYONE. I love partnering and think it's so interesting to watch. Honestly, though, I'd probably go back in time and do a duet with my college friend Alyssa Brutlag. We were always so silly together and had a few iconic moments in college improvisation classes. We really trusted each other, took risks, and didn't shy away from being ridiculous and carefree.
Favorite place you’ve traveled: I loved traveling to Panama with a student organization called Movement Exchange. We taught dance to underserved children in the area AND I got to brush up on my Spanish while there! When I was younger, though, I traveled to Alaska and that was so beautiful and different from anywhere else I've ever been!
Favorite food: I love taco dip as a snack and my BIGGEST weakness is ice cream!
One word to describe yourself: Efficient
If you had a dance move that described you, what would it be?: The deepest grand plie in a parallel second position :)
Fun Facts: My family makes fun of my gross dancer feet constantly, I snort when I laugh too hard, my all time favorite movie is Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement with Pride & Prejudice as a close 2nd, I wish I could sing, I own way too many clothes for my own good, I was on Nickelodeon's Kid's Pick the President when I was 10 years old, and both my brothers are 6'4" when I'm only 5'3" :)
Thanks for getting to know Kelly & check back for more blogs to come!!
It's Your Behind the Scenes Look!
We've done it! We finished our season with a week packed full of filming. Us six dancers traveled to the 21c Museum Hotel Chicago each day to record sections of our Home Season work, "Cartography of Peace" choreographed by Kia S. Smith. Lucky you, because today I'm giving you the low down on how filming went and how we went about all the challenges that came our way. And here's your reminder that if you have not bought your tickets...DO IT! The link is scdtcartography.eventbrite.com and the virtual premiere of our show is on June 26, 2021. We cannot wait to share it with an audience!
As a company, we have been in rehearsal for this piece since the beginning of March. It began with Kia's concept, exploration of movement, and finally the setting and staging of the choreography. This all led up to our week long taping of the project in the first week of June. Our wonderful videographer, Matt, shot all of the scenes and we worked with two incredible collaborators (Joelle Lamarre as our soprano vocalist & Alexandria Hill as our violinist). Let me tell you, collaborating with other artists was nothing short of amazing. The amount of passion and pure talent in one room was inspiring. Speaking with each other post-project, it seemed that all of us gained respect for one another's craft. Working with each other heightened our own experience and, if I can say it, bettered our dancing overall.
Day one we entered the museum space to lighting set up surrounding two large paintings. The space was much more condensed than we expected it to be, so we immediately began to re-space our choreography. There were certain sections where we had to be so close to one another and modify and adjust the choreography to fit within the camera's range. Right after spacing, we began to record some vocal elements that Kia will edit throughout the piece. There is a poem that is repeated throughout the work, so some of us dancers recited the poem while Alexandria improvised and Joelle sang. Moving forward, we went section by section, changing costumes with each song and mood change. The entire work reflects different stages of peace - peace with joy, peace after trauma, peace in chaos, and peace & quiet. Each section comes with it's own feel that is reflected in the music choice, costuming, and lighting. We got through two sections in our first day and wrapped with filming by 2pm!
Day two ran similarly - directly into recording choreography of the last two sections that remained. As performers, these tend to be very long days, but as a company that gets along a little too well, we lighten each other's spirits and joke around to keep the energy alive. My favorite memory from this filming was towards the end of day two when we were all tired out of our minds. We were about to run a section another time and all of us (Kia and Joelle included) just burst into laughter and took our jokes too far. I love that our company is able to laugh at ourselves while simultaneously getting lots of work done.
So much happened and so much work was put into putting our show together. As a company, we celebrated and went out to dinner after our final day. This season brought us closer and we are proud to be our own family that supports, challenges, encourages, and inspires one another. This truly is a passion project of Kia's and I'm sure it will be reflected when it debuts on June 26 virtually!!
Our season is wrapping up, but we are thrilled to share this one last performance with you prior to Season 5's launch. You won't want to miss it!!
Dancing for a Purpose this Weekend
As the world begins to open up and look a bit more normal (with appropriate safety precautions still in place, of course), we have been thrilled to be invited to perform in multiple events. This past year sure has looked a bit different with virtual school shows, virtual performances, and rehearsals masked and distanced, so to be able to perform live has been such a privilege.
Just this past weekend, on Saturday May 15, 2021, SCDT traveled to Alsip, Illinois to perform at Christine Porter's Memorial Concert and Homegoing Celebration. This concert was full of talent - us four company members met SO many beautiful singers from opera to gospel to child performers. Each one of them stole the show and honored Ms. Porter's legacy, as her daughter Cheryl Porter spoke so eloquently of. The entire service drove me to tears - just ask Kim who sat next to me sobbing in the audience. It was a rollercoaster of emotions from a true upbeat celebration to a somber remembrance of the person Christine was. I felt honored to be able to perform for such an inspirational and powerful woman. Cheryl told us that her mother had many issues with her legs and that us, as dancers, symbolized her mother dancing again in heaven. What a powerful visual. I have chills still thinking about her saying it now.
The four of us performed four dances throughout the program, three of which we were joined by musical artists. To be able to perform live again is one thing...to be performing behind live accompaniment takes it to a whole other level. My dancing connected directly to the pitches and volume of each singer and my art was only amplified because I had someone's artistic energy to feed off of. It's such a beautiful thing to collaborate and be inspired by other creatives.
All in all, I felt so happy to have met the people we did, to have performed with them, and to honor such a beautiful soul who lived a jam-packed life. I'm sure she was celebrating alongside us in heaven. What a wonderful way to celebrate someone's life - with art.
Check out our Instagram and Facebook page (@southchicagodancetheatre) to see where we pop up next now that in-person performances are reopening!
I Told you to stay Tuned...
And this is it!! What you've been waiting for! Our very exciting home season show and the final show of our fourth season.
First things first, the details! June 26, 2021 is the premiere of our virtual show "Cartography of Peace" choreographed by our very own, Kia S. Smith. Head over to scdtcartography.eventbrite.com to purchase your tickets NOW!
Now that you have your tickets, allow me to tell you that there's A LOT going into this show. I have the next 2 months to blog about all of our exceptional collaborators, our beautiful filming location, and of course - the stellar choreography and dancing that you'll experience.
For now, I'm here to tell you that we have been working since the beginning of March to bring this virtual show to your screens. It all started with the creative process of investigating new choreography, Kia researching her concept, and the setting and staging of the work. Since then, we've taken promotional photos in our filming location (drumroll, please!!) of the 21c Museum Hotel Chicago! If you've never been, you should definitely take a look at our social media (@southchicagodancetheatre on Instagram and Facebook) as we begin to share some sneak peek photos! We've also invited our collaborators into rehearsal with us. We have Joelle Lamarre as our soprano singer as well as Alexandria Hill as our violinist. They are as involved in the show as us dancers, and let me tell you it is such a joy to share our art with each other. It brings the whole experience to another level.
I hope you can sense my excitement as I begin to chat about the show. As always - more to come!! I can't wait to brag more about our collaborators and tell you more about the process of creating and filming this show. But for now MARK YOUR CALENDARS for June 26 and BUY YOUR TICKETS for the virtual show. You can watch from anywhere around the globe, just make sure that you've bought that ticket in advance!