Donald Byrd: Day 1
Well, blog family, we have 6 total new commissions this season which means there are SO many different processes for me to update you on and take you through! When we commission a choreographer, each person comes in with a different idea or different music and gets approximately 10 days with us dancers in rehearsal to create a brand new piece for us. It's exciting, nerve-wracking, fun, inspiring, and everything in between.
Our first commission of the year started TODAY on Monday, September 25, 2023 with none other than Donald Byrd! To give you a quick synopsis on the legend that is Donald Byrd, he is a world-renowned choreographer who is the Artistic Director of Spectrum Dance Theater since December of 2002. Throughout his over 40 years of choreographing, Byrd has created over 100 works that range from being set on companies like The Joffrey Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Philadanco, and many, many more. The list goes on and on and we are honored to be a part of it starting this week!
The beginning of a process is always so interesting to me. How each choreographer approaches the beginning of something new never fails to fascinate me. I thought what a brilliant journal it would be if with this season, I document the start and end of each choreographic process. We as dancers can look back on how everything started and how it slowly morphs and evolves into something so beautiful. We cannot wait to see the outcome of Donald's piece after only one day with him.
For starters, Donald watched us in warm-up class this morning and then carefully took the time to get to know us after. He chatted with each dancer - about themselves, where they are from, their interests and likes, as well as their relationship with dance. It was nice for each of us to relax into the process this way and feel valued in the creative space we were about to enter.
Not too long after, we were up and at it and our choreographic tool box (as discussed in previous process blogs!) was put to the test today! I'm back home now a little brain dead as well as physically exhausted, but all was worth it! Donald came up with a 30 second phrase arm gesture phrase as well as a 30 second leg phrase. Our task, in groups, was to put the two together. Once this was complete, our next task was to put the choreography on the floor as to make a floorwork phrase that mimics the standing phrase. The following task was different for each group - one group retrograded the phrase, another switched the arms and the legs, another brought the floor work phrase back to a standing phrase, and so on. To finish our day, we made the phrase into a duet. It's crazy how one phrase can breed multiple different ideas and beautiful to watch each dancers' interpretation of the movement. It allows our creativity to run wild and for Donald to have a plethora of phrases to choose from as we begin piecing this work together!
We are all resting our bodies and preparing for another day of work tomorrow. It's truly great to work with Donald Byrd and I can't wait to update the blog with the final product - stay tuned!!
A Day in my Life at SCDT
photo by: Michelle Reid
As our performance season is slowly picking up and our residencies have yet to begin, I thought today was a good day to take you through what one day in MY life looks like being on South Chicago Dance Theatre.
If you don't know who I am, or you just got lost in the blogosphere over time, allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Kelly Anderson, 4th year Company Member and Assistant Rehearsal Director of the company! I've been with Kia since I was fairly fresh out of college, and have had the privilege to watch the company grow over the past four years. It's one of my favorite things to reflect on and appreciate - without SCDT I don't know where I would be!
Life is crazy, but I thought I'd slow down and just give you a very personal run down of what I do on and around being inside the 4 walls of our rehearsal space!
6:00am - I'm likely hitting snooze on my first alarm as I love to wake up early, but am quite honestly still working on the actual getting out of bed part of it. I live in the Gold Coast area of Chicago and love my apartment view - there's nothing like the sun shining through after a good nights' sleep!
6:15am - I'm putting on my tennis shoes and riding down the elevator to our small in-apartment gym complex. I love and will only workout in the morning, so I tend to do a quick warm-up jog followed by a short yet challenging weight-lifting circuit!
7:00am - I am back upstairs, showering, taking my vitamins, drinking hot lemon water and coffee to prep me for my day. My favorite part of the morning is sitting down and journaling for 15 minutes. I will write about anything on my mind and also write down 10 things I'm grateful for in the past few days! It's the perfect start to my day.
8:00am - Lunch is getting packed, breakfast (smoothie every day - the whole company already knows!) is made, and I'm about to head out the door to rehearsal!
8:45am - I've driven to rehearsal, parked, and am walking in to Hyde Park School of Dance to start my rehearsal day!
9:15am - Company class has begun. Depending on the day it's either ballet, modern, or contemporary, but I'm always focused on training my body to be better in all techniques! Class in so important and I always want to strive for more!
10:40am - Rehearsal has started! Kia sends the schedule for each day to determine what we are working on. Some days it intense cleaning of a piece with our Rehearsal Director Jessica and some days it's me leading rehearsal and teaching old repertoire! Every day is different and that keeps us excited and on our toes!
2:00pm - Rehearsal wraps up and I'm on my way out with an extra refill of water to commute to one of the dance studios I teach at!
3:00pm - Probably stuck in traffic eating a protein bar! I always love to talk to friends or family on the phone during my long drives to the suburbs of Chicago.
4:00pm - I start teaching at a competition dance studio for kids! I teach ballet, contemporary, jazz, technique, and choreograph dances for the kids of these studios. I love them and they love being challenged and focusing on their growth which always inspires me and keeps me doing what I'm doing!
9:00pm - Typically I wrap up teaching around 9, some days it's a little earlier, but then I spend my commute home talking on the phone or listening to a podcast!
10:00pm - I'm in bed, ready to do it all over again the next day!
Life gets busy, but it's tough when it's all stuff you love!! Thanks for following along my day :)
A Little Taste of Memoirs of Jazz in the Alley!
Did you miss Memoirs of Jazz in the Alley's big premiere on June 10, 2023? Have no fear because as we jump into Season 7, we are bringing back our favorite excerpts to local stages in Chicago! Just this past weekend, we had the privilege of performing a brief part of our originally 75-minute evening length work again! Harris Theater's anniversary fest in Millennium Park was the perfect way to not only kick off our season of dance, but reminisce on our favorite sections of Memoirs (as we abbreviate it).
In effort to display a short section of our show, we had to shorten quite a bit and leave out a lot of context that makes the story of Jazz in the Alley what it was. Although a lot of the fictional story line is left out, the energy and party of the Alley is not to be missed. The jam-packed 11-minute excerpt is sure to entertain with high-energy group dances, riveting solos by our new and senior members, as well as sections incorporating huge leaps, jumps, turns, and leg extensions. Our colorful costumes set the tone for what the piece is - energizing and engaging.
Where can you see us next? At one of our favorite performances we've been attending for the past three years in Chicago - Navy Pier's Chicago LIVE! event. Each year at Navy Pier they present a multitude of talent and art on the large stage down by the water. We've performed different repertoire each time we have been involved in the showcase, and this year is no different and we can't wait to present Memoirs of Jazz in the Alley (shortened excerpts) at this show as well! Come on out to this free event at Navy Pier on Saturday, September 23. More details on time and location to be posted on our instagram and social media!
More than anything, we are so proud to be a part of the Chicago Dance Community and thrilled to share our talent alongside everyone else. September is a month full of community for us and we are excited to put our hard work on display!
Dance for Life 2023
photo: Todd Rosenberg Photo courtesy of Chicago Dancers United
South Chicago Dance Theatre had a wonderful evening on August 19, 2023 as a part of the annual Dance For Life fundraising event for Chicago Dancers United. It’s always such a privilege to be a part of this event and its amazing roster of companies from the Chicago dance scene. What a night of dance, fun, celebration, and community.
This year, we performed our collaborative piece with Giordano Dance Company titled Luminescence choreographed by our own Artistic Director, Kia S. Smith. The piece features over 20 dancers combined from both companies and was a World Premiere at Giordano’s 60th Anniversary celebration show this past Spring 2023. What a fitting piece for Dance for Life as we celebrated the union of our two companies, partnering, dancing, and learning from one another. We’ve learned so much from each other and have developed many new friendships due to our process together.
If you’ve never been to a Dance For Life, mark your calendars for next years’! It’s a night full of dance you do not want to miss. It always features a variety of companies and genres of dance. You really get to see it all in one night and the proceeds go towards the Dancers’ Fund which assists dancers in receiving access to health care. The Chicago Dance Community shows up and it’s the best to see everyone’s smiling faces!
On the flip side of things, we as performers get to sit backstage and enjoy the evening of dance from the wings! If you’ve never been backstage before, it’s not the roomiest area ever, but all stage staff allows us to cram ourselves backstage and support one another as that is what the night is all about. The feeling of cheering one another on while backstage is unlike any other. The dance industry can feel competitive at times, so to engage in an event like this and see how truly supportive everyone is of one another is beautiful.
Until next year, we hope to be back at Dance for Life’s for years to come! Whether watching, performing, donating, and everything in between!
Season 7: Day 1
It’s like the launching of a new season of a television show AND the excitement of the first day of school wrapped all into one. There are new twists and turns to be had - new performance opportunities, new venues, new dancers to meet, etc.! It’s also a big exciting syllabus day - catching up with all of our friends and seeing what is in store for us for the whole year.
So, what does day one look like for South Chicago Dance Theatre? Our typical start time is at 9:15am, so we are all called to Hyde Park School of Dance at that exact time. The day begins with introductions of all of us dancers as well as our Artistic Director, Kia, and our Rehearsal Director, Jessica. Promptly after, we begin to review and talk through all important documents and THEN we get to the fun part (at least my most favorite part!). Looking ahead at the calendar of events for the season ahead gets me so pumped and so motivated to begin our dancing yet again! I love looking forward to new projects, what choreographers we will be working with, and which performances we have to gear up for. It’s an insane amount of work, but we live to perform and we rehearse to perform, so it’s my favorite thing to look into!
After all the business talk, the company takes a long walk together over to have a picnic, in which SCDT provides us with lunch, snacks, food, drinks, and all the fun! It’s so lovely to be outside in the nice weather and enjoy time catching up with our favorite group of dancers. SCDT truly is a family and after and much-needed summer break, it’s the best thing to get back to what we all love so much with the people we love so much.
Stay tuned to meet our new friends that have joined the company this year, hear more about the new performances that are coming up, and all of the details behind the scenes as well.
As always, I’ll be here to guide you through it all. From my first season on South Chicago Dance Theatre to Season 7, I have loved sharing my best memories with you on the blog!
-Kelly Anderson (she/her)
Meet our Associate Artists: Lourdes Taylor
To round up our "Meet the Associate Artists" of Season 6, we finish with our own Lourdes Taylor! Lourdes started out with us in season 5 and was promoted this season to Associate Artist. We love her, you love her, and here's more about her:
Age: 24
Hometown: Chicago
Favorite Color: Pink
Favorite style of dance: Ballet and classic jazz
Favorite Choreographer: Hope Boykin
When I started dancing: age 2
College: Haverford College
Siblings: 1 younger brother, Noah, age 21
Why do you feel passionate about dance?: I honestly love dance because of the people. Being around people who want to invest into creating thoughtful, genuine art to share with others is mutually infectious. Dancing with people who value one another and diversity in movement makes life better.
If you weren't a dancer, what career would you choose?: I would be a fiction writer! I would write science fiction novels, children's books, and short stories, which I still do now.
If you could do a duet with one person, who would it be?: Not sure if this was the aim of the question-- but I would love to do a duet with Solange! She's such a wonderful artist and I would be floored to do any kind of duet (collaboration where she sings and I dance, or where we both dance) with her.
Favorite place you've traveled: Trinidad and Tobago. I guess it makes sense, since my family is Caribbean, that I would love another Caribbean country, but I've never felt so immediately at ease being somewhere. Before traveling there, I had never been to a country where being Black is the norm; mundane. It was the best experience-- plus, the country is beautiful and the food is amazing.
Favorite food: Mango, or fried plantains.
One word to describe yourself: deadpan
If you had a dance move that described you, what would it be?: allongé! It's like just-add-water ballet; a portable line on any part of the body. You can do it in arabesque, with one arm at the barre, from the floor, etc. Warm or cold, high or low, it's always there :)
Fun facts: 3, in order from most to least interesting: 1. I have predicted 4 pregnancies for people who both did and didn't know they were pregnant, (and the sex that would be assigned at birth of the baby). 2. I can wiggle my ears. 3. I'm in a PhD program
A Breakdown of "Company Class"
To any professional dancer, the idea of a "Company Class" is common knowledge! It is more than understood that any other person would find it confusing, though. In what other job outside of the arts or athletics do you need a 'warm-up' for your day? I'm here today to breakdown the concept of a Company Class and all of the questions you may have about it, as well.
WHAT? Company class is a vital part of our day as dancers. In order for our body, muscles, and minds to be prepared for the rehearsal ahead, we must take a 75-minute warm-up class before our rehearsal. It ranges from ballet, to modern, or contemporary in style! You might think this is tiring prior to a full day of movement. It definitely is, but without this opportunity to warm-up and focus on our technique, us dancers don't feel ready for the high-level choreography we are required to execute.
WHO? All company members, guest artists, associate artists, and emerging artists must take our warm-up class. Warm-up is taught by master teachers like Jessica Miller Tomlinson, Sarah Schaefer, Ethan Kirschbaum, and Kim Davis. On occasion, we work with guest teachers like Laura Wade pictured above! This year we've also had the privilege of taking class from Craig Black, Patti Eylar, and Meredith Dincolo.
WHEN? Company Class occurs from 9:15am-10:30am daily. It is followed by a 10-minute break before we begin rehearsal.
WHERE? Wherever we rehearse - which is typically at Hyde Park School of Dance!
WHY? There are plenty of benefits to continue our training and in warming our bodies up! By warming up, we prevent injury, gain flexibility and strength for the day again, and prep our minds for learning. By training with these master teachers each day, we continue to develop technique as dancers, work on our artistry, and maintain strength we've built over time. If you don't use it, you lose it!!
Hopefully this provided you with a little more insight on the many questions of why we warm-up!
SCDT AT THE AUDITORIUM THEATRE!
Hopefully you know what's coming up, but if not...we are just shy of 50 days away from our Auditorium Theatre debut! Check out our website or any social media for the links to tickets. I'm so excited for our premiere and can't wait to show everyone what we've been working so hard on! In efforts to keep most of our premiere somewhat of a "surprise" for everyone who is coming to watch, here are 10 'sneak peeks' or tidbits of information on our upcoming Home Season show!
- The show is titled "Memoirs of Jazz in the Alley"
- It's an evening length work, which means that the entire show is ONE giant piece! 75-minutes of dancing, which may sound like a lot, but it's broken up into smaller group sections, solos, duets, and large group sections of over 20 people...everything will keep you on your toes!
- The entire show is filled with Jazz music played LIVE by Isaiah Collier and his jazz band!
- Colors play an important role in our show - stayed tuned for lots of fun costuming!
- Speaking of costuming, our own Guest Artist, Trey Alexander, is designing the costumes for this show! We wear a lot of hats around here at SCDT.
- Every single part of this show is choreographed by our own Executive Artistic Director, Kia S. Smith. If you didn't think she was busy enough already, she's been working on this full piece since November 2022 with us.
- You may recognize some familiar guest artists that are joining the show that have previously worked with SCDT before...
- Some faces you may not recognize are a few Western Michigan University students who have learned group choreography and will perform with us on June 10 in some sections. We are so happy to provide college students with an opportunity like this!
- As mentioned before, we've been workshopping choreography and putting together this show since November of 2022, alongside many other of our endeavors such as residencies in Michigan, Black History Month school show performances, AND our recent performance with Giordano. It's been a balancing act!
- And if you didn't know it before, now you do...but - IT'S OUR 6TH SEASON AND OUR AUDITORIUM THEATRE DEBUT. That's huge and something amazing for us to experience. We are so proud!
There are just a few things you may like to know about our show. Any further questions? Feel free to ask away. Or better yet - come to our show on June 10 at the Auditorium Theatre. Tickets are on sale now!
Giordano's 60th Anniversary Celebration!
This past weekend was a whirlwind at the Harris Theater and we were so privileged to be a part of it! Big thank you to everyone at Giordano Dance Chicago for allowing us to be a part of your 60th Anniversary show and celebration on March 31 and April 1, 2023.
As previously stated, nine SCDT dancers had the opportunity to work with Kia as she created a 25-person piece with all of Giordano's company and second company. Meeting these fellow dancers, collaborating with them, sharing the energy, and working together to create such a beautiful piece was a great process for all involved. I frequently say it, but it is so wonderful to have new energy in the space and learn from different people. It truly is what inspires me and allows for my continuous growth as a dancer and I believe that all my fellow dancers would agree.
Giordano's show was electric and full of choreography ranging from Randy Duncan, to Gus Giordano himself, as well as Kia's piece, and Ron de Jesus (who we have also worked with previously!!). The show was interspersed with video of Giordano's history, past dancers, current dancers, and beyond. It was lovely to see a company that has been established for so long and to only hope that the future of South Chicago Dance Theatre is just as bright!
What did our weekend look like, you may ask? It all began on Thursday, with an hour warm-up class with our Rehearsal Director, Jessica Miller Tomlinson. After warm-up we had a 75-minute onstage technical rehearsal in which we spaced out the dance and practiced with the lighting design. Giordano spent the whole day in technical rehearsals for their 6 pieces whereas we were only present for the one! Friday was our first show day in which we arrived shortly after Giordano at 6:00pm for our warm-up class, costumes, show circle, and were ready to perform third in the show! Watching Giordano and their traditions before the show was amazing. They have such enthusiasm, community, and passion for the history of their company. Come Saturday, it was show day all over again followed by a wonderful Gala celebration with dancers, choreographers, board members, donors, alumni of the company, and more! What a party it was after an exhausting yet rewarding weekend of shows.
Thank you, Nan, Cesar, Michael, Joshua, and everyone who is a part of Giordano for welcoming us! And an extra special shout-out to Katie and Ashley for your final performance with Giordano. It was a pleasure to cheer you on during your final bow - we are sending ALL of the love!
Meet Associate Artist: Marissa Thomas
Let's continue our adventure of meeting our Season 6 Associate Artists!! Up next, Marissa! Enjoy learning more about Marissa and stay tuned to meet our last Associate Artist before the season is over!
Name: Marissa Thomas
Age: 25
Hometown: Las Vegas, NV
Favorite Color: Pink
Favorite Style of Dance: Contemporary (special shout-out to Cunningham technique and Countertechnique)
Favorite Choreographers: Kyle Abraham, Crystal Pite, and Robert Battle
When did you start dancing?: I started dancing when I was 5!
College: THE Ohio State University
Siblings: Kayla (my younger sister)
Why do you feel passionate about dance?: Dance contains so many multitudes, and I feel like I can always find what I am looking for through this art form. Dance can be my research and an exploration of physical limits. It can also be my voice and a way to connect with others.
If you weren’t a dancer, what career would you choose?: I also studied environmental science in school and in an alternate reality, I think I would probably really enjoy a career focused on ecosystem restoration.
If you could do a duet with one person, who would it be?: I am really interested in the intersection of art and technology, so I think it would be really cool to create a digital duet and work with someone who can motion capture and animation.
Favorite place you’ve traveled: Hong Kong
Favorite food: Ice cream
One word to describe yourself: blooming
If you had a dance move that described you, what would it be?: Maybe a balance? I feel like I’m pretty good at balancing as both a dance skill and a life skill.
Fun Facts: (1) I love going to music concerts - if my favorite artist is in town, you will find me at their concert. (2) I collect albums, fortunes from fortune cookies, and skeletons (like the party-city Halloween kind!) (3) I enjoy cooking and baking and like trying out recipes I see on TikTok.