SCDT's February Tour
We kicked off February with a bang and jumped straight into a two-leg tour! Traveling from Missouri to Michigan and back to Chicago was no easy feat, but the love of dance and two giant rental cars pulled us through.
A giant thank you to the dancers of Southeast Missouri State University for diving into classes and a process with us. We were lucky to meet new faces, connect with the beautiful dancers, and hopefully share some of our knowledge with you all! With little to no rest time, we hopped back in the car and traveled to Kalamazoo, Michigan for two jam-packed performances for school-children through Education for the Arts. Thousands of kids from schools in the Kalamazoo area loaded up in busses and came to Miller Auditorium on Western Michigan University's campus to view our performance! We were so thankful to EFA for bringing us in - the kids brought us such joy and energy all the way from the audience!
Touring with the company is always one of my favorite adventures. It allows us to be together outside of the rehearsal environment. It challenges us to take ownership of the work, rehearse and focus on only the company that week, and brings so many laughs and memories along the way. SCDT's main company is such a joy to travel with, everyone is easy-going, caring, fun, and loves what we do. To be able to share that with more people across the country is one of my favorite things.
Once again, we have so much gratitude to the places we get to go. Hopefully our classes and performances are inspiring and can help viewers think in a new way. Where to next?!
Terry Marling's Piece: The Final Product
Well, team, we made it to the end of another brilliant residency! Today was our last day working with Terry Marling and we had the privilege of showing our piece to guests and supporters at the KLS studios at the Auditorium Theater!
The theater's studio is BEAUTIFUL! It's one of the largest spaces we've ever rehearsed in and it's so wonderful to have so much space to work with. Throughout this second week with Terry we've been at the KLS studio and have been able to use it's vast area. Terry used this week's rehearsal to hone in on the first section of his work. Musically, and in topic, the piece is split into two parts. The second part was created in our first week of rehearsal and is slow, peaceful, connected, weightless, and graceful. Working in opposite order, this week of rehearsal we worked on the beginning of the piece - the first section. Working in collaboration with the dancers, Terry created a contrast to his second section and choreographed a heavy, weighted, grounded, and hard-edged opening to the piece.
I'll still leave some of the choreography and story to the imagination, but this piece definitely leaves audience's experiencing two sides of society - disconnected versus connected. Terry's process was unlike others as he heavily relied on the collaboration of us dancers and weaved our choreography together to make the dance specific and personal to our group. Our audience today seemed wowed and impressed, asking lots of questions about Terry's process, how he comes in with his ideas, and what it's like to work in such a collaborative environment.
As you know, we have 6 world premieres at the Auditorium Theater on April 27, 2024. Three of them are now completed and we are so excited to dive into 3 more! We are so thankful to Kia that she continues to bring in such wonderful choreographers for us to work with and learn from. Each time we finish a process, it feels like I've broadened my horizons to new styles, ways of thinking, process, and creative endeavors. Here's to the next residency!!
Residency Day 1: Terry Marling
A new year and a brand new slew of residencies coming your way, SCDT fans! We have a residency each month leading up to our big show in April and we could not be more excited about our first guest choreographer, Terence (Terry) Marling. He's a Chicago native and was my personal saving grace during Covid season as he led virtual ballet classes EVERY day on Instagram Live. Terry loves the Chicago dance community and it loves him right back!
Today was day one of our 10 day process with Mr. Marling. Terry started out the day by talking with all of us, getting to know all of our names, and speaking about his plan for our 10 minute quintet he was about to begin. It felt like he's really passionate about this process and really cared about getting us involved in it as much as possible. I loved that he said that the environment in which he makes a piece is ultra-important to him. He cares about collaboration, kindness, willingness, and all around human connection.
It seems that that is exactly what the piece is going to be about - human connection. We have not yet learned who the five people performing in the piece are yet as Terry took this first day to see how we move, provide us with tasks, and observe us work together as a group. I love that he's taking the time to get to know us as dancers and I think that's important in making a successful piece.
As always, I'll keep you updated throughout and with the final product of Terry's residency. He's such a confident, kind, and observant person that I have no doubt these two weeks with him will be absolutely amazing!
Until the end of the residency...see you then!
Thank You, 2023!
photo by: Michelle Reid
2023 - you were so beautiful and so good to us! As we have closed out another amazing year dancing locally, regionally, and internationally, I'd love to share some of our highlights of the year and a few of the things we are most looking forward to that kick off our 2024 together as a company! This blog may look a bit different than the others, but it's a wonderful way to glance at where we've been and where we are going! As I personally reflect, I can never believe how much we jam-pack into one year! Thank you to Kia, to our amazing staff, artists, teachers, collaborators, and choreographers, and mostly YOU! Thanks for following along our dance journey.
A few highlights from 2023 in order:
-Our collaboration process with Giordano Dance Chicago
-2023's South Chicago Dance Festival
-Our BIGGEST audition year in January with over 300 people in-studio!
-Black History Month performances across so many Chicago Schools!
-A beautiful community day with our friends at Hubbard Street
-Working with the students at Western Michigan University for such a cool residency!
-South Chicago Dance Theatre's DEBUT of Memoirs of Jazz in the Alley at the Auditorium Theater of Chicago on June 10!
-Dance for Life 2023 with Giordano Dance Chicago!
-Harris Theater's 20th Anniversary Resident Company Showcase!
-Chicago LIVE! at Navy Pier
-Donald Byrd's new commission with SCDT!
-Our South American Debut in Colombia, South America!!!!
-Chicago Opera Theater's production of The Nose that we had the privilege of dancing in!
-Finally, our process with Tsai Hsi Hung!
A couple of things we are looking forward to to kick off 2024:
-Our upcoming residencies with Terence Marling, Joshua Blake Carter, and Monique Haley!
-Our Black History Month show this year!
-Our residencies in Missouri and Kalamazoo, Michigan
-Our 2024 Home Season show at the Auditorium Theater on April 27, 2024!
We cannot wait to start this new year and bring you so much more DANCE! Stay tuned, per usual!
Tsai Hsi Hung: Week 1
Y'all...it has been a WILD week in the studio with SCDT because we are on our SECOND residency of the season with the one and only Tsai Hsi Hung!
Kia first saw Hung's work about two years ago at the Western Michigan University Winter Gala concert in which she had choreographed a piece on the students of WMU Dance. As a former alumna of WMU Dance myself, I'm so proud to say that our department brought in many talented choreographers and artists for us to work with that simulated what it would be like to work in the professional dance industry! Hung's piece was no exception and Kia commissioned her to work with us for our Season 7 show!
Tsai's first day in residency with South Chicago Dance Theatre was this past Monday, December 11. She cast ten dancers for her work after auditioning all of us with an athletic and fast phrase of movement. She then immediately began working from the beginning of the piece. It is beautiful to watch any choreographer work, but ideas simply seem to come to Tsai in the moment as she worked chronologically through the piece. She plays to each dancers strength and her movement is NO JOKE when it comes to stamina and intensity. I'm in a full sweat every single rehearsal as her choreography is quick, grounded, low to the ground, but also incorporates powerful jumps and crazy athleticism. It's a big challenge for all of us and is so different from the other piece's in our repertoire. It will be a perfect addition to our April 2024 concert!
In a short 5 days, Tsai Hsi Hung has finished the entire ten minute piece - YES, finished it. We still have another week with her excellence and have the privilege of taking class with her this coming Monday as well as fine-tune cleaning the piece and enhancing the details of her work. This piece is one you surely should not miss. I'm amazed at HOW she worked, but also the product she produced in such a short amount of time. Tsai is a privilege to work with and we are so thankful to have her in our space for the last two weeks of 2023!
The Nose: Our Experience
If you’ve been following along with SCDT on social media, you’ll know that we recently embarked on a new choreographic journey with Kia. It’s out of the box and a different world than we are used to, but we will be performing in our first ever Opera with Chicago Opera Theater on December 8 and 10, 2023 at the Harris Theater in Chicago! Kia was asked on as the production’s choreographer and six of us dancers have the privilege of being a part of this process!
Joining in with the actors and singers has been a beautiful and amazing experience for us! Opera is a “similar but different” world to put it vaguely. I could make a perfect Venn diagram just thinking about it. Both worlds include costume design, lighting, stage managers, music, etc. but I believe Opera (so far) to be so much more of a production than our dance experience. For this production of “The Nose”, we have a HUGE set with lots of specific props. The costuming is so specific - down to our socks and accessories, but also with the hemming and fit of the costume. The pieces we wear are so elaborate and well-made it makes for such a beautiful show. The stage managers we have been working with are excellent and cue EVERY time someone enters the stage. I will admit, though, that the lighting in dance is typically more elaborate than that of an Opera. The musicians/orchestra is fabulous and reminds me of our previous work with live musicians (which always makes the piece so much more fun to perform!!). The one thing I believe to be VERY similar in both dance and Opera is the people. Everyone working on this Opera is SO fun to be around and insanely supportive. It’s fun to know that no matter where you find yourself within the arts, there’s like-minded people who make you smile and appreciate your talent as much as you appreciate theirs.
So far, our experience in the rehearsal room and in the theater has been one to remember. It’s quick work - you receive a change or a note and you are expected to remember it right away in that moment without review. Kia has definitely prepared us for that as dancers, so we are no stranger towards that! There are just so many moving parts that it must work this way. I’m excited to continue to work in dress rehearsal and performances on this show and update the blog on how the shows are. For now, I hope you enjoyed hearing a small bit about our experience and if you’re in town, come on out to see us this Friday (7:30pm) and Sunday (3:00pm) at the Harris!
2023's Gratitude List
photo by: Andrew Weeks Photography
My favorite blog of the year is here! If you haven't read past seasons' blog, I love to do a gratitude practice each year in the spirit of the Thanksgiving Holiday. As a company, we just had our last day of rehearsal before a week-long holiday break to reconnect with friends and family. I'm using part of my break to reflect on what I'm thankful for within South Chicago Dance Theatre over the past year. Gratitude practices are something I do for myself on a daily basis, and there's always so much to be thankful for with SCDT! Big and small, these are 10 things I am oh so grateful for after this year!
- As it is our holiday break as of today, I'm thankful for a Director (Kia) who recognizes the importance of her dancers having time off to reconnect with family, friends, and return to the studio rejuvenated after a week of restfulness!
- I'm thankful for our audience at Memoirs of Jazz in the Alley this year. That performance in June was one of my favorites and the audience seemed to be so invested and excited about the performance. It made me love it even more!
- Our new partnership with Athletico Physical Therapy that keeps us all so healthy, safe, and provides recovery and maintenance when our bodies are working so hard each day.
- A big one - our tour to Colombia, South America. What a beautiful place full of beautiful people and an experience that we will never forget.
- Hyde Park School of Dance allowing us to use their studio space. I'm especially grateful for the sunlight that peaks in through the beautiful windows and makes our dance space so warm and enlightening.
- Uniqlo socks!! My newfound obsession with them this past year has been amazing. As dancers, finding the perfect sock to dance in is actually quite difficult so a big shout out to Uniqlo - I think almost all of the dancers on SCDT are addicted to your socks!!!
- The light-hearted and fun rehearsal environment we've created. SCDT is a dance family at the end of the day - we all treat each other with great respect and collaborate so well together that it makes the sweat and hard work a little less laboring and keeps it fun!
- Biofreeze, heating pads, massage guns, foam rollers, lacrosse balls, and the occasional Advil. The soreness is real, y'all, and we will do whatever it takes to keep pushing through the pain and soreness.
- My spot at the barre right next to the heater - it's the small things, truly, and to keep my feet warm at the start of a ballet class on a cold fall or winter day really just hits the spot!!
- THE PEOPLE. I say it either to myself or out loud at each big performance. If there's one thing I love more than dance itself, is the people I dance with. They make it all worth it and I am so lucky and grateful to have found a home in South Chicago Dance Theatre.
Happy Thanksgiving!! I hope this list inspired you to reflect on the things, whether big or small, in your life that make you feel thankful! Enjoy the start of the Holiday Season!
Master Class Series: Patti Eylar
Welcome to Part One of our Master Class Series for Season 7!
This year, I'm choosing to document each time we take a master class with an instructor as to have a diary to look back on what we learned and so that you all, as readers, can catch a glimpse into who we are working with and how they are bettering us as dancers.
Each season, Kia brings in a multitude of Master teachers in the Chicago area and beyond to come work with the company. It is a wonderful experience for us dancers to experience new people (as we typically have the same 4 teachers each week) and for these Master teachers to come meet SCDT and see what we are up to. It's a full 75 minutes of learning, sharing, and discovery. It also fosters a beautiful dance community, which we love.
Our first Master teacher of many for Season 7 was none other than Patti Eylar! Have we had class with Patti before? Yes! Do we love her class so much? Of course!!
Nothing gets you "on your leg" or in layman's term, better balanced, than a Patti Eylar ballet class. Patti is an esteemed member of the Chicago and ballet dance community. She's worked with the greats, she's danced and taught for the longest time, and she is an expert teacher. Working with her was the best experience.
Patti engages with us separately throughout class, but also gave helpful hints to us as a group. She's all about alignment, especially on one leg, a very turned-out position during all turns and positions, and she brings a beautiful sense of humor to the room. The energy was wonderful throughout class and she was a pleasure to work with as she always is.
Patti, thank you for your wonderful ballet class and for taking time out of your day to instruct us this past Friday! We know this won't be the last time, so see you soon!
Plenty of other guest teachers are coming, so stayed tuned for that and in the meantime, look forward to more process blog about our upcoming endeavors!
Vamos a Colombia: Parte 2
Time for Part 2 on our incredible Colombian experience! If you haven't caught up on WHY we went to Colombia or WHAT we did on a day-by-day basis, check out Part 1 of this blog series!
Now to give you the full details of our collaboration project while on the trip! If you have not heard of our Choreographic Diplomacy program, check it out on the website. Our Artistic and Executive Director, Kia S. Smith, created this program to fully immerse our company with different cultures and prove that the language of dance supersedes any verbal language barrier.
This was proved day one of our trip. After our long travel to Colombia, the three companies on the trip met up for rehearsal at 10am in a beautiful space with wide open windows to the city and wonderful natural light. Choomna Dance Company of South Korea, Casa Tumac of Colombia, and SCDT of the United States were ready for a collaboration!
As with any rehearsal day, we started with a warm-up. This one hour warm-up was one of my favorite parts of the trip. We split the hour into three chunks and each Artistic Director taught 20 minutes of the warm-up. It was like getting a plate of each culture's best dishes for dinner. We started with Joseph, director of Choomna Dance. His approach to dance is so calming and connected. We focused on pure connection to the floor and the earth. He moved us across the floor with different rolling, sliding, and turning techniques. It was beautiful to feel so connected and not rushed into anything. We then proceeded with Kia's portion of the warm-up. Us 9 dancers were quite familiar with this, but Kia's structured modern warm-up with counts and distinct phrasing seemed to be quite different for all others involved. Finally, we wrapped up the warm-up with Francisco of Casa Tumac leading an Afro-Caribbean portion. It was amazing - we traveled on the diagonal and followed along. There was no spoken words, just call-and-response via movement. It was full bodied, energy-provoking, and very spiritual. I left that warm-up feeling, well, WARM, but also fulfilled spiritually. It was the most beautiful thing to watch three cultures collide. I started the day excited for the process we were about to embark on.
For the next five hours, with periodic breaks included, the three Artistic Directors wove their choreography in and out of each other. Some parts of the piece were improvisation based, some were set choreography by Joseph, Francisco, or Kia. We worked with our stellar translator, Luisa, who we couldn't have done this whole trip without. As for how the piece came together, I would say that each choreographer had a section and then transitions were then overlapped and intermixed. Though each choreographer had a section, they did not only use their dancers. Kia was working with both Choomna dancers as well as Casa Tumac dancers. It's wonderful to experience the power of movement and how it transcends speaking. As dancers, we are always adaptable, but in this case we had to be ultra-attentive to detail and focused so that we looked the same as our counterparts.
Whether you can believe it or not, after those five hours of rehearsal, we had a whole entire 15-minute long piece. Crazy, I know!
The piece was presented the following day in Bogota and also four day later in Medellin.
I'm so thankful for an incredible collaboration of dance, but to have also be a part of this beautiful work of art. It's a performance I will never, ever forget!
SCDT: Vamos a Colombia, Parte 1.
Welcome back, or should I say - Bienvenidos - to part one of our blog experience to Colombia! If you didn't know, now you do, South Chicago Dance Theatre took a full week trip to Colombia, South America. While there, we visited the cities of Bogota as well as Medellin (pictured above). We had the opportunity to collaborate with two other companies and their directors, experience the culture, eat their food, learn and speak their language, and most of all we engaged in our Choreographic Diplomacy mission. The trip itself is too much for just one blog, so I thought I'd split it into multiple parts for you to enjoy. It's a trip I will never forget full of memories made with each other as well as exposure to a culture totally different from our own.
To give you a broad stroke overview, I thought I'd start Part 1 of the blog explaining our day-by-day while in Colombia with some simple details. Separate blogs will include details on the collaboration between the three companies present, as well as a reflection of the process, the trip, and everything in between!
Day 1: Sunday, October 15: A long travel day to Bogota, Colombia! A total of 9 dancers plus Kia arrived to Chicago O'Hare Airport at 5:30am to begin our long flight pattern to Colombia! Once we arrived safely, we enjoyed dinner in our hotel with our South Korean friends from Choomna Dance Company!
Day 2: Monday, October 16: Our longest day of rehearsal with Choomna Dance Company as well as Casa Tumac from Colombia. The three directors of each company worked together to choreograph a collaboration piece that is 15 minutes long! It's a beautiful mesh of our styles of dance and was completely put together during this day!
Day 3: Tuesday, October 17: SHOW DAY! We had technical rehearsal and performed in our first show of the trip in Bogota for a beautiful audience!
Day 4: Wednesday, October 18: A free day to explore Bogota! For our last day in this beautiful city, us company members enjoyed brunch, walking around, exploring a museum, taking a cable car to the top of a mountain (10,000 ft above sea level!!) and enjoying an amazing dinner together on top of the mountain!
Day 5: Thursday, October 19: A travel day to Medellin, Colombia! We took a flight early morning and enjoyed the rest of the day to catch up on rest as well as explore the city of Medellin!
Day 6: Friday, October 20: SHOW DAY! We had another full day of technical rehearsal and a performance in Medellin for a very lively and engaged audience. Our last performance of the trip, it was so fun.
Day 7: Saturday, October 21: A free day to explore, buy souvenirs, and sight-see. At the end of the day we returned to the festival to view more dance and musical performances. We joined in on the dance floor and followed along with the dancing and singing! It was beautiful to be fully immersed in the Colombian culture.
Day 8: Sunday, October 22: Our long travel day back to the United States. It was sad to see such a great time go, but we were all insanely grateful to have had this experience and to see all that Colombia has to offer - it's beauty, it's culture, and it's love for the arts.
I hope this small glimpse into our trip made you excited to learn more! In our next blog, I will take you through the process of our Choreographic Diplomacy adventure and explain how our 3 artistic directors made such a beautiful piece based on community and coming together.
As always - stay tuned!