Donald Byrd: The Finished Product
What a whirlwind of a month it's been, but I'm here to give our final update on the closing out of our process with the one and only Donald Byrd. We spent 10 days working with Donald and got to know him well and thoroughly enjoyed the process. As with any residency at South Chicago Dance Theatre, the whole company was involved and got to learn from the best! The piece includes 8 SCDT dancers and will debut at our home season show on April 27th alongside five other world premieres! Here's a little bit more about the first finished product.
If Mr. Byrd's residency taught me one thing, it's to dive deep into the process and enjoy the process in order to develop a final product. Generally speaking, I am a Type-A, product and outcome driven person. I love when things are organized, in place, and clear. I've always been fascinated by people who are able to be fully invested in the creativity of a process, working and refining a piece of work to make it all that it is. Donald did exactly this. He began with 2 phrases of choreography and worked through collaboration with us dancers to create a lengthy piece full of exciting and athletic moments. Once all these "scenes" of movement were created, Donald began to organized them, weaving transitions in and out, adding more movement when necessary, playing with partnering, lifts, and thrilling skills. As dancers, we were ready and available to the changes and adjustments, as they make the piece into the spectacle that it is.
Later, we layered on music and continued to produce final touches on the piece with the assistance of Donald. Though the piece was a "final product" around day 5, it continued to evolve with the artistic direction of Donald Byrd as he was fully immersed in the process with us. I also appreciated his desire to get to know us as dancers. He engaged with us by asking questions about our personal life and interests throughout the process as to understand who we were within the space. We are people first, then dancers. It was important to remember this.
If you're looking forward to seeing Donald's finished product that he created through a fantastic process, mark April 27, 2023 on your calendar! We are back at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago with 6 brand new pieces. I'll be sure to update you on each process - thanks for hanging along and learning more about this one. And the BIGGEST thank you to Donald Byrd for coming out to work with SCDT - we appreciate you!
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)