Kate Weare Residency!
A new month and a new residency to go along with it! Just last week, Kate Weare got in town and immediately began research with SCDT as we start a new work that will premiere at our May 3rd show.
Kate is incredible and we've had the privilege of meeting her before! Kate traveled to us in 2023 to help Kia coach her creation "Memoirs of Jazz in the Alley". Kate serves as Kia's mentor. She's been providing Kia with advice and helping Kia develop her choreography since Season 5. Kate was even Kia's mentor for Kia's Jacob's Pillow Choreographic residency! Some of us have gotten to work with her 1-on-1 as she coached the feeling behind our characters in "Memoirs". She's such a genuine, kind, and grounded person. She's thoughtful with her words, intentional with her notes and corrections, and cares deeply about getting to know the person behind the choreography.
Kate has been working intimately with her cast for the Auditorium premiere. She prefers creating in a small group and intimate environment. I love this as choreography is truly such a vulnerable process for both the creator and the dancer. There must be ultimate trust from both sides.
I'm so excited to see what Kate creates in these two weeks we have her here. She will return later in our season to coach the dancers and make any improvements prior to the piece's premiere.
What a wonderful experience for our 8th season - we are so grateful for such a great first week with Kate Weare!
Latin School Takeover!!
Oh my gosh - we had the MOST fun Wednesday at the Latin School located in Lincoln Park!!
On January 22, 2025 South Chicago Dance Theatre took over the Latin School in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day while expressing the theme that Love is a force for change!!
Over the 7 hour school day, all 17 members of SCDT split up and managed to put on 3 performances and teach 7 classes to children of all ages!
During the performances, students in their respective ages levels experienced many repertoire pieces that we have! We fused pieces of our Black History Month show with Monique Haley's "Soul Power", Kia Smith's "Memoirs of Jazz in the Alley", as well as our well-known "Architect of a Dream", a piece set to the "I Have a Dream" speech! It was a powerful performance that gave a lens to the students that we can communicate our love in many different ways - through speaking, speeches, poems, dance, gestures, etc. In addition, Kia showed a video to the students of our Choreographic Diplomacy experiences to show how dance can transcend words and bring people all around the globe together!
During the informative dance classes, students moved their bodies together, engaged in typical dance warm-ups, and actually created their own dance inspired by the "I Have a Dream" speech! It was a beautiful experience watching the students learn how their gestures and movements can spark emotion and inspire choreography!
Latin School Takeover day was the BEST day and we are so lucky to have worked with the kids at this beautiful school! Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
Guest Teacher Excitement!
One of my favorite parts of SCDT rehearsal is class! It's where us dancers warm-up, refine our training, and get to perfect our technique in styles such as ballet, contemporary, modern, and jazz!
We often times have our usual faculty consisting of Jessica Miller Tomlinson, Meredith Dincolo, and Ethan Kirschbaum. Sometimes, though, we invite guest instructors to come teach class which only expands our training. These guest instructors don't see us as often as our normal teachers, so they often times bring a fresh perspective on our technique and can offer new ways to think about certain movements.
This past Friday we had the privilege of taking class from.Patti Eylar. Patti is toward the top of our list as favorite guest instructors as we often joke that after a class with Patti you are "on the leg" meaning you are completely balanced. The way she approaches ballet class is so wonderful. She's calm yet informative and cares so much about activating turnout and mind-body connection. There is nothing like Patti's class to get you ready for an intense day of rehearsal.
Just as athletes head to the gym to prepare for a day, we as dancers need class to prepare for the day. It fires off our muscles, prevents us from injury, and gets us in the mindset to work hard and dance all day long.
Thank you, Patti, for a wonderful class on Friday. We look forward to having her again AND updating you on our other guest instructors throughout the season!
Happy New Year from SCDT!
A silly picture for 2025 because it matches our vibe!
As of January 7, 2025 we are BACK in rehearsal and ready to accomplish all that the New Year has in store - and let me tell you it's a lot!
Just so I can fully depict how much it is...here's a list of all we are looking forward to in 2025 to close out Season 8 - trust me you'll hear more about each individual event through the blog soon!
- Black History Month Performances!
- Guest teachers for Company Class
- South Chicago Dance Festival
- Another residency with Kate Weare!
- A performance with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company!
- A performance at York High School
- Continuing to rehearse and put together our May 3 show
- Our May 3 show at the Auditorium Theatre
- Red Rock Dance Festival in Utah
- NEXT SEASON!!!!
WOW - ten amazing and wonderful things to look forward to and so much in between. Stay tuned for the blogs about each and everything...I can't wait to share!
Opera Laguna Premiere
On our final days before the Holiday Break, we had the privilege of escaping the cold and flying to sunny and 65 Laguna Beach, California! A few nights on the oceanfront made all of us leave insanely refreshed and happy to perform prior to visiting our families for break.
We arrived to California on Thursday, December 19 and have had a whirlwind of a time since we left on Saturday, December 21. After arriving and settling quickly at our hotel, we walked to our venue at a beautiful church location in Laguna. We had 90 minutes in the space to figure out how to make the choreography we had prepared in Chicago for the 6 songs we were performing to in the Opera. Adjustments had to be made especially since the space proved to be quite tight. It's nothing we are not used to - as professionals we are equipped to make quick changes and adjust to the space or stage we are utilizing. After the spacing rehearsal, we got dressed in our crimson red costumes and prepared for a Dress Rehearsal run of the full opera show with singers, musicians, and all of us dancers.
The show was titled "Handel's Messiah" and is considered the "Nutcracker of Operas" in the Opera world. It's a show patrons love to come see around the Holiday season. The dress rehearsal went off without a hitch, we had all of Friday to enjoy the city of Laguna, enjoy the crashing of the waves, and soak up the sunshine! Friday night's performance was packed with viewers and the audience seemed to love it. We are so happy to have worked with Opera Laguna and hope to have the privilege to see and work with them again.
Here's to a wonderful Holiday Break - enjoy the time with your loved ones and we will see you in 2025! Happy New Year!
Happy Holidays from SCDT!
A big HAPPY HOLIDAYS from SCDT at our annual Holiday Party that we had just yesterday, December 12.
Our end-of-year often times ends up being so busy that we struggle to find a time to pause in the dancing and celebrate a successful, healthy year with one another! So, yes, it's a bit early, but we enjoyed the celebration nonetheless.
With the Emerging and Associate artists' show this coming weekend, and the Main Company heading out to Laguna Beach, California for a performance of an Opera, we pinned down this mid-week party for us all to participate in!
What did we do? Eat, laugh, show up in our favorite holiday sweaters, relax, and play games! Each year we tend to watch back an old performance that most of us were involved in. This year, we snuggled up (shown above) on gymnastic mats to watch our Jacob's Pillow performance! Back in August we had the honor of showing 4 works in a 40-minute performance outside in Beckett, Massachusetts at the renowned Jacob's Pillow! Just yesterday, we watched it back and it's always a joy to watch with everyone. We make jokes, reminisce, and compliment each other on what a crazy amazing job we all did at that performance. For some of the new emerging artists, it's their first time seeing some of those pieces performed by us!
After the showing, we ate more and played a South Chicago Dance Theatre themed version of Guess Who? A couple of us Company Members dreamed this game up last year and I finally put it together and it was such a success!
My favorite part of being on this company is how it truly feels like a family. We all care for each other and genuinely enjoy hanging out together. Celebrating 2024 was a must and I'm so glad we got to do it together - even if it was a bit early!
Happy Holidays to you all, enjoy your time together whenever you have the chance to celebrate!!
Emerging/Associate Artist Showcase: What you can Expect
Our closest event upcoming is our first ever Emerging and Associate Artist Showcase on Saturday, December 13 at 3pm at The Dance Center at Columbia College. If you have not yet reserved tickets, below is the link to our FREE show!
We've had the Emerging Artist program since I started with South Chicago Dance Theatre in Season 4, but this year is the first year we've had this big of a program and enough dancers to put on their own show! It's extremely exciting because alongside the Main Company, the Emerging and Associate Artists have a show to work up to in the December month! For the past few months, while the Main Company has worked on the upcoming Opera debut in California, the Emerging and Associate Artists have had the opportunity to work on this Showcase! And let me tell you - they've been putting in WORK! The repertoire looks amazing and the dancers are thrilling to watch. Below is a sneak preview of what you can expect to see this Saturday...
Memoirs of Jazz in the Alley (an excerpt): did you miss our Season 6 home show? Or do you miss viewing one of our most upbeat, exciting, and performative crowd-pleasers? Well, you can get a taste of it from watching a duet from this fun piece!
An Opening: Choreographed by Terry Marling, this piece is a beautiful depiction of human nature and connecting to the people you interact with.
On a Lark: Another crowd favorite! A journey through familiar Hollywood songs and intense character work and partnering for all to enjoy!
Soul Power: Our most grounded and dynamic jazz piece. The Emerging and Associate Artists absolutely fill the stage with immense energy and focus!
A solo work by our own Kia S. Smith will be featured as well!
Hybrid Line: To top it all of, a well-known finale for our company, this piece is dark, full of constant-movement, and incredibly athletic.
Sound EXCITING? That's because it is! Support our company and come watch this Saturday!! It's only one click away, plus it's FREE! No excuses...we will see you there!
Have You Heard? (AKA don't miss it!!!)
Interrupting our regular scheduled Gratitude series to give you the most important announcement - our Associate and Emerging Artists are having a FREE show...yes, you heard that correctly, FREE! Which means, 0 excuse not to come and support our 8 favorites as they have worked for the past few months putting together this incredible showing.
Located at the dance center at Columbia College, these dancers are showing six pieces of repertoire from SCDT. While the Main Company was off touring for two weeks in Korea & Vietnam, our Emerging and Associate Artists were utilizing the studio space in Chicago, learning and rehearsing all six pieces for the show.
Most of the pieces you've seen before at previous Season 5, 6, or 7 home season shows. Some of these artists have even been involved in the original cast of the works! Of course they bring all the energy, power, and grace that SCDT always brings and we are so proud of them. As a Main Company dancer, I just have to say that the couple of pieces we've been able to view ahead of time look extraordinary and have an AMAZING energy to them. We are ultra supportive of our friends and peers and can't wait to watch them shine on December 14!
I mean it - don't miss it! It's free, it's at Columbia college, and it's another chance to see some of your favorite pieces from throughout the seasons!
Grateful for MOVEMENT
Gratitude series taking us through the month of November and it may seem completely simple, but today I am reflecting on my gratitude for movement itself.
Think about it - as I'm typing this, I'm mimicking the motion that most people do every single day for a job. Most people sit at a desk, stare at a computer, type or respond to emails, and spend practically 8 hours a day in this same format.
Don't get me wrong - my job is strenuous and physically exhausting, but I just can't picture a life in which I stay STILL for so much of it.
In addition to this, most people know their co-workers in a small-talk and brief conversation format. I know the depths of my co-workers, I trust them, I fall to them, I balance with their strength, and I spend most moments of my day interacting, problem-solving, and collaborating with them.
I simply can't imagine a life without deep connection and love for the people I work with.
Movement supersedes language and becomes our own intimate conversation. It helps me to meet someone faster, know who they are simply by HOW they move. I love it so much.
One of the best things we learned very young through dancing was that you get to let your emotions out through movement. Bad day? Focus on the movement and let it out. Good day? Jump high, soar through the sky, and continue to feel amped by dancing it out. Want to embody/act like a character completely unlike yourself? With dance, every day is like Halloween dress up and we get to play as characters.
Through movement we are allowed to play, explore, discover, and keep the child-like wonder of life alive.
Today, I'm thankful for a career that keeps me moving, happy, stimulated, active, healthy, and desiring to come back to "work" each day.
Thanksgiving Series: Our PEOPLE!
This November, we are in a state of process. Tons of work going on towards Kia Smith's new piece and it's truly wonderful watching everything to come together. Don't get me wrong - it's hard work. It's nice to take a step back and appreciate all that's going on big picture.
GRATITUDE is one of my favorite seasons of the year - you all know if you've been following the blog for years and years. This year I've decided we need MORE gratitude and it's a whole series.
Today, I start by being grateful for the people in the picture above and so many more not pictured. Each dancer on SCDT brings a little bit of light into my day and I'm extremely thankful for it. Below is a sentence or two about each person. Hopefully it helps you get to know them a bit more, and selfishly it allows me to reflect and sparks some joy in my day :)
Keeley: For one, Keeley makes me dance taller and makes me want to get my leg up higher!! But in all seriousness, she is sweet and always serves a smile and her youthful energy keeps us going!
Kelsi: Our quiet and quippy queen. You have to listen close, but she is quick-witted while staying completely focused and determined whenever it comes to class or rehearsal.
Lauryn: A serious powerhouse. She may be new this year, but her dancing is far from timid. I'm inspired by her hunger and tenacity in her dancing and as a person!
Reid: He's young but oh so professional! Reid is the first to treat everyone with kindness and has a work ethic that is top notch.
Mary: She's so silly and fun and keeps the long rehearsal days so light-hearted. It's what we need every time we step into the studio - more JOY!
Maddie: Maddie is insanely focused and has a constant desire to get better. She takes feedback and improves upon it unlike any dancer I've seen and it's so inspiring!
Faith: She has such an ease to her movement. She challenges me to explore and think about movement in a different way and is such a powerful force and presence when she dances!
Ben: Ben is the type of person you become friends with from the first moment you meet - he's so easy-going, funny, and doesn't take things so seriously. And then you watch him dance and his flexibility and realize he's serious about that...:)
Elijah: The company's all-time grandpa! Such an old soul, but so incredibly creative. The way Elijah approaches movement is from a leveling up mindset. He'll never settle and constantly pushes me to do more!
Brodie: Brodie is sometimes my needed reminder to chill out - he's a calming spirit and so collected especially when learning choreography quickly. My FAVORITE Brodie moments, though, are when he spews out in uncontrollable laughter!
Valerie: Our newest company member, but so eloquent, well-spoken, adaptable, and mature. I don't love hugs, but I'd take a Valerie hug any day :)
Trey: Trey's presence is always known and they constantly inspire me to take up space, dance taller, and level up. Plus, I'm 100% thankful for their shoulder massages!!!
Chloe: Chloe girl is fun, chatty, and so easy to get along with. She's gorgeous to watch as a dancer and has such fluid transitions!
Jack: His energy is infectious and fills the whole entire room. He's a natural leader, a fun friend, and so athletic as a dancer it constantly challenges me to push my stamina and strength.
Marissa: Poised, graceful, organized, on top of it ALWAYS! Marissa is calm and confident energy, she's so intelligent, and she balances out all of our crazy energy so well.
Mya: Never a dull moment around Mya - her personality is bright and silly and she keeps me laughing 800% of the time. She is the POWER in SCDT no doubt!
SCDT is full of great dancers, but more than that it's full of great PEOPLE. Thanks for always sharing your energy with me each day.