What is the "Artistic Process"?
It's process time around here at South Chicago Dance Theatre! And from right now until perhaps the end of 2024, we are diving in to a new artistic process with our own Director of Vision and Strategy, Kia S. Smith! You may be wondering - what is process? It could be something you've heard of before in the artistic world but you may not know how it directly correlates to dance and HOW we make or choreograph a piece.
Well - I'm here to give you the inside scoop...
Every choreographer and person's process is totally different, just as everyone's approach to learning or creating tends to be different. Some artists prefer to work in a linear fashion, whilst others jump from middle to beginning to end to middle all over again. Some choreographers prefer to set things in stone right away, whilst others prefer to change things constantly and let the first time something is set to be a mold that can shift and develop over time.
When it comes to working with Kia, the ladder is typically more true. Kia is a true creative, and after working in her process for the past five years, I've come to know that things with change, develop, get scrapped, get enhanced, and move around over time. It's exciting to watch something start as a seed and form into a beautiful piece.
For us as dancers, the development of a piece usually starts with what we call "phrases" or snippets of movement strung together. Sometimes Kia will attach these phrases to movement, other times not. We as her dancers have to be very flexible and also remember as much as we can when it comes to all of the phrases. We have what I like to call, "Big Brains".
Kia is just this week starting to work on her piece for our May 3rd show at the Auditorium Theatre. The piece titled "Limitless" will likely include all of us dancers and is a half-evening length work. Just this week, we've been working on phrases. Sometimes as a group, duets, solos, etc. but it is solely the preliminary part of the process. We are excited to continue to work on this process and, of course, I will be here to update you on it throughout the various stages.
Hopefully this gives you a small window into what process looks like! Onward and upward to more process in the coming weeks!!
Tour Part 2: Vietnam!
Back for more on our amazing tour of Asia, 2024.
After seven wonderful days abroad in South Korea, the 12 of us dancers (Choomna and South Chicago Dance Theatre) boarded a plane to travel directly to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
The best part about this leg of the tour was our wonderful guide and host, Sam Jeong. Kia and Sam are long-time friends and Sam is responsible for bringing us to a festival in Vietnam come 2025. This years' trip was all about meeting the dance company in Vietnam (Lyricist) and getting to know each others' styles so that our collaboration next season can be successful.
We only spent three short days in Vietnam, but they were impactful, jam-packed, and so well-organized. After exploring a whole new country and switching time zones, it was so great to have Sam host us - and WOW did he HOST us. Lunches were delivered right to the dance studio each day - even coffees one of the days (Vietnamese coffee is no joke, it's strong and delicious!). Family dinner was reserved at various restaurants each night precisely at 6:30pm. Night one we went to a rooftop Vietnamese restaurant called "Secret Garden". There I tried full shrimp and other family-style passed dishes while soaking up the humidity of Vietnam. I LOVE the heat and I felt so good arriving to 90 degree weather.
Other nights we indulged in Vegetarian cuisine along with a Japanese fusion pizza place. Everything was amazing and I can't wait to go back to try more of their cuisine. As far as the dancing goes, it was the best feeling to create, learn, and explore each others' genres of dance without any pressure. Typically when we collaborate with a group, we have to hit the ground running. For these two days we were able to learn each country's traditional style, take class from each company's director, and explore some collaborative movement with one another. Dancing with everyone felt so natural and we had only just met. That's the magic of Choreographic Diplomacy.
A beautiful trip, a beautiful collaboration of dance, and such an appreciation for where South Chicago Dance Theatre has taken me!
Tour Part 1: South Korea!
We've just returned from our AMAZING international tour of 2024. This tour had two legs - reason why you haven't heard from me in quite some time! We were gone for a total of 12 days and had the privilege of exploring and dancing in both South Korea AND Vietnam! I have so much to tell you, but we will start with Part 1 - South Korea!
We embarked on a 12 hour flight from Chicago to Seoul, South Korea on Sunday, September 29, 2024. The nine of us company members plus Kia adjusted to the 14-hour time difference and were right on to rehearsal with our Seoul-mates from Choomna Dance Company on Tuesday, October 1! You may remember Choomna as we've had a long-lasting relationship with the dancers and their director, Joseph Kim, for seven years running. Joseph and Kia met on Facebook and formed a connection that has led us to dancing with them and collaborating on choreography throughout the past few seasons. It's wonderful to have a beautiful relationship with a company so far away.
The 12 of us dancers collaborated on a new piece that premiered at the Seoul International Dance Festival in Tank! Our movement surpassed language barriers and we had the most beautiful outdoor stage venue to premiere our work on. In addition to rehearsing and performing, Joseph and his dancers showed us such a fun time in Korea. One of my favorite nights was when Joseph reserved a Korean barbecue restaurant for us. He ordered us his favorite meats, we chatted non-stop, laughing from across the tables. After dinner, we went to Karaoke in which we sang our favorite songs from both countries. It was the most fun night eating Korean food, exploring the city, and having the most fun with our Korean friends!
Between dancing and exploring, laughing and rehearsing, we appreciated a new culture and learned so much about collaboration. We love our Choreographic Diplomacy program and we are privileged to have kept such an amazing relationship with Choomna!
Stay tuned for PART TWO of our wonderful tour!
Navy Pier: Our First Full Company Show!
Just yesterday, Saturday, September 21, on a BEAUTIFUL first day of fall, we had one of our favorite shows of the year - Chicago Live! at Navy Pier. We typically kick off each season with this show. It's a full company affair, we all travel down to the pier together and tend to spend the whole night hanging out together as a company.
With 5 brand new members this year (amongst all of our programs such as Main Company, Associate Artist, and Emerging Artists) we were eager to have everyone perform together! This year we presented two works you may have seen before - "On A Lark" by Stephanie Martinez choreographed in 2022, and "Soul Power" by Monique Haley, choreographed and restaged in 2024. These two pieces represented our company in an upbeat, entertaining way, which is exactly what we need for a community-based show on the furthest end of Navy Pier. Tourists will pass by and stop to watch in addition to members of other companies that perform throughout the day. It's so fun to get the whole Chicago dance community together and watch each other at Chicago Live!
This free event is such a fun way for us to invite local friends, families, and supporters of South Chicago Dance Theatre. For one, I love our beautiful outdoor stage and the backdrop of the lake behind us! We also had a prime time to perform - 6:30-7:00pm right around sunset! Golden hour was good to us and another successful Chicago Live! show is in the books. Thanks for having us, Navy Pier!!
Frank Chavez Residency!!
We’ve spent the last two weeks oh so thankful as we’ve been learning and restaging River North’s iconic piece by Frank Chavez, “Temporal Trance”. It’s been an insane couple of weeks learning the piece as it’s highly physical, athletic, detailed, and involves a ton of flexibility and partnering.
As a company, we are generally used to new works being created for us, though this year we have the privilege of working virtually with Frank Chavez and in person with Jessica Wolfrum who is staging this existing piece on SCDT! River North as a dance company was an integral part of the Chicago Dance scene. Since the end of the company in 2015, dancers and choreographers alike have referenced and talked about the sheer talent and beauty of the company. Personally, I’ve had countless instructors, mentors, and people who I look up to in the dance world come from River North.
One of the best parts of this process has truly been learning from Jessica and Frank. The history runs deep. We’ve heard stories of the past dancers that are in the archival video of “Temporal Trance”. We’ve learned steps that many former dancers in Chicago DREAMED of performing onstage. It’s such a special few weeks to dive deep in Chicago dance’s history and to be a part of carrying it on. We are so thankful to Frank Chavez for trusting us with this piece and allowing us to dive deeper into some of the choreography that made Chicago dance what it is today.
We can’t wait for you to see this piece in May at the Auditorium Theatre. Season 8 has started, and we just know it’s going to be great!
Awards Shows & a beautiful Performance!
South Chicago Dance Theatre does it all! Yes - we've dove head-first into the month of September and I'm so excited to share with you all that we have in store and have been working on, but I'm wrapping up August by giving you the inside scoop on the show we did for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing's award banquet!
Like I said - we do it all! From shows at the Harris and Auditorium Theatre's, performances for school age children in their gymnasiums, tours internationally, and NOW...corporate events! It's unlike anything else we really get to do in the fact that it's all for pure entertainment value.
When first studying dance, we were told that dance is made for multiple reasons - to inform or educate, to inspire or evoke emotion, to make a statement (whether that be socially, politically, psychologically, etc.), and to entertain! As a group, SCDT's bigger shows often times evoke a lot of emotion, while our school shows aim to educate students on Black History. This particular awards show held at the Swissotel in downtown Chicago was solely to entertain the attendants of this beautiful event!
We had 30 minutes to WOW the audience while they enjoyed dessert & a show! We performed a couple upbeat pieces of our repertoire mixed in with new creations solely for this event that had the theme "Every Moment Matters".
SCDT had a wonderful time performing at this gorgeous event and it was a fun show to close our first month back in season with! Where would you like to see us next? Let your corporate dreams fly...
10 things we're looking forward To!
We just finished the first tour and first big performance of Season 8 and we are already looking forward to some big things that are upcoming for us! If you haven't looked into our social media (@southchicagodancetheatre) to see our season announcement, allow me to give you a bit of an overview. Not only are we looking forward to performances, but also in-studio opportunities, guest teachers, and all the dancing to come!
It's hard to single out 10, but I tried my best! It's going to be a BUSY and rewarding season, and we can't wait to share it with you all!
- Participating in our first corporate performance in quite some time! We love spreading our love for dance with others and are so thankful to be performing at the Swiss Hotel in just a few short days!
- Being in the studio for our first residency of the year - Temporal Trance! This iconic piece will be so fun to learn and have on our concert this Spring.
- CHICAGO LIVE! We've been performing here since the beginning and it's one of our most fun and beautiful events of the year, right on the water of Navy Pier.
- Our Emerging Artists performing at Harvest Festival! This was a festival our Main Company has done in the past, and we are so thrilled for our Emerging and Associate artists to perform at it this Fall.
- Our tour to South Korea to see our favorite Seoul-mates that we collaborate with quite frequently!
- Our connecting tour to Vietnam shortly following!
- Thursday classes with various Company Artists! The main company has the option to teach warm-up classes on Thursday and I'm so excited to learn from all of my friends!
- Heading to Laguna Beach for our participation in another Opera! It was so much fun to dance in an opera last year, I can't wait for another opportunity this year!
- Our famous and oh-so-fun Holiday Party at the end of the year - SCDT knows how to celebrate and it's the most rewarding thing at the end of a rigorous year!
- Starting 2025 with my favorite people back in rehearsal :)
WOW! I only got through December which means there's another list awaiting your future come 2025. SCDT always has something new and exciting to come! I'm so proud to be a part of this company and share in the events we have going on!
Our Jacob's Pillow Debut!!!
Our past week was quite the exciting one! 11 company dancers plus Kia traveled to Becket, Massachusetts for our Jacob's Pillow premiere! For those of you unfamiliar with Jacob's Pillow, it's the biggest honor to be a part of their festival. Each season, this historic place for dance hosts excellent companies from around the country. It's considered one of the highest honors to be invited to perform. SCDT had a one-night only performance on the Henry J. Leir stage and the footage of our performance will be held alongside so many other world-famous companies in Jacob's Pillow's archives.
To be on the same grounds as many historic dance icons was amazing. You can literally FEEL the history as soon as you walk on campus. Jacob's Pillow is a school that trains dancers, hosts performances, provides guidance and support for emerging choreographers, and preserves dance history. As dancers, we got to take class, walk around the campus, view historic footage, see pictures from the archives, and perform on the outdoor stage. It was an unforgettable experience that all of us were so lucky to be a part of. A week we will never forget for sure.
My personal favorite part was signing the walls backstage in the dressing room. It's a tradition that the companies who have performed at the Pillow have done for years and it's incredible that we got to do it together as a company. Many memories were made - it was the first tour of the season - and I'm so excited to add more memories to our Season 8 collection. What a great way to kick off the year!
We are BACK!
Happy Season 8, everyone!!
Wow - we are officially back! It feels like just yesterday that we were soaking up the bright lights of the Auditorium Theatre stage and now we are back in the studios of Hyde Park School of Dance preparing for another jam-packed season!
We had a beautiful day on Monday orienting ourselves with the new season's schedule and handbook followed by a fun picnic down by the water! It's such a fun tradition to start each year this way - to meet all the new people and to reminisce on when we first met the returning members in the same fashion in years' past.
All fun and smiles continue on day 2 when we immediately jumped into class and preparing for our Jacob's Pillow premiere which you will OF COURSE hear so much more about soon! Learning 3 pieces of lengthy repertoire in four days is no easy feat, but who else to do it but South Chicago Dance Theatre?
It's foam rolling, massages, and epsom salt baths for all of us as we recover from a strenuous and full first week of rehearsal. Through it all, we keep it light-hearted, fun, and enjoyable. I love this company that I consider close friends. They make the hard work fun!
More to come from me on my FIFTH season with you all on the blog. I can't believe it's been so long, but it is my biggest pleasure sharing and reflecting on some of our biggest moments together!! Here's to SEASON 8!
-Kelly Anderson