dance.colum.eduThe Dance Center Columbia College Chicago

Events On the Ground On the Ground Interviews Pulse Check Residency Reflections Essays Dance Dive AboutHistory Directions / Parking Offers Contact Staff Support Donate Our Sponsors & Friends Education In the Community Columbia College Chicago American Dancing Bodies Symposium Latest News Tickets Home Events On the Ground On the Ground Interviews Pulse Check Residency Reflections Essays Dance Dive AboutHistory Directions / Parking Offers Contact Staff Support Donate Our Sponsors & Friends Education In the Community Columbia College Chicago American Dancing Bodies Symposium Latest News Tickets Join us! Then. Now. Next. Celebrating 50 Years of Dedication to Sharing the Present Moment of Dance For the first time, all Dance Center concerts are part of the Dance Presenting Series season. This fall, the first half of the 50th season led to multiple impromptu dance parties on stage. Join us for the second half as we dance our way from winter to spring and experience the full cycle of choreographic development in works by established, emerging, and aspiring choreographers and dancers. Coming up FOMENT: Perspectives in Motion Thursday, May 9 and Friday, May 10, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets: FREE, but reservations are recommended to secure a seat FOMENT: Perspectives in Motion highlights original works by Joey Martinez, Lydia Jacobson, Gabby Sheets, Seniyah Tribble. All aspects of the craft are brought together as graduating Dance BFA students culminate their four years of study and practice with the presentation of their own choreographic works. Tickets Hold dear (recall) by Tristen Sanborn, BFA Dance, ‘23 — photo by: Julie Lucas. 50th Season HALF Pass Don’t miss any of our upcoming events! As a 50th Season Half Pass Holder, you will: save $50 over purchasing each ticketed concert a la carte benefit from concierge Box Office service to reserve your preferred show dates enjoy opportunities to be in community with dance enthusiasts at special, pre- and post-show gatherings Box Office staff will contact Season Pass Holders via phone or email prior to each concert to reserve your preferred days and times. Unlock your 50th Season Half Pass for just $65! Your HALF Pass ON THE GROUND from Irene Hsiao’s Merely a Mistake A Score for your Door. Explore the our latest issue of On the Ground , the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago’s blog. With support from The Walder Foundation, we are featuring interviews with Chicago dance artists, checking in on dance communities, sharing work from our virtual residencies with choreographers, and exploring the Dance Center’s video archives. On the Ground David Rousseve/REALITY, from Stardust, photo by Yi Chun. Urban Bush Women in Hep Hep Sweet Sweet, photo by Rick McCullough. About The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago is the city’s leading presenter of contemporary dance – bringing international, national, and local artists to Chicago audiences. The Dance Center has served as a focal point for dance and performance in Chicago since 1974. Learn More → Donate We could not do our work without the generous support of our individual supporters, the Friends of the Dance Center, and institutional funders. Your donation directly supports the artists that we present. Find Out How → Featured Apr 29, 2024 Environmental awakening: ETHOS IV connects community to the Earth Apr 29, 2024 A canopy of pink blossoming trees showers petals on the audience as we sail down the path, pulled along by a current of wind and sound. Slow and easy, like swirling air, four figures float through the grove, reverently laying hands upon the bark and grass. They caress the breeze and mimic the shapes of the branches and trunks. Ayako Kato—kinetic philosopher, poet and choreographer—pauses to hang from one branch, arm hooked delicately and body unfolding toward the sky. The crowd is hushed. See Chicago Dance reviews Ayako Kato’s ETHOS IV: Degrowth/Cycle/Rebirth . Apr 29, 2024 Apr 24, 2024 What happens when we take off our socks? The bittersweet power of introspection: a response by Aaliyah Christina Apr 24, 2024 In January/February 2024, dance artist SJ Swilley held a production residency at the Dance Center of Columbia College supported by Chicago Dancemakers Forum. They invited collaborators Mawu Ama Ma’at Gora and Graciella Ye’Tsunami to help shape their work, Aaliyah Christina as an embedded writer, and Jovan Landry as the photographer to document some of the process. The resulting piece was part of the Chicago Artist Spotlight Festival in April 2024. Apr 24, 2024 Apr 3, 2024 Rooted in Connection: The Dance Center Celebrates Local Artists During its Fiftieth Season Apr 3, 2024 Sharon Hoyer of New City Stage interviews our Artistic Director Meredith Sutton: The Dance Center at Columbia College Chicago is a semi-hidden gem just off the path of big-name performance venues in the Loop…Some of the most memorable performances I’ve seen in my near twenty years of covering dance in Chicago have taken place on the Dance Center stage. Experimental work, student and faculty showcases, nationally and internationally revered artists have all rarified the Dance Center’s air for half a century.” Apr 3, 2024 Mar 20, 2024 Stages in Bloom: Our Chicago Artist Spotlight Festival in Chicago Reader’s Picks for Spring Mar 20, 2024 The Dance Center of Columbia College presents the first Chicago Artist Spotlight Festival, featuring works by distinguished Chicago dancemakers Ayako Kato , J’Sun Howard , SJ Swilley, and Erin Kilmurray and Kara Brody in works that expand the footprint of performance beyond the stage. Mar 20, 2024 Mar 9, 2024 "LaTasha Barnes and company explore The Jazz Continuum” at Columbia College" Mar 9, 2024 It’s LaTasha Barnes’ The Jazz Continuum,” a communal celebration of Black American dance and music running March 7-9 at the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago. Timelines collide as different eras of jazz dance and adjacent forms—tap dance, footwork, popping, break dance, line dance and more—blend together in a seamless juxtaposition of styles. Mar 9, 2024 Feb 28, 2024 A Powerful Marriage of All the Things: LaTasha Barnes’ The Jazz Continuum Comes to Chicago Feb 28, 2024 In the audio series portion of The 1619 Project,” New York Times cultural critic Wesley Morris says that when he hears American pop music—jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, even yacht rock—he hears Blackness. Likewise (and inseparably) is American social Black dance, emerging and evolving alongside these genres: bodies unstoppably moved by syncopation and harmony, shot through with ripples of delight only a perfectly landed improvisation can provide. But improvisation lives in the new. And as Black artists push forms and culture forward, older styles can get left behind…. Feb 28, 2024 Jan 9, 2024 Dance Center Leaders Chosen by New City Stage for its Players 50 2024: The Institutions Jan 9, 2024 We’re really honored that New City highlighted our Artistic and Producing Directors as part of its Players 2024: The Fifty People Who Really Perform for Chicago. Meredith Sutton and Roell Schmidt, in collaboration with dance department chair Lisa Gonzales, are experimenting with ways to erase that and” by moving away from the ‘gatekeeper’ model of dance presenting.” Jan 9, 2024 Apr 19, 2023 Jumaane Taylor "Raised the Bar for Tap Dance" with "Supreme Love" Apr 19, 2023 In a preview for Jumanne Taylor’s Supreme Love in the Chicago Tribune , Lauren Warnecke details the waves that Supreme Love made in the dance world in 2016 and its revival now. Apr 19, 2023 Apr 10, 2023 The Chicago Reader in Conversation with Meredith Sutton, Interim Series Director Apr 10, 2023 Irene Hsiao, contributor to the Chicago Reader , talks to Interim Director of the Dance Presenting Series Meredith Sutton talks to the Chicago Reader about taking the Columbia College Chicago Dance Center into its 50th anniversary season. Apr 10, 2023 Apr 7, 2023 Recent review calls the Dance Center arguably the best venue to see dance in...