Dancing the Archive: Embodied Histories, Collective Power

The Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center’s Hiplet Ballerinas’ mission is to offer the highest quality dance instruction in an environment that celebrates the diversity of its students and the community. CMDC strives to keep the cost of training affordable and often provides classes at little or no charge. In addition to offering classes in many different styles of dance, CMDC is also the home of the pre-professional training program School of Bryant Ballet. In 2008, Founder and Artistic Director Homer Hans Bryant merged ballet and street dance to create Hiplet, a new technique featuring hip-hop dance in pointe shoes. 

Deeply Rooted Dance Theater reimagines and diversifies the aesthetics of contemporary dance by uniting modern, classical, American, and African American traditions in dance and storytelling. Through its uncompromising pursuit of excellence, Deeply Rooted demonstrates the transformative power of art and beauty through dance education, performance, and cultural enrichment in Chicago and on the world stage. 

The Era Footwork Collective is a multidisciplinary artist collaborative representing the dance, music, film, graphic and fashion design, and culture known as Chicago Footwork. It uses the wisdom and practices passed down from its ancestors to create experiences of rhythm and soul that act as spiritual forces toward creative self-definition and individual and community transformation. Through education, workshops, public performances, community raves, and battles with fellow dancers throughout the city of Chicago and beyond, The Era Footwork Collective serves as culture bearers of footwork and features some of the primary artists continuing to evolve and grow the dance, music, and street culture of Chicago Footwork. The Collective is led by Brandon “Chief Manny” Calhoun, and Jamal “Litebulb” Oliver, and features a range of artists, creatives, and administrative colleagues. Under the leadership of Bulb and Manny, it aims to create sustainable economic pathways for themselves as artists and leaders and contribute to the establishment of a creative footwork economy in Chicago and beyond.

Forward Momentum Chicago (FMC) is a not-for-profit organization working to inspire possibilities through dance education programs that strengthen schools and communities with limited arts access. FMC serves thousands of children each year through three major streams of programming: a dance-based arts education curriculum, including in-school and after-school programming and a partnership with After School Matters, a community-based studio program, and a summer dance camp focused on arts enrichment and performance opportunities. Students are immersed in dance genres from around the world while improving social-emotional learning skills to develop the whole child. 

Unapologetically diverse and inclusive since its founding in 1974, Joel Hall Dancers & Center highlights and spotlights the Black experience through dance. Joel Hall and Joseph Ehrenberg founded the company to provide opportunities for gay Black and Brown dancers and choreographers to gain visibility. From that work grew a multi-ethnic and inclusive dance company — The Joel Hall Dancers — which inspired the creation of Urban Jazz, a unique jazz dance vocabulary developed by Hall here in Chicago and recognized internationally for its blend of classical technique with jazz, house, street, and club influences. Our professional-level studio classes welcome all abilities and identities to enhance our collective culture and improve the world around us. While holding the highest standards of excellence, Joel Hall Dancers & Center uses dance to dismantle oppressive systems, amplify BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ voices, and cultivate a better world for all. 

M.A.D.D. Rhythms preserves, promotes, and contributes to tap by teaching its history, representing its culture, and advocating for its future. M.A.D.D. Rhythms makes a difference in underserved communities by connecting and caring for youth through tap and believes that having access and options gives a child a greater chance at a positive life. M.A.D.D. Rhythms spread the joy, love, discipline, and expression of tap to as many children as possible and work diligently to ensure that all students have the opportunity to dance, regardless of their financial situation. Its youth apprenticeship program Studio to Stage is an alternative to the school-to-prison pipeline.

Move Me Soul is a pre-professional youth and professional adult dance company founded by Ayesha Jaco in 2008. The company is committed to providing an innovative platform for inner-city youth & young adults to train and evolve as the next generation of dancers, choreographers, and teachers. Performers are engaged in dancemaking, storytelling, and character development that allows them to curate their own aesthetics of the past, present, and future. 

Muntu Dance Theatre performs authentic and progressive interpretations of contemporary and ancient African and African American dance, music, and folklore. Highly regarded for its innovative repertory preserving traditional African dance while creating new works that build on African, Caribbean, and African American cultural traditions, they carefully research the cultural and historical significance of the dances and the societies from which they originate. Muntu's core programs include professional performances both at home and abroad, comprehensive community arts programs, classes for the public, and professional training for emerging new young artists. ACE (Arts for Community Empowerment) is a residency program that educates children at CPS and charter schools about the techniques of African dance and drumming. 

NAJWA Dance Corps (NDC) is a company of professional dancers and musicians dedicated to the preservation of dance styles and techniques of different eras that reflect the African American dance heritage and experience. NDC has grown over the years by presenting traditional and contemporary dances of Africa and the Caribbean, traditional and contemporary jazz, tap, nostalgic dances, and the developing hip-hop styles of the 21st century. 

Praize Productions, Inc. is a not-for-profit arts-based organization housed on the South Side of Chicago. PPI is composed of three platforms: PPI’s Performing Arts Academy; RIZE Pro-Elite professional dance company and RIZE Youth Company; and our outreach programs. PPI’s award-winning professional dance company, RIZE Pro-Elite, is composed entirely of women of color. Its “sisterhood” of artists creates a safe space for artistic growth, enlightenment, and personal evolution for its sister members. Our professional company galvanizes the next generation of Black women leaders. Known for its award-winning and thought-provoking theatrical productions, PPI curates professional, arts-based programming and events that amplify the voices and narratives of Black artists and communities via professional platforms, while purposefully maintaining the richness of community connectedness.