“Kia Smith’s young company has built a vibrant dance community that extends far beyond Chicago’s city limits.”
— Newcity Magazine
Since the SCDT’s 2017 launch, the Main Company has toured regionally, nationally and internationally and commissioned the choreographic work of renowned choreographers. Its collaborative initiatives have included music ensembles, television, opera, art museums and public schools through a range of self-produced and presented performance events. Prioritizing intergenerational learning and exchange, SCDT’s seven core programs utilize the art of dance to reframe trauma narratives through creative storytelling and replace dominant cultural narratives with community narratives. The art of dance empowers the SCDT community to resist oppression and foster collective healing.
Amongst SCDT’s seven core programs are the Main Company and Emerging Artist Program, the Choreographic Fellowship, the School, the Education and Community Programs, the South Chicago Arts Administration Fellowship, the annual South Chicago Dance Festival, and the Choreographic Diplomacy Program. SCDT’s work has been featured in Dance Magazine, the Chicago Tribune, the Hyde Park Herald, the Daily Jefferson County Union, the Chicago Sun Times, Chicago Magazine, See Chicago Dance, New City Magazine, and Dancermusic.com.
In its 5th anniversary season, SCDT’s work has been performed at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, ArtEz in the Netherlands, in collaboration with Choreographic Diplomacy partner Choomna Dance Company of Seoul, South Korea and was presented at the Chicago Dancers United annual fundraiser at the Pritzker Pavilion. Through the Education and Community programs, SCDT serves close to 1,000 public school students, providing instruction in both dance theater.
SCDT recently received a Black Excellence Award in the category of “Dance Company” through the African American Arts Alliance, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Foster Innovation Award, a Princess Grace Honoraria award for the choreographic work of Crystal Michelle Perkins, and is a member of the class of 2022 Allies For Community Business Neighborhood Entrepreneurship Lab.
SCDT’s Founder and Executive Artistic Director Kia S. Smith is a current Choreographic Fellow at Jacob’s Pillow, a 2021 3 Arts Make a Wave Awardee, a 2022 Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist awardee, and an Artist in Residence at the Cliff Dwellers Chicago.