Feature

The new, virulent delta variant of the coronavirus raises many questions, not only about a return to wearing masks, but to larger issues in the dance community around the emotional, physical and social safety needed for excellence in artistic practice. Because of various health factors, some folks in the disability community have yet to take their masks off. On the eve of the return to pre-pandemic life, we are reminded to slow down—to remember those left behind by access barriers.

Margi Cole has moved to Alabama after 26 years at the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago. Cole hails from Springfield but spent most of her career thus far in Chicago. She’s a 1990 graduate of the Dance Center and earned her MFA at the University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign before settling in Chicago. Cole joined the Dance Center faculty in 1995, starting her company, The Dance COLEctive, a year later. 

A few years ago, in the middle of February, severe low temperatures temporarily closed Oak Park's Academy of Movement and Music. That day, studio founder Stephanie Clemens received a call with a question from her son in Arizona. If he bought a house for her, would she come there? Clemens didn't hesitate to answer yes.

Editor’s note: The 2021 Our Readers Write column is a curated collection of articles and creative writing by various members of the Chicago dance community. We hope to provide our readers with expanded perspectives on both dance writing and the artistic lenses of the contributing authors. Audrey Hartnett, a recent BFA graduate from Columbia College Chicago’s dance department, contributes her thoughts to the ongoing conversation of how we should reevaluate our craft as dancers and dancemakers as we move through this pandemic. —Jordan Kunkel

See Chicago Dance, the dance industry's nonprofit service organization, is proud to announce that this June will see the return of its popular annual offering, Chicago Dance Month. Now on its ninth iteration, Chicago Dance Month honors the artists and companies that are eager to get back in front of audiences. Chicago Dance Month is excited to highlight a full slate of live and virtual performances, classes and more from Chicago’s dance community.

Richard H. Driehaus is many things to the city of Chicago. Among its dance community, he is best described as a hero and a champion. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Driehaus died unexpectedly March 9 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He was 78. Driehaus is survived by three daughters and two sisters.

Tommy Sutton — a performer and choreographer who worked alongside the likes of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and Gypsy Rose Lee — founded the Mayfair Performing Company in 1957.  Established during Sutton’s post-performance career, the studio (formerly the Mayfair Academy of Fine Arts) is one of Chicago’s most prominent and prolific dance schools.

The Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project is taking action to combat the discrepancy between sustainable funding and the systematic underserving of dance in Chicago, particularly for Black dance forms and artists. There are currently eight member organizations that make up the CBDLP collective: Ayodele Drum & Dance, Chicago Multiculural Dance Company, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, Forward Momentum Chicago, Joel Hall Dancers & Center, Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago, Najwa Dance Corp and Red Clay Dance Company.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited park in the country, with more than 520,000 acres and 800 miles of hiking trails. With endless possibilities to explore, most visitors don’t venture more than a mile inside the park. Many don’t get out of their cars.

This is a love story. A romantic love, a love of design, a love of theater, of dance, of people, of Chicago — and a city’s love for a woman who has dedicated her life to enhancing the fabric of its arts and theater scene one stitch at a time. Rebecca (Becca) Shouse, actor, designer, costumer and caretaker, reflects on her career as she moves into a new phase of her life. Although her first love is acting, Shouse is best known in dance circles for her work at the Joffrey Ballet and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC).