“It’s a family.” This is what kept coming up in my conversation with Nicole Gifford, co-producer of Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival (HCCDF)—one of the longest-running contemporary dance festivals in Chicago—which will celebrate its tenth anniversary starting this weekend. Since 2010, Gifford and Melissa Mallinson have gathered dance artists from around the world at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts to “share and celebrate the work of practicing contemporary dance artists and companies,” said Gifford in an interview.

This weekend, in the intimate Blanc Gallery on 45thand King Drive, exists a small congregation known as “The People’s Church of the G.H.E.T.T.O.” Led by Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist Jenn “Po’Chop” Freeman with performers Tiff Beatty, Felicia Holman, Shimmy LaRoux and Avery R. Young, the ministry exists to remember, pay homage to and call upon Chicago mothas and activists: Beauty Turner and Jackie Ormes, and Harlem-born poet Audre Lorde.

“Sometimes when you sleep, it’s the only time you dream.” This cheeky—and surprisingly deep—moral to the one-night-only “Tired Town” musical revealed the beauty of seeing a group of performers work together to make up a cohesive and meaningful story on the spot. 

As if planned, on September fourth, just as the dust began to settle on Lara Spencer’s comments on Good Morning America, community members filed into the theater at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts for a screening of "Danseur," a film by by Scott Gormley, as part of See Chicago Dance’s Moving Dialogs series. The documentary interviews a wide range of men and boys in various stages of their training and careers, and asks them about their experiences with harassment and bullying.

How about a one-night-only collaboration of local, independent artists at a unique event space all to benefit a beloved charity? Sounds good to us! Dancing to Dream is coming to fruition this weekend after many months of preparation, dedication and cooperation. “This project has been in the works for about a year,” says Jacqueline Stewart, founder and choreographer of Jaxon Movement Arts and creator of Dancing to Dream, a performance benefitting the Make-A-Wish ® Foundation. “Everything came together piece-by-piece. I wanted to make something bigger than just a dance production.”

I left last night’s performance of “Counter Balance: The Power of Integrated Dance” with words like “poetic,” “challenging," “arresting,” and “inspiring” floating through my thoughts, and with an ultimately heartwarming affirmation of the power of dance to ennoble our humanity.

If you have even the least inclination to champion physical diversity on stage, try to catch today’s final performance of Momenta’s “Counter Balance,” at 3 p.m. at the Center on Halsted. You’re in for a treat.

Hoofer Nico Rubio and I have some things in common. We both grew up near Chicago in the ‘90s. We both took tap dance lessons as kids—we probably have a few teachers in common. But while I nursed dual interests in ballet and classical music, Rubio was getting immersed in hip-hop culture alongside his tap training.

These late summer days are for relishing the outdoors and Chicago dance is taking full advantage. South Chicago Dance Theatre performs Sept. 6 and 13 in two South Side parks with D-Composed, a chamber music group that plays music by composers from within the African diaspora.

I can hear humming in the audience as soon as I take my seat in the theater at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) for Rennie Harris’ new work, “Lifted.” I hear humming and can feel an energy that is not like the average pre-show buzz. The humming comes from a woman sitting ahead of me. She rocks gently from side to side, and ad libs to the chords coming from a single piano player on stage.

SummerDance brings to mind carefree frolicking in the sun and all of the Terpsichorean pleasures of liberation from the shackles of Chicago’s brutal winter. Thanks to a sunny Saturday of perfect summer weather, this year’s one-day outdoor event was just that, offering free performances, dance lessons, and demonstrations spanning all forms of dance for dance lovers of all ages and persuasions.