Elements Contemporary Ballet

Elements Contemporary Ballet aims to bring innovative and high caliber new works of ballet to the world. Presenting work that highlights the beauty and awe of ballet with an original, distinctive style, Elements strives to cultivate an appreciation for contemporary ballet and ultimately produce dynamic, entertaining, and highly engaging dance performances.

Elements Contemporary Ballet is the first and only contemporary ballet company based in Chicago. The company was founded in 2005 by Co-Directors Mike Gosney and Joseph Caruana with a vision to create beautiful, well-crafted new ballet productions that resonate with contemporary audiences. Heading now into its 10th season, Elements is finding new ways of engaging people in the art of contemporary ballet and delivering an enthralling theatrical experience. Through original productions and unique collaborations with artistic partners, as well as guest choreographer projects and in-house artist development, the company hopes to foster the emergence of great contemporary ballet in Chicago. Elements models its art after the four classical elements of nature, each representing a major facet of dance;

FIRE for expression
EARTH for physicality
AIR for focus
WATER for freedom.

Utilizing these principles to revolutionize the way dancers are trained and dances are developed, Gosney and Caruana have built a repertory of work by in-house artists as well as collaborative productions with stellar Chicago arts organizations like Aerial Dance Chicago and Baroque Band and work by up-and-coming guest choreographers from such prestigious companies as Houston Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, BJM Danse, BODYTRAFFIC, Azure and Artists, and Cullberg Ballet. The company has presented concerts at Chicago’s Athenaeum Theatre and Skokie’s North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, and has participated in festivals such as Dance St. Louis’s Spring to Dance, Palm Desert’s Dance Under the Stars, the Chicago Cultural Center’s Spin-Off 2014, On the Prairie, and Dancebridge, and The A.W.A.R.D. Show! at Dance Center of Columbia College. Elements also offers an original educational production through Urban Gateways titled The Evolution of Ballet, as well as its own interactive youth outreach program titled Move with Elements.