Mission

Chicago Dancemakers Forum catalyzes the growth and artistic fulfillment of Chicago’s dancemakers by providing time and resources for in-depth exploration and creation. It builds broad support for the field of dance in Chicago by facilitating robust interaction among dancemakers and with the public.

We believe. . .

Dance matters.
Artists are the heart of a thriving society.
Dance in Chicago merits broad recognition.
Dancemakers need support structures that are tailored specifically to them.
Artistic process is as valuable as artistic product.
Advancing a multitude of voices and genres gives dance its fullest expression.
Connectivity and collaboration are key to growth and progress.
In a hallway, a dancer wearing tennis shoes and dressed in white pushes against a wall while audience looks on.
A performer wearing a red outfit that covers their face and head and white gloves, holds a red parasol with a fringe.
A light-skinned woman and dark-skinned man position themselves in an identical posture with locked arms in front of a wall of graffiti.

History

Chicago Dancemakers Forum was developed in 2003 as a demonstration project of the Chicago Community Trust’s “Excellence in Dance Initiative,” spearheaded by Sarah Solotaroff.  It was designed in direct response to key findings which indicated that Chicago’s dancemakers needed multi-layered support to fulfill their potential. Bonnie Brooks, Asimina Chremos, and Peter Taub, leaders from three dance stakeholding institutions and incubators, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, and Links Hall, formed a Consortium to lead the initiative.

21 years later, Chicago Dancemakers Forum has granted close to $1.5 million to Chicago’s aesthetically and culturally diverse dancemakers, primarily through its flagship Lab Artists Program, which provides cash grants, artistic exchange, and tailored support for selected artists through an extended period of research and creation. In 2015-17 Chicago Dancemakers Forum led the way with the New England Foundation for the Arts in bringing the Regional Dance Development Initiative to Chicago. In 2017 Chicago Dancemakers increased the number of Lab Artists from 4 to 6. In 2020 grants to Lab Artists were increased from $15K to $20K, and in 2022, grants were increased to $25K for 4 artists. For the 2023 Lab Artists Program, selected Finalists each received $350, increased to $500 for the 2024 program and $1,000 for the 2025 program. 

Since 2014, Chicago Dancemakers Forum has also offered public programs which build bridges across genres, identities, and geographies within the broader dance community and for the public, including workshops, public showings, and critical forums. In 2024, Chicago Dancemakers Forum produced the DanceChance program. Inspired by the concept of an open-mic night, each of six DanceChance events featured three dancemakers chosen from event attendees by random draw. They each received six weeks and $4,500 to prepare a work to share in a low-tech, informal setting. 

Initially Chicago Dancemakers Forum was an unincorporated entity led and fiscally sponsored by its three founding Consortium organizations. In 2014 it incorporated as a 501(c)3 organization and engaged its first Executive Director. During this transitional time, Chicago Dancemakers Forum raised $1 million to fund artists grants and associated program costs for a multi-year period. The success of this campaign allowed time for Chicago Dancemakers Forum to strengthen its infrastructure for the long term. There is currently a staff of three, a Board of nine, and increased community commitment through its Consortium which now includes nine organizations.

Acknowledgements

Chicago Dancemakers Forum acknowledges that Chicago (Zhigaagong) is located on ancestral lands of Indigenous tribes, such as the Council of the Three Fires–comprised of the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations–as well as the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac, Fox, Kickapoo, and Illinois Nations. We acknowledge Anishinaabemowin for providing the name of Chicago that is in the name of our organization. We recognize the interconnected plights of Indigenous peoples who were forcibly removed from their land and that of Africans who were forcibly brought to it. We acknowledge the enduring impacts of the African diaspora and lift up the contributions and talents of Black communities.
We also acknowledge the immigrant and refugee labor that has contributed to the building of this country within our labor force, including voluntary, involuntary, trafficked, and undocumented peoples. It remains our responsibility to continuously address historic and current systemic oppressions.
Chicago Dancemakers Forum leadership and staff stand together in demanding the safety, wholeness, and wellness of Black people and for dismantling White supremacy and all systems of subordination. All people are injured by racism. Within our community there are artists who express their humanity through dance despite paralyzing trauma resulting from the long history–and the present moment–of anti-Black racism. We are united in declaring unequivocally that Black Lives Matter.
We commit to strengthening relationships between artists and organizations across the deep divides in our city. Chicago Dancemakers Forum is committed to funding and nurturing the work of Black artists alongside White artists, Indigenous artists, and other artists of color; we honor the cultural origins and expressions of BIPOC dancemakers in Chicago. Chicago Dancemakers Forum supports dancemaking artists who represent the full geography of Chicago, with broad diversity of dance discipline, age, race/ethnicity, and gender identity, and sexuality.
Chicago Dancemakers Forum is a Working Artists for the Greater Economy (W.A.G.E).-Certified Organization.

Staff & Board

Information on current staff, interns, leadership, open positions and volunteer opportunities at Chicago Dancemakers Forum.

Programs

Chicago Dancemakers Forum offers grant programs, artistic development opportunities, and more. Program offerings differ from year-to-year.

Strategic Plan

We are pleased and excited to share Chicago Dancemakers Forum’s first strategic plan.
The plan (2020-2025) is focused on securing the organization’s legacy as a catalyst for innovative dancemaking in Chicago and enabling it to effectively and relevantly support creators and Chicago dance. The plan and planning process are rooted in its history, have assessed its internal and external environments, embraced the involvement of its key stakeholders – Board, staff, artists, Consortium, partners, funders, and arts/cultural leaders, and looks toward shared aspirations and goals to lead it forward. We are grateful to Arts Work Fund for its financial support for this process.

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    Image Captions and Credits: Cast of “Natural Encounters 2019: CYCLE” directed by Erin Kilmurray at Big Marsh, by John Gutierrez | Anna Martine Whitehead, 2010_H-Y-I-M-A, credit AMW | Kelsa Robinson and Daniel “BRAVEMONK” Haywood of BraveSoul Movement | Jenn Freeman aka Po’Chop at Elevate Chicago Dance 2018, by William Frederking | Victoria Bradford/A House Unbuilt’s “Relay of Voices” at Elevate Dance Chicago 2018, by William Frederking