Monday, March 25, 2024

6:30 – 8:00 pm 

Asian Improv aRts Midwest (in person)

4875 N Elston Ave, Chicago, IL 60630

In partnership with Shubukai.

Asian Improv aRts Midwest is a smaller venue with only 60 seats available for attendees. We opened a priority registration window for up to 50% of the seats on Friday, March 1st exclusively for local dance artists working in: Integrative/Disability Dance, Street Styles, Latin Dance Styles. General Registration for ALL opened on Monday, March 4 and is now SOLD OUT. The prioritized styles were selected based on the specific offerings of the next DanceChance venue—The Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities —and data from previous DanceChance events. Artists working in the prioritized styles need to self-identify. This is based on the honor system and will not be verified by Chicago Dancemakers Forum.

Location: Asian Improv aRts Midwest (Google Map) is located in the North Mayfair / Albany Park area, with free parking on the one-way side streets and metered parking on Elston. CTA Bus #81 Jefferson Park Blue Line services the neighborhood, with the nearest stop three blocks away at Lawrence & Elston, a 3min walk/roll away. CTA Bus #78 Harlem also services the neighborhood, with the nearest stop a 14min walk/roll away.

Accessibility: The building is on one level. Both the building and dance area are wheelchair accessible. ASL interpreters, C.A.R.T., and audio description are available by request during registration or to info@chicagodancemakers.org.

Access and Location Information (aka wayfinding)

Participating Artists

Jessica-Jess Martin (they/them) is a dancer, choreographer, producer, dance teacher, and public speaker. They have received the bulk of their training at the Academy of Movement and Music in Oak Park. They are trained in modern dance, as well as contemporary, ballet, body mind centering (BMC), Bartenieff and Laban techniques, and contact improvisation. They are very blessed to say that they have danced and choreographed all over the Chicagoland area including Pride Films and Plays, Links Hall, Chicago Live!, Center on Halsted, the Museum of Mexican Art and numerous times at the Disability Pride Parade. In addition to performing all over Chicago, Jessica-Jess has been very fortunate to study with and train with Dancing Wheels Company and School, Axis Dance Company and Candoco Dance Company. They have also been a proud member of MOMENTA Dance Company for over a decade. They believe that since being a part of MOMENTA, their professional career has been catapulted. Since 2017, they have produced, performed and choreographed shows with their company, EXPLORATION: An Evening of Dance, Discovery, Creativity, and Fun. EXPLORATION was created to give marginalized populations a chance to express themselves through dance. EXPLORATION performed shows every year since 2017, before the pandemic. Most recently in 2019, they participated in the Michigan Arts Symposium. As a choreographer, when creating new work, Jessica-Jess usually draws inspiration from their own life experiences and nature. Finally, they are so grateful for the creation of DanceChance, and to share their work with you today. 

Dancers: Milo Sachse-Hofheimer, Kathryn Hepler, Ashaand Simone, and Frances Swain

Notes on Project/Practice: This piece explores human development and what human movement can be through interpretations of and variations on developmental stages. Using concepts of body mind centering and Bartenieff fundamentals, the collaborators move through what it means to be physically human to them, individually and in community.

Dereque Whiturs (he/him), a native of Dallas, Texas, began his career as a performing artist at the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Mr. Whiturs has been trained in ballet, modern, jazz, tap, and the Dunham techniques, and he has trained with such artists as Alvin Ailey, Ulysses Dove, Donald McKayle, Donald Byrd, Talley Beaty, Tina Yuan, and Maria Tallchief. Mr. Withers is a an alumni of California Institute of the Arts. Mr. Whiturs was a principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble under the direction of Sylvia Waters, former principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and he went on to become a principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater under the direction of Alvin Ailey, where he traveled the United States and Europe for 13 years. Mr. Whiturs is currently a principal dancer with Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, where he is also on the associate artistic team for the Deeply Rooted Summer Intensive and Deeply Rooted 2. He is also a member of the Malone group incorporated in Washington DC. Because of his passion for building awareness in the African-American community about HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, substance abuse, and self-actualizing he wishes to use the HappyNia Dance Theatre productions as a means communicate to the people in his community, to call in the community to stand for something and not just settle for anything, to work together to make a change in the community, this way starts with the arts.

Dancers: Lawrence Powell Jr., Davion Bellinger, Akeelah Jaco, and Erin Russle

Notes on Project/Practice: This dance Human Invaded is about how HIV/Aids has taken over the bodies of human beings. The soloist represents HIV he is known as Mr. HIV who is in the video invading the bodies of human which is the title of this particular piece Human Invaded.

Abigail Gerdes (she/her) graduated from Indiana University in the spring of 2023 with a BFA in Contemporary Dance and has recently began her Master’s in Recreational Therapy through IU as well. She was born and raised in Wisconsin where she began her dance education, giving much accreditation to Midwest Performing Arts. Abigail has been trained in a variety of styles, including tap, jazz, ballet, modern, contemporary, house, Bharatanatyam, African Diasporic, and hip hop. In her collegiate years, she made appearances in Bodies in Bold, Sounding Bodies, SLIP Showcase, Earthward, Journeys of Joy, and New Moves, performing in multiple choreographic works. In 2022, She attended the Fetna Convention in New York to perform Dr. Batley’s Bharatanatyam piece, “In the Beautiful Forest”. Abigail has worked alongside a number of choreographers such as Elizabeth Shea, Erik Abbott-Main, Stafford C. Berry, Cameron McKinney, Katie Mayfield, Evelyn Wang, Robert Burden, and Dr. Prathiba Natesan Batley. She co-choreographed a piece, “Unbind”, in the SLIP Showcase, and the following year, choreographed a piece in the Junior Performance Project, “Lights Off”. For her capstone project, she choreographed a work, “Ivory Tower”, which aimed to inform audiences about the harsh historical realities surrounding asylums. She enjoys choreographing and teaching, and always looks forward to working with students and/or her peers. Abigail previously interned with Eisenhower Dance Detroit during their summer intensives. She is currently a company member with Inaside Chicago Dance. Abigail also prides herself in her Dance for Parkinson’s instruction and Pilates training.

Dancers: Claire Calloway, Zoey Dickenson, Anya Gustafson, Lila Hodgin, Talia Howard, Lila Hodgin, and Emma Waterman

Notes on Project/Practice: This current project is a sequel to my senior capstone project, which aimed to inform audiences about the harsh historical realities surrounding asylums. This concept was originally devised by my interest in the Disabilities Rights Movement. Therefore, this project and sequel will move forward in our history and focus on this movement and its impact on this community.

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