One Night Only Performance Show Dance Company Entering ‘New Horizons’

South Chicago Dance Theatre Founder and Executive Artistic Director Kia S. Smith. PHOTO BY MICHELLE REID PHOTOGRAPHY.
South Chicago Dance Theatre Founder and Executive Artistic Director Kia S. Smith. PHOTO BY MICHELLE REID PHOTOGRAPHY.

One Night Only Performance Show Dance Company Entering ‘New Horizons’

By Tia Carol Jones

The South Chicago Dance Theatre has been preparing for its one night only performance “New Horizons” since September of 2023. The performance will take place on Friday, April 27th, at the Auditorium Theatre, located at 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive.

The Founder, Executive Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer Kia D. Smith said audiences will see six world premieres with choreographers from Chicago and other parts of the world. Smith admires Choreographer Donald Byrd, so she asked him to do a piece for the program. Smith also has work from Choreographers Tai His Hung, Joshua Blake Carter, Monique Haley, and Terence Marling. Smith also has a new work on the program. While the company has been working on the pieces for New Horizons since September of 2023, Smith has been working on the performance since January of 2023. New Horizons will include 16 dancers from the South Chicago Dance Theatre. The professional company ranges in age from about 22 years old to 28 years old.

The South Chicago Dance Theatre was founded in 2017 because Smith always wanted a dance company. While she didn’t grow up dancing, she watched a lot of dance. In high school, she started taking dance classes at King College Prep High School and received a scholarship to take classes around the city. She also went to college for dance. Smith named it South Chicago Dance Theatre as a way to pay homage to the South side, where she grew up.

“I’m just a South sider and I felt like I wanted the company to have a part of home in it and I also know I want the company to go on and on, beyond me and much bigger than me and my own name. I wanted to give the company a part of the legacy, a part of the South side,” she said.

The South Chicago Dance Theatre has dance and theatre programs at 16 schools, which includes North Kenwood Oakland Charter School, Wells Prep Elementary, Owens Elementary, Robert A. Black Magnet School, Robert A. Black Branch Campus, Berwyn North School District, Hefferan Elementary, Forest Park School District, Longwood Elementary, Powell Elementary, Bronzeville Charter School, Thorp Elementary, Westcott Elementary and Hirsch High School. Throughout a calendar year, South Chicago Dance Theatre’s program serves 8,000 students.

Smith hopes people, who have been watching the company from its first season and seen the trajectory, see the birth of a new era for the company. For audiences, who are seeing the company or attending a dance performance for the first time, she wants them to see how South Chicago Dance Theatre celebrates Chicago and Chicago choreographers. Four of the six works are from Chicago choreographers.

“In terms of the level of artistry and technicality from the dancers, it’s our strongest group of dancers yet and our strongest concert yet. For me, as an artistic director, I’m looking at where we are now and seeing how much further we can go in the future and wanting to share that through this program, which is why I called it ‘New Horizons,’” she said.

Smith wants people to see how much talent is in Chicago and how much Chicago choreographers contribute to the dance ecosystem.

To purchase tickets, visit https://tinyurl.com/26tbckkt. Those who use the code Kia25, will get 25% off the ticket price.

For more information about South Chicago Theatre Company, visit www.southchicagodancetheatre.com.

Latest Stories

Latest Podcast

This Is Life