South Chicago Dance Theatre Preparing For Its 8th Season
South Chicago Dance Theatre Preparing For Its 8th Season
By Tia Carol Jones
Kia S. Smith founded the South Chicago Dance Theatre in 2017, because she was really proud of her upbringing on the South side. She always wanted to be a dancer and have a dance company. She went to college and afterwards pursued a career in dance.
To celebrate the dance company’s eighth season, it will host its home concert in May. IN/WITHIN will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 3rd, at the Auditorium Theatre, located at 50 East Ida B. Wells Drive.
Smith said the concert is a dream come true for her, as the company’s founder and leader. Growing up in Chicago, she went to the Auditorium Theatre to watch other people perform. Now, the South Chicago Dance Theatre will perform there, and they just might inspire another aspiring performer to dream of being on that stage one day.
“It’s just really, really exciting for me and the dancers,” Smith said.
During the concert, South Chicago Dance Theatre will honor Frank Chaves, founder of River North Dance Chicago, with the Cultural Hero Award. South Chicago Dance Theatre has a work, Temporal Trance, in its repertoire, which was choreographed by Chaves.
“Frank is just a huge legacy in Chicago dance, who deserves to be celebrated, so we’re super excited to celebrate Frank,” Smith said.
Smith is also premiering her first contemporary dance theatre work. She described it as really humorous and the only work in South Chicago Dance Theatre’s repertoire that combines dance and theatre.
The South Chicago Dance Theatre has been busy performing internationally in Korea, Vietnam, and nationally in Laguna Beach, Calif. The dance company also had their Jacob’s Pillow debut. The renowned dance venue and school is located in Massachusetts, so it was an honor for South Chicago Dance Theatre to be invited to perform there.
In addition to performing, South Chicago Dance Theatre served about 8,000 students in Chicago Public Schools and other school districts offering dance and theatre classes. The dance company has also served senior citizens through a program at the Southeast Atlas Senior Center in South Shore offering free dance classes to seniors once a week.
“We’re really embedded in the community in Chicago, but our performances are a really big part of what we do,” Smith said.
Recently, South Chicago Dance Theatre hosted its 5th Annual South Chicago Dance Festival. Smith said she started the dance festival because she wanted an ongoing initiative that brought youth dance companies together annually, with the goal of having the young people in those companies engage with one another. The event was hosted at the South Shore Cultural Center.
Young people who participate in the dance festival receive free workshops and classes with Chicago dance instructors and perform at the end of the festival. Smith said someone told her that each year the festival gets better and better, and groups look forward to the event each year.
“The kids are bringing their A game, because they know they’re going to South Chicago Dance Festival and it’s becoming so rooted in our community, which is so rewarding for me,” Smith said.
For more information about the South Chicago Dance Theatre, visit www.southchicagodancetheatre.com. For tickets to IN/WITHIN, visit https://tinyurl.com/5ctfbn79.
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