Red Clay Dance Company Continues To Engage The Community

left to right) Red Clay Dance Company’s Chantal' Hill, Melina Bezanis and Amaya Arroyo perform “Field: New Ground” by Bebe Miller. Credit MReid Photography.
left to right) Red Clay Dance Company’s Chantal' Hill, Melina Bezanis and Amaya Arroyo perform “Field: New Ground” by Bebe Miller. Credit MReid Photography.

Red Clay Dance Company Continues To Engage The Community

By Tia Carol Jones

The Red Clay Dance Company is gearing up for its 17th season in September. Founding Artistic Director and CEO Vershawn Sanders-Ward is encouraging community members to take advantage of the dance classes that are available at the Red Clay Dance Company Center for Excellence, which is located at 808 E. 63rd St. Red Clay Dance Company offers dance classes in the beginner and intermediate/advanced levels in Afro-Contemporary and Jazz Funk.

This summer, Red Clay Dance Company will be performing at Jacob’s Pillow, in Becket, Mass., for the first time, as well as performing at The Yard in Martha’s Vineyard. Sanders-Ward said she is excited for the opportunity for more national exposure for the company.

“These are two iconic American dance institutions, The Pillow and The Yard, so to get the company on those stages in the same summer is really extraordinary,” she said.

For its 17th season, Red Clay Dance Company has three main events, along with other events that people in the community are encouraged to support. The first main event is the annual fundraiser, Paint the Town Red, which will take place at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19th, at the Red Clay Dance Company Center for Excellence. Tickets are now available, starting at $150. Sanders-Ward said the dance company is excited to expand the center and adding a third studio. The Fall Engagement will take place at the Chicago Performs festival at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20th, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 21st, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, located at 220 E. Chicago Ave.

During the Chicago Performs festival, Sanders-Ward will be premiering a new work, Freedom Square: A Blackgirlhood Altar. Sanders-Ward said the work is a choreographic response to the exhibit, The Black Girlhood Altar, spearheaded by Scheherazade Tillet, of A Long Walk Home. Sanders-Ward saw the exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center last year and asked if she could create a response to the work. She had been following A Long Walk Home’s work and had done workshops with the girls who are engaged with the organization.

“I was excited to be able to continue to engage with their organization. They’re supporting of Black women and girls, which aligns so well with the work of Red Clay Dance Company,” Sanders-Ward said.

The Spring Engagement, La Femme Dance Festival, will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 28th, at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, located at 243 E. Randolph St. The biennial festival will feature the premiere of a new work by choreographer Rena Butler, a Chicago native who works in New York City. The South Chicago Dance Theatre will also be invited to be part of the festival.

“Our festival two years ago was amazing, we had Fatima come in, so we’re really excited to continue to platform the work of Black female choreographers through this festival,” Sanders-Ward said.

Sanders-Ward said that the Red Clay Dance Company is engaging young people, ages 14 years old to 22 years old, in the community through its Making the Artivist program. She said it leads young people through what it means to take their work and have it impact the local and larger community. The paid apprenticeship has been the dance company’s way to bring young people into the space and into the arts. She said that the Red Clay Company is always there to be a community resource and a hub for aspiring artists to find their way into dance and the art world.

For more information about Red Clay Dance Company’s 17th season, visit redclaydance.com/season17.

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