Honey Pot Performance Celebrates 25 Years with Season of Dance, Memory and Black Joy Across Chicago’s West Side

Honey Pot Performance Celebrates 25 Years with Season of Dance, Memory and Black Joy Across Chicago’s West Side

 

Chicago, IL — As Chicago prepares for a summer of festivals and cultural programming, Honey Pot Performance (HPP) marks 25 years of radical artistry, cultural preservation and community storytelling with a dynamic line-up of performances, exhibitions and public programs that exploring the roots of house music, community memory and Black joy as both cultural practice and political expression.

Rooted in the West Side, the season uses archival storytelling and movement-based practice to highlight how Black communities have created and sustained cultural life, framing joy, gathering and creative expression as tools for preservation, resistance and collective care. Drawing connections between historical memory and contemporary creative practice, the programming highlights the cultural lineages that continue to shape Chicago’s artistic and social landscape. Highlights include:

● The Doctors Exhibit (May 29), exploring Chicago’s 1970s teen dance culture based in Roseland and its lasting influence on the evolution of house music

● The If/Then Creative Design Lab (June 6) opens HPP’s creative process to artists and community members, offering a space for experimentation and collaborative performance-making.

● The 2nd Annual Juneteenth Celebration (June 19), a gathering featuring live performance, cultural activations and a public procession honoring Black freedom, resilience and collective joy.

“At a moment when Chicago comes alive with festivals and cultural gatherings, we’re turning attention back to where so much of that energy began—the West Side, the dance floor, and the everyday spaces where Black culture has shaped global sound, movement, and connection,” said Meida McNeal, Artistic Director of Honey Pot Performance. “Our work is about making sure those histories are not erased, and that the people who created them remain at the center of the story—it is about continuing a 25-year practice of documenting, preserving and activating Black cultural life in Chicago.”

A spring-summer full programming list can be found below.

UPCOMING HPP EVENTS

All programs take place at First Church of the Brethren in East Garfield Park (425 S. Central Park Blvd), a longtime partner and cultural anchor for HPP’s West Side-based work. All events are free and open to the public, reflecting HPP’s commitment to accessibility, collective care and community participation.

Friday, May 29, 2026 | 6–10:30 PM: The Doctors: Exploring 1970s Teen Social Scenes and House Music Culture in Chicago Free/suggested donation; registration encouraged An exhibition and public program documenting the pre-house era influence of The Doctors, a 1970s dance crew from Chicago’s Roseland community whose parties shaped the city’s teen social and party culture. Presented as part of the Chicago Black Social Culture Map Community Curators Program, the evening includes an interview screening, panel discussion, curator talk, exhibition walkthrough, and a DJ set by Craig Loftis

Saturday, May 30, 2026 | 1–6 PM: Past-Future Forms: Black Movement from Workshop to Cypher Free A one-day, movement-centered convening featuring a series of dance workshops exploring techniques rooted in Black social spaces across generations. The program includes three workshops, an artist discussion, and an open cypher connecting past, present, and future movement practices.

Sunday, May 31, 2026 | 3–6 PM: Writing Workshop for Curators Free Led by DaJona Butler, curatorial writer for The Doctors exhibition, this immersive writing workshop explores the transformative power of memory. Participants will engage storytelling as a form of “communal time travel,” moving across personal histories and imagined futures to write themselves into new narratives of possibility and self-discovery.

Saturday, June 6 | 11AM: If/Then Creative Design Lab Free An open creative lab inviting artists and community members into HPP’s collaborative performance-making process, centered on experimentation, iteration, and collective inquiry.

Thursday, June 19 | 1PM: 2nd Annual Juneteenth Celebration Free A vibrant community gathering featuring live performance, cultural activations, and a public procession honoring Black freedom, resilience and collective joy.

Tickets and more information can be found at honeypotperformance.org/events.


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