Ravinia 2023 Issue 6

PAVILION 7:30 PM THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2023 CHICAGO BLACK DANCE LEGACY PROJECT Metamorphosis In Metamorphosis , nine powerhouse companies come together in an evening celebrating change and innovation. Featuring varied dance forms —from Afro-fusion to jazz, tap to Chicago’s own footwork and more— the show intertwines technology and movement seeped in Black tradition to tell a story of evolution and rebirth. Featuring members of the Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project , including: CHICAGO MULTICULTURAL DANCE CENTER’S HIPLET BALLERINAS † DEEPLY ROOTED DANCE THEATER THE ERA FOOTWORK COLLECTIVE † FORWARD MOMENTUM CHICAGO † JOEL HALL DANCERS & CENTER † M.A.D.D. RHYTHMS † MOVE ME SOUL † NAJWA DANCE CORPS † PRAIZE PRODUCTIONS INC. † † Ravinia debut This performance is part of The Ruth Page Festival of Dance , an annual series of dance performances presented by Ravinia in collaboration with The Ruth Page Foundation and honoring one of Chicago’s most celebrated dancers of all time. THE COMPANIES The Chicago Multicultural Dance Center (CMDC)’s Hiplet Ballerinas’ mission is to offer the highest quality dance instruction in an environment that celebrates the di- versity of its students and the community. CMDC strives to keep the cost of training affordable and often provides classes at little or no charge. In addition to offering classes in many different styles of dance, CMDC is also the home of the pre-professional train- ing program School of Bryant Ballet. In 2008, founder and Artistic Director Homer Hans Bryant merged ballet and street dance to cre- ate Hiplet, a new technique featuring hip-hop dance in pointe shoes. Deeply Rooted Dance Theater is rooted in the traditions of American and African American dance, storytelling, and universal themes that spark a visceral experience and ignite an emotional response in diverse audi- ences worldwide. Deeply Rooted Dance The- ater collaborates with nationally renowned choreographers—across the spectrum of modern, ballet, and African dance— to re- flect contemporary voices. The Era Footwork Collective is a multidis- ciplinary artist collaborative representing the dance, music, film, graphic and fashion design, and culture known as Chicago Foot- work. It uses the wisdom and practices passed down from its ancestors to create experiences of rhythm and soul that act as spiritual forces toward creative self-definition and individu- al and community transformation. Through education, workshops, public performanc- es, community raves, and battles with fellow dancers throughout the city of Chicago and beyond, The Era Footwork Collective serves as culture bearers of footwork and features some of the primary artists continuing to evolve and grow the dance, music, and street culture of Chicago Footwork. The Collective is led by Brandon “Chief Manny” Calhoun and Jamal “Litebulb” Oliver, and features a range of art- ists, creatives, and administrative colleagues. Under the leadership of Bulb and Manny, it aims to create sustainable economic pathways for themselves as artists and leaders, and con- tribute to the establishment of a creative foot- work economy in Chicago and beyond. Forward Momentum Chicago (FMC) is a not-for-profit organization working to in- spire possibilities through dance education programs that strengthen schools and com- munities with limited arts access. FMC serves thousands of children each year through three major streams of programming: a dance-based arts education curriculum, in- cluding in-school and after-school program- ming and a partnership with After School Matters, a community-based studio program, and a summer dance camp focused on arts enrichment and performance opportuni- ties. Students are immersed in dance genres from around the world while improving social-emotional learning skills to develop the whole child. The Joel Hall Dancers & Center (JHDC) uses the arts to enrich the lives of its commu- nity members through dance performance and education. JHDC reaches out to the com- munity, targeting those who would not other- wise be exposed to the arts. With three dance companies, over 50 weekly classes, and mul- tiple outreach programs throughout Chica- go, JHDC educates, enlightens, and inspires in an all-inclusive, multicultural, open, and creative environment. M.A.D.D. Rhythms preserves, promotes and contributes to tap by teaching its history, rep- resenting its culture, and advocating for its future. M.A.D.D. Rhythms makes a difference in under-served communities by connecting and caring for youth through tap and believes that having access and options gives a child a greater chance at a positive life. M.A.D.D. Rhythms spread the joy, love, discipline, and expression of tap to as many children as pos- sible and work diligently to ensure that all students have the opportunity to dance, re- gardless of their financial situation. Its youth apprenticeship program Studio to Stage is an alternative to the school-to-prison pipeline. Move Me Soul is a pre-professional youth & professional adult dance company founded by Ayesha Jaco in 2008. The company is com- mitted to providing an innovative platform for inner-city youth & young adults to train and evolve as the next generation of dancers, choreographers, and teachers. Performers are engaged in dancemaking, storytelling, and character development that allows them to curate their own aesthetics of the past, pres- ent, and future. NAJWA Dance Corps (NDC) is a company of professional dancers and musicians dedi- cated to the preservation of dance styles and techniques of different eras which reflect the African-American dance heritage and expe- rience. NDC has grown over the years by pre- senting traditional and contemporary dances of Africa and the Caribbean, traditional and contemporary jazz, tap, nostalgic dances, and the developing hip hop styles of the 21st century. Praize Productions Praize Productions, Inc., (PPI) is a not-for-profit, 501(c)3, organization housed on the South Side of Chicago. PPI comprises three platforms: PPI’s Performing Arts Academy; RIZE Pro-Elite professional dance company and RIZE Youth Compa- ny; and our outreach programs. They create high-quality arts programming that is ac- cessible to our underserved communities in Chicago. Our unique approach to artistry is holistic in style for we wish to develop the full artist by infusing both social and educational approaches rooted in social consciousness. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 37