Dance Companies
Lucky Plush Productions is an ensemble dance-theater company based in Chicago, led by founder and Artistic Director Julia Rhoads. The company is committed to provoking and supporting an immediacy of presence—a palpable live-ness—shared by performers in real time with audiences. A unique hybrid of high-level dance and theater, Lucky Plush’s work is recognized for its layered choreography, nuanced dialogue, surprising humor, and socially relevant content.
Ballet Quad Cities is one of our Midwest region’s premiere arts organizations. Launched as a professional dance company in 1996 by Founding Executive Director Joedy Cook, Ballet Quad Cities has garnered critical praise for its stunning performances. Ballet Quad Cities is the longest-running resident professional ballet company in the entire state of Iowa and western Illinois, one of only 100 in the nation. Our award winning performances and interactive school and community programs are accessible for everyone. Each year we touch over 25,000 people with the amazing, athletic and entertaining art of dance.
University Ballet of Chicago is a student-run ballet company affiliated with the University of Chicago in Hyde Park. We proudly offer classical ballet training and performance opportunities for dancers of diverse backgrounds and abilities.
UBallet is an expert in storytelling. Our past performances — from the modern Spartacus to the opulent Sleeping Beauty — have been filled with characters delicate and cute, royal and grotesque. We strive to bring stories alive through both classical movement and heartfelt theatricality. Our shows have delighted audiences of all ages and levels of familiarity with dance for more than a decade.
We invite you to attend our free adult ballet classes, which are held in Ida Noyes Hall on the UChicago campus. Twice a year in the fall and late winter, we hold auditions for our semiannual productions. All who audition are cast.
Rockford Dance Company is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. Its mission is to pursue excellence in the art of dance through performance, education and outreach.
The performance component of Rockford Dance Company includes a pre-professional company. The company offers several season performances each year and tours locally. Rockford Dance Company performs at various venues throughout the Rockford Community.
Additionally, Rockford Dance Company is devoted to sharing the many benefits of dance with the Rockford community. As part of its outreach program, Rockford Dance Company develops diverse dance programming in partnership with many area organizations, including Stepping Stones of Rockford, Rockford Park District, Rockford Area Arts Council, and Rockford Public Schools.
Critically acclaimed for their athletic, sensual and dynamic repertoire River North Dance Chicago presents dynamic works that combine athletic prowess and artistic perspective with bold, theatrical flair. Founded in 1989 and under the artistic leadership of Frank Chaves, RNDC demonstrates depth and sophistication with a commitment to creating an accessible, enriching experience for audiences. The company continues to make a name for themselves on the world stage traveling throughout the country and internationally. Core works by Chaves are augmented with an array of pieces by renowned choreographers including Mauro Astolfi, Adam Barruch, Robert Battle, Sidra Bell, Ashley Roland and Nejla Yatkin, among others.
Kanopy Dance Theatre, Inc. was organized to: “promote, encourage, and increase the public’s knowledge of and appreciation for the arts, including the art of dance; to coordinate and provide services to the arts to foster their growth and practice; and, to engage in activities relating to the aforementioned purposes.” (Articles of Incorporation, 1976)
Fort Wayne Ballet feeds the spirit and sparks the imagination through the highest caliber of dance education, performance experiences, and community engagement.
As Indiana’s only professional ballet company, Fort Wayne Ballet provides our region with the highest caliber of dance education, performance experience, and community engagement. But more than that, we feed minds and souls.
Because dance is a lifelong passion, we meet people where they are, whether exploring movement for the first time, performing in the prime of life, or experiencing the magic from the audience.
DanceCircus celebrates over 40 years of inspiring, challenging,and entertaining performances marked by artistry, clarity, elegance, and simplicity. Artistic Director Betty Salamun weaves together movement, words, and music to create dances of power and meaning for audiences of all ages. Working with award winning poets, musicians, and visual artists she creates interdisciplinary performances. These collaborative performances incorporate non-dancers, students, people in agencies and diverse performers connecting the creative process of DanceCircus with life and work in the community.
Based in Madison, Wisconsin, Cycropia was formed in 1989 and is one of the oldest continuously-operating aerial dance troupes within the United States. Using single-point trapeze, bungee, lyra, aerial fabric and custom steel apparatus, Cycropia combines modern dance, athleticism and the magic of defying gravity. Cycropia’s mission is to foster artistic expression and creative movement through aerial dance, education, performance and other community-building activities.
Lead by artistic director Jessica Deahr, Chicago Dance Crash has emerged as the premier fusion-style contemporary dance company in the Midwest. Emphasizing a unique mission of both athleticism and accessibility, the Crash aesthetic is most notably recognized by its combination of concert and hip hop techniques in works ranging from full length productions to repertory pieces and freestyles.