Dance Companies
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)
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.
Dance Wisconsin is a regional dance company that promotes excellence in the art of dance. The company presents high-quality productions featuring dancers from all over southern Wisconsin and guest artists from professional companies around the world. These productions not only offer the opportunity for young people to explore new heights, but also to learn teamwork, commitment and a sense of pride in accomplishing something truly extraordinary. Dance Wisconsin is the state’s only Honor Company in Midstates Regional Dance America.
Dance Wisconsin provides the vehicle for young dancers to go beyond their studio dance experience and learn more about their art form while making valuable connects in the dance world at a professional and collegiant level. Dance Wisconsin offers dedicated dancers the opportunity to train at a high level to achieve their goals whether they are simply to be the best dancer they can be or if they wish to pursue dancing beyond High School. Dance Wisconsin offers them the training and opportunities to help make anything happen.
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.
CDR is unique compared to other dance schools and programs in the composition of the “company”. CDR is composed of an elite group of local, talented, and dedicated students 10-18 years old. Company members become versatile dancers, taking classes and rehearsing in various styles of dance. Members take class and rehearse as a unit. There is a limited amount of dancers accepted to create more individual attention from the director/teachers and to create more opportunities for each dancer to grow technically and artistically. The dancers show their love and passion for dance through their work ethic in the studio and on stage. Members are recognized at competition and conventions, winning many scholarships and stand-out dancer awards.
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, under the artistic leadership of Glenn Edgerton, celebrates its 39th season in 2016 and 2017. Among the world’s top contemporary dance companies and a global cultural ambassador, Hubbard Street demonstrates fluency in a wide range of techniques and forms, and deep comprehension of abstract artistry and emotional nuance. The company is critically acclaimed for its exuberant and innovative repertoire, featuring works by master American and international choreographers. Hubbard Street’s artists hail from four countries and 12 U.S. states, and comprise a superlative ensemble of virtuosity and versatility. Since its founding by Lou Conte in 1977, Hubbard Street has grown through the establishment of multiple platforms. Each is dedicated to the support and advancement of dance as an art form, as a practice, and as a method for generating and sustaining communities of all kinds.
The Joffrey is a world-class, Chicago-based ballet company and dance education organization committed to artistic excellence and innovation, presenting a unique repertoire encompassing masterpieces of the past and cutting-edge works. The Joffrey is committed to providing arts education and accessible dance training through its Joffrey Academy of Dance and Community Engagement programs.
We are a Chicago-based dance company that values making intelligent, visually rich dance theater driven by inquiry. We ground our inquiry in contemporary issues and the history of art and ideas, toward our pursuit of bold, exacting and potent physicality.
Under Carrie Hanson’s direction, the company is committed to bringing audiences an expanded experience of dance that ignites thought and understanding of real-world issues. With dance at the center of the work, the company’s vision extends to a total action and environment and includes collaboration with practitioners in fields as diverse as architecture, installation, video, sound, and fashion.With full-length works on pressing issues, such as the recent economic recession and the ongoing climate change debate, they have built a reputation for “well-crafted and researched works that don’t hold forth a political agenda, but look instead at how these towering issues reflect back on our own humanity” (New City, which named The Seldoms Best Local Dance Company in 2012).
Founded in 2013 by Artistic Director Nick Pupillo, Visceral Dance Chicago is a contemporary dance company dedicated to a bold and progressive world of movement. In less than three years, the company has developed a diverse and respected repertoire. With works by distinguished choreographers Sidra Bell, Mónica Cervantes, Marguerite Donlon, Brian Enos, Robyn Mineko Williams, Banning Bouldin, Harrison McEldowney, Fernando Melo, Ohad Naharin, and Pupillo, Visceral Dance Chicago continues to challenge audiences’ expectations. In January of 2015, Visceral Dance Chicago was named one of Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch, recognizing the company’s accomplishments and potential in the national community. “Visceral Dance Chicago breathes life into the Chicago arts community with their ability to intertwine complex human emotions with the raw beauty of dance and physical movement.” (Chicago Stage Standard)
Aerial Dance Chicago is a nonprofit dance company dedicated to creation, performance, and instruction in the field of aerial dance. The mission of Aerial Dance Chicago is to enrich our community with the fine art of aerial dance. Through innovative choreography, engaging performances and energizing hands-on experiences, our programs educate, strengthen and connect people of all walks of life.
Aerial Dance Chicago inspires everyday people to challenge their own assumed limits to reveal undiscovered potential. Through highly original and physical programming, the company reawakens humanity’s craving for live, kinetic and creative experiences and contributes to the health and empowerment of the community.