Aerial dance chicago (chicago, il) ADC was founded in 1999 with a vision of taking dance into flight. Incorporating a variety of apparatus such as suspended fabrics, bungee cords, hoops, swings and ropes, dancers were no longer bound to the traditional dance floor, and the company set out to explore the potential for compelling and powerful expression within multi-dimensional space.

Characterized by extraordinary physicality and originality, the company's work has been presented across the United States at theaters, museums, schools, universities and festivals, including popular hometown venues such as The Athenaeum Theatre, North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, Ruth Page Center for the Arts, Navy Pier, Museum of Science & Industry, Millennium Park and the historic Grand Ballroom of the Drake Hotel. In 2014, ADC opened Chicago’s premiere dance center dedicated to the fine art of aerial dance, offering cutting-edge curriculum in contemporary dance, both on the ground and in the air. Located at 4028 W. Irving Park Rd, with immediate access to 90/94 and the Irving Park Blue line and Metra stop, this new center is situated at a cultural and transit hub in Chicago, and is an asset to the professional performing arts community in Chicago.

Today, Aerial Dance Chicago continues to deliver an underrepresented art form to the diverse cultural spectrum in Chicago, reaching over 10,000 people annually. As the company moves forward, creating, performing and teaching, it continues to redefine human movement potential and transcend the assumed limits of dance.

Daiva Bhandari (Chicago, IL) is a dance and theatre artist with a performance career spanning nearly two decades. An expressive and dynamic performer, Daiva endeavors to stretch the limits of her imaginative and emotional capabilities, seeking work that deepens her foundational training and engages her curiosity. She has acted onstage with The Neo-Futurists, Steppenwolf, Theatre Y, Manual Cinema, Pop Magic Productions, Emerald City Theatre, and The Building Stage. She has performed the choreography of Michael Estanich, Lucy Vurusic-Riner, Corinne Imberski, Kelly Anderson and Erin Kilmurray. Daiva earned her BA in Drama from Loyola University, New Orleans and studied Modern Dance at Tulane University.

DMITRI PESKOV (EPHRAIM, UTAH) SERVES AS THE CHAIR OF THE DANCE DEPARTMENT AT SNOW COLLEGE. SINCE MOVING TO UT THREE YEARS AGO, HE HAS PRESENTED HIS CHOREOGRAPHY AT THREE REGIONAL AND ONE NATIONAL AMERICAN COLLEGE DANCE CONFERENCE GALAS , PERFORMED AS A GUEST ARTIST WITH GILEADI DANCE COMPANY IN SALT LAKE CITY AND ST PAUL BALLET IN ST PAUL, MN, PRESENTED NEW WORKS AT DANCE NOW FESTIVAL IN NY AND WAS ONE OF THE FOUR NATIONALLY SELECTED CHOREOGRAPHERS TO CREATE A NEW PIECE FOR REPERTORY DANCE THEATRE'S REGALIA COMPETITION. OTHER INTERESTS INCLUDE POETRY PUBLICATION IN ENGLISH AND RUSSIAN, VISUAL ARTS, AND YOGA/PILATES/TAICHI INSTRUCTION. BEFORE MOVING TO UT, DMITRI PESKOV USED TO LIVE AND WORK IN CHICAGO WHERE HE WAS AWARDED THE 2008 ARTIST FELLOWSHIP IN CHOREOGRAPHY FROM THE ILLINOIS ARTS COUNCIL AND THE 2012 CO-MISSION RESIDENCY FROM LINKS HALL. HIS DUET WITH PAUL CHRISTIANO FOR BOB EISEN AND FRIENDS WAS MENTIONED IN THE BEST OF DANCE 2014 BY THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE. DMITRI WOULD LIKE TO THANK DIRECTOR LUDA LOPATINA SOLOMON FOR CASTING HIM IN ATHOL FUGARD'S TWO CHARACTER PLAY HELLO AND GOODBYE AS PART OF BLUEBIRD ARTS 2015 THEATRE SEASON AND PAUL SANASARDO FOR ALWAYS ENCOURAGING HIM TO WORK AS A SOLO MOVEMENT ARTIST.

Giordano II (Chicago, IL) (GII) is dedicated to the nurturing and elevation of young professional dancers under the artistic leadership of Nan Giordano and directed by Joshua Blake Carter. The dancers of GII are provided the unique opportunity to be mentored by Giordano Dance Chicago dancers with the goal of advancement to the main company. Through the company’s Giordano on Giordano program, GII premieres five new works each season created by GDC’s artistic team and main company dancers. GII performs at venues throughout the Midwest, preparing dancers with on-stage experience necessary for a career in concert dance, and allowing them to broaden their technical and artistic range.

In 59 years as an artistic leader and innovator, Giordano Dance Chicago — one of the longest-running jazz dance companies in the world — has contributed greatly to the health of the performing arts community in Chicago and around the globe. From our origins in Gus Giordano’s family-run studio to our current incarnation as a professionally-run organization with over a half-century of worldwide performances (27 countries, 46 states, and more than 1,300 cities), our imprint on the art form of jazz dance is far-reaching and significant. Our contributions include: a vast repertoire of more than 175 original works; the mentoring of new and emerging choreographers; the commissioning of innumerable musical scores and production designers; the education of tens of thousands of underserved public school and community students; the creation of generations of professional dancers, and performances to millions of audience members worldwide.

Hot Crowd Dance Company (Chicago, iL) was established in 2017 by Founder Emily Rayburn. Since its inception, Hot Crowd has been invited to perform in South Korea and in several major cities throughout the U.S. including Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit and St. Louis. Hot Crowd has also created several self-produced shows, City of Big Shoulders, Internal Truce and Green Oxygen as well as their first professional dance film titled, Adaptation. Other Hot Crowd programming includes, but is not limited to workshops at dance schools and arts centers for students ranging in age from youth to adult, pay what you can open company classes, free work-in-progress showings, and collaborative events with other Chicago artists and small businesses. We also provide a Create With Community class which brings together those who may have never danced before and allows them a space to move and groove. The company has recently gone through a change in leadership and is now run by directors, Devon Lloyd and Brittany Latta. Since taking over in August of 2021, Lloyd and Latta put on their most recent self produced show, Green Oxygen, and are currently working toward their Season 5 Hot Crowd Repertoire show running May 26-29 at Greenhouse Theater Center where they will produce two new original works.

Jacksonville Dance theatre (jacksonville, fl) Founded in 2012, Jacksonville Dance Theatre is a contemporary modern dance company dedicated to creating and promoting excellence in the field of professional dance on local, national, and international stages. JDT is committed to creative innovation and exchange through choreographic projects, concert dance performance, movement intervention outreach, and dance education. Led by Artistic Director, Rebecca R. Levy, and Executive Director, Katie McCaughan, the company has produced 10 robust local seasons as well as touring and festivals internationally and throughout the country. JDT co-produces its annual repertory concert each Spring with the historic Florida Theatre in downtown Jacksonville.

JDT has commissioned new and existing works from choreographers Eboné Amos, Jonah Bokaer, James Boyd, Emily Cargill, Bryn Cohn, Roberto Forleo, Lana Heylock, Jay Jackson, Bliss Kholmeyer, Lisa D. Long, James Morrow, Brian Palmer, Mikey Rioux, Talani Torres, JoAnna Ursal, and Pioneer Winter, among others. Jacksonville Dance Theatre performs repertory works choreographed by the company’s artistic director and resident choreographers, and frequently commissions its performers and local artists to create new works on the company.

JDT sees the power of the human body as a canvas for art, education, storytelling, performance, entertainment, and wellness. With a diverse group of company members, JDT is constantly broadening its style to form new cohesive performances that reach a wide range of populations. JDT is committed to creating opportunities for all people regardless of race, gender, age, ability, sexual identity or orientation, cultural or socioeconomic background, and feels strongly that dance is a universal art form that is meant to engage and inspire all people. JDT runs weekly dance, fitness, and movement awareness classes at the Florida Ballet as well as a week-long summer dance intensive each July.

In 2015, JDT launched the first annual Jacksonville Dance Film Festival to bring dance for the camera to the First Coast. Curated by Tiffany S. Santeiro, the festival screens films from all over the globe and challenges and expands the way we see both dance and film.

JDT is supported in part by funding from: the City of Jacksonville and the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville Cultural Service Grant Program; the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture; the Beaches Women’s Club; and ruckus. advertising + public relations. JDT is a 2021 Here to Be grant recipient from the lululemon corporation. Here to Be is lululemon’s social impact program that disrupts inequity in well being through movement, mindfulness, and advocacy. Jacksonville Dance Theatre is Here to Be an agent of healing, change, and wellness equity in the City of Jacksonville.

JDT was a recipient of the 2016 and 2018 Florida East Coast PNC Arts Alive grant program and was supported in 2016 and 2020 by grants from the Art Ventures Endowment Fund at the Community Foundation for Northeast Florida. Past support also includes performer grants from StageFund, corporate sponsorship from Harbinger, Kress Agency, and Community First Credit Union, and major gifts from Jeff Chartrand, Nancy Chartrand, Mark & Meredith Frisch, in addition to a decade of support from private donors. For more information visit www.jacksonvilledancetheatre.org

JBC choreography (Chicago, il) Choreographer Joshua Blake Carter has created works for dance companies, theater companies and events across the nation. Originally from Atlanta, GA, he was selected as the 2009 winner of Wonderbound's (formerly Ballet Nouveau Colorado) national choreography competition, dancemakers2.0. In 2013, he was one of six winners commissioned to create a new work for DanceWorks Chicago's DanceMoves choreography competition, and was awarded the Producers' Panel Prize by the Ruth Page Foundation for his work, Ripen. Joshua has created three original works for Giordano Dance Chicago, where he danced for seven seasons and currently serves as Operations Manager, and nine original works for Giordano II, where he currently serves as Director. Joshua's choreography for Disney’s NEWSIES at the Paramount Theatre was nominated for a Jeff Award and a Regional Broadway World Award. Other commissions include Missouri Contemporary Ballet, Nomi Dance Company, Visceral Dance Chicago, and Artifact Dance Project as well as an original work for Embarq with Joffrey Ballet. In 2016, he created the finale for the event Sing! featuring Elton John. Joshua has been an Artist in Residence with Brenau University, Glendale Community College, Illinois State University, Salve Regina University and Southeast Missouri State University.

J. Lindsay Brown (Chicago, IL) completed her MFA in Dance at the University of Michigan and received her BA in Dance with a minor in Literature from Scripps College. Her choreography ranges from screen dances to formal evening-length works in the round, covering topics such as politics, classic literature, and space travel. Her works have been performed indoors and outdoors, in arcades, and onstage. J. Lindsay Brown Dance, founded in 2013, is a Chicago modern dance-theater company that uses collaboration, text, improvisation, humor, and movement to create audience friendly works and seizes every opportunity to connect, question and expand the Chicago dance community.

JOEL HALL DANCERS (CHICAGO, IL) FOUNDED AS CHICAGO CITY THEATRE COMPANY IN 1974 BY JOEL HALL AND JOSEPH EHRENBERG, THE JOEL HALL DANCERS & CENTER (JHDC) HAS PERSISTED IN THEIR MISSION TO BE AN ORGANIZATION OF DIVERSE BODIES AND MINDS, INNOVATIVE COMMUNITY PROGRAMS, AND ENGAGING AND RELEVANT PUBLIC PERFORMANCES. THE COMPANY PERFORMED ITS FIRST CONCERT SERIES AT THE FRANCIS PARKER AUDITORIUM IN CHICAGO IN MARCH OF 1975. THROUGHOUT THE 1980S AND 90S, THE COMPANY CONTINUED TO DEVELOP THEIR CHICAGO IDENTITY WHILE ALSO ESTABLISHING A NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE BY PERFORMING IN NEW YORK, THE NETHERLANDS, THROUGHOUT THE UNITED KINGDOM, AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION. A TRAGIC FIRE AT THE JHDC STUDIO IN 1993 DESTROYED MUCH OF THE COMPANY’S RESOURCES AND FORCED A RELOCATION AND LENGTHY REBUILD. AS A RESULT OF THIS CHALLENGE, MR. HALL WAS INSPIRED TO CREATE AN EVENING-LENGTH CHOREOGRAPHIC WORK TITLED THE PHOENIX, ABOUT A BIRD RISING FROM THE ASHES. THIS ATTITUDE OF FACING CHALLENGES HEAD-ON AND TURNING BARRIERS INTO INSPIRATION IS WHAT HAS LED JHDC TO OVERCOME MULTIPLE HARDSHIPS AND CONSISTENTLY PERSEVERE.

THE LEGACY OF JOEL HALL AND JHDC INCLUDES VARIOUS HONORS AND RECOGNITIONS FOR WORK IN CHICAGO AND BEYOND. JOEL HALL RECEIVED THE KATHERINE DUNHAM HUMANITARIAN AWARD, THE ON-TARGET AWARD FOR MARKETING FROM THE ARTS & BUSINESS COUNCIL OF CHICAGO, AND PROFILES IN TWO BOOKS ABOUT BLACK DANCE. HALL HAS ALSO BEEN NAMED THE YMCA COMMUNITY ACHIEVER OF THE YEAR, INDUCTED INTO THE CHICAGO GAY & LESBIAN HALL OF FAME, AND, IN 2016, RECEIVED THE DESIGNATION OF THE HONORARY JOEL HALL WAY.

JACQUELINE SINCLAIR WAS APPOINTED NEW ARTISTIC DIRECTOR IN 2018.

photo by mike lohr

KYBELE Dance Theatre (Los Angeles, Ca) Founded in 2003 by Seda Aybay, Kybele Dance Theater has toured and been presented in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Long Beach, Fresno, Fullerton, Concord, San Jose, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Temecula and Istanbul, Turkey. KDT won First Place in the 2016 Front and Main Dance Festival, Second Place in the 2016 McCallum Choreography Festival and awarded the 2015 Elite Original Choreography Award, Dance Under the Stars Festival, MAD BAD Festival, as well as the RAW 2011 Los Angeles Performing Artist Award. Seda’s works have been toured and presented in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Long Beach, Fresno, Fullerton, Concord, San Jose, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Temecula and Istanbul, Turkey. Kybele Dance Theater, under the direction of Seda Aybay, strives to share work that contains elements of socio-political issues with emphasis on inclusion, diversity, gender, spirituality, philosophy and immigration as subtext. While the repertory may present what is broken thematically, the movement reflects solutions and positivity. We are a company of artists who strive to unite the basic tenants of humanity through performance and outreach. Notable examples stretch beyond classical stage performance to include numerous site specific performances presented free of charge in an effort to reach a diverse range of audiences, as well as fundraiser events such as original work performed for Polio Plus’s fundraiser, free master classes to raise awareness for breast cancer, and Immersive Collective LA’s fundraiser for troubled and abused youth. KDT believes that change starts by reaching just one person; by changing misconceptions and reshaping cultural misunderstanding, art can cultivate a chain reaction of positive social impact. "Kina has beautiful moments and extraordinary dancing." – Jeff Slayton, LA Dance Chronicle “... her sophisticated sense of movement counterpoint sustained interest in her formal patterning.” – Lewis Segal, LA Times “Aybay displayed choreographic flair and a cutting-edge sensibility.” – Victoria Looseleaf, LA Times “Seda is a poetic genius.” – Jodie Gates, Vice Dean, Director, Glorya Kaufman School of Dance "Plunging squats, deeply arching backs and lush turns ..." – Claudia La Rocco, New York Times "Seda Aybay’s work is rich with movement, purpose and thought-provoking images. " – Jeff Slayton, LA Dance Chronicle

Marquez Dance Project (Cleveland, oh) explores human complexity through a creative lens. The intention behind our work is to recapture moments that speak to the community by raising questions about what is happening within our society, and challenging individuals to mobilize. We incorporate theatrical, physical and often surreal imagery to generate meaningful and provoking works. Dance is the central component, however we collaborate with other artists from different genres. Making these connections enriches the breadth of the work and allows a broader range of artistic investigation. 

​Jennifer Sandoval Eccher holds an M.F.A in Dance through Hollins University in association with The American Dance Festival (Duke University), The Frankfurt Conservatory of Performing Arts (Germany) and The Forsythe Company (Germany). She has been an educator, choreographer and performer for the past 18 years. Her choreography has been presented throughout the midwest and internationally in Avignon, France. Festivals include; International American Dance Choreographers Showcase, Dance Chicago, Ohio Dance Festival, Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival, Big River Dance Festival, Cleveland Dance Festival and Cleveland Public Theatre. She was a performer for Chicago based companies Tyego Dance Project, Perceptual Motion Inc., SMARTdance and TJ & Company Dance Theatre. Cleveland based companies MorrisonDance, Travesty Dance Group and conceptual artists Story Rhinehart Cadiz and Robin VanLear. She has been on faculty at Cleveland State University and Cuyahoga Community College. Currently she is on faculty at Bard High School Early College. 

mitchellmovement collective (chicago, Il) Taylor Mitchell is a Chicago-based dance performance artist, international educator, and recognized for his “comedic” choreography. He earned his BFA from The University of Arizona and has performed with Thodos Dance Chicago, Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, Cocodaco Dance Project, C5 Create With No Limits, and other projects. Choreography credits include DanceWorks Chicago, The Big Muddy Dance Company, Thodos Dance Chicago, Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, and METDance. Taylor is currently expanding his process of fusing contemporary dance and Clowning techniques as a solo performance artist and choreographer; all to better understand the shared relationship between performer and audience viewer.

Mordine & Company Dance Theater (Chicago, IL) is the Midwest's longest-running contemporary dance company, founded in 1969. Known for its interdisciplinary collaborations with artists in the fields of music, theater, visual design, video and puppetry, Mordine & Co. strives to infuse the field of dance with new modes of performance and expression.

Under the direction of Shirley Mordine, the Company has produced works whose coalition of choreography and theatre has won critical acclaim. Praised for original choreography combining wit and sheer movement with technical sophistication, the Company's work has been described as "a two-edged sword of comedy and drama" and "adventurous, audacious, gutsy, and energetic."

MUSICDANCE EN-SEM’-BLE (CHICAGO, IL) IS A PERFORMANCE GROUP OF EMERGING AND ESTABLISHED DANCE AND MUSIC ARTISTS SINCE 2015. 2021 HIGHLIGHTS WERE A COLLABORATION WITH GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING THIRD COAST PERCUSSION IN A SITE-SPECIFIC PIECE ‘POUR’ AND PERFORMING ‘JANUARY THIRTYFIRST’ ON STAGE IN HCCDF 2021 AT RUTH PAGE. IN 2022: 'SOLO CELLO & CHOREOGRAPHY’ WITH ESTEEMED CELLIST STEPHEN BALDERSTON AT GANNON CONCERT HALL, FILMING A NEW WORK 'NIGHT TABLE' with cellist francisco malespin, cantor howard friedland and original music by composer ilya levinson, OUR 6TH teaching/performance project IN CHICAGO WITH choreographer and dynamic performer MIRIAM ENGEL FROM JERUSALEM.

AWARD-WINNING ARTIST-EDUCATOR AND INNOVATIVE PRODUCTIVE CHOREOGRAPHER, LIN BATSHEVA KAHN’S WORK HAS BEEN PERFORMED BY DANCERS FROM HUBBARD STREET PRO, PROJECT 606, CLEVELAND CONTEMPORARY DANCE THEATRE, VERB BALLET, EXTENSIONS BALLET, DAYTON CONTEMPORARY DANCE COMPANY, URBAN BUSH WOMEN, OHIO BALLET, KEIGWIN & COMPANY, GIORDANO DANCE CHICAGO, AND ISRAEL’S A'NGELA DANCE COMPANY.

ALSO INTEGRATING FINE ART AND TEXT FOR A RICH MULTI-ARTISTIC EXPERIENCE, HER CHOREOGRAPHY HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS "SKILLFULLY CRAFTED" (DANCE CRITIC WILMA SALISBURY, CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER) AND “SUBSTANTIAL AND STRIKING" (MEGHANN MULLER, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR PROJECT 606.) “HER ATTENTION TO DETAIL IS EXACTING” (JEREMY JACOB ALUMA, DIRECTOR.)

TEACHING CONTEMPORARY DANCE AND ORIGINAL ACADEMIC COURSES SUCH AS ‘DIVERSITY IN DANCE: PARADIGMS SHIFTING’ IN THE THEATRE SCHOOL AT DEPAUL UNIVERSITY, LIN BATSHEVA’s CHOREOGRAPHY ADDRESSes THEMES OF HUMAN SIGNIFICANCE; WHAT WE STRUGGLE WITH, QUESTION, AND DELIGHT IN. VISIT US AT MUSICDANCEENSEMBLE.COM

PROJEct Bound Dance (Chicago, IL) Under the direction of Ashley Deran and Emily Loar, Project Bound Dance is a Chicago-based modern dance group rooted in the practice of collaboration. Since its founding in 2013, Bound has created work that is both curious and accessible. Creating both live concert performance and dances for camera, Bound draws from both modern dance and somatic fundamentals. Incorporating vigor, athleticism, and intricate gesture exploration Deran and Loar weave together the vision of two distinct artistic voices to create richly textured dance performance.

south chicago dance theatre (chicago, il) Since the SCDT’s 2017 launch, the Main Company has toured regionally, nationally and internationally and commissioned the choreographic work of renowned BIPOC artists. Its collaborative initiatives have included music ensembles, television, opera, art museums and public schools through a range of self-produced and presented performance events. Prioritizing intergenerational learning and exchange, SCDT’s seven core programs utilize the art of dance to reframe trauma narratives through creative storytelling and replace dominant cultural narratives with community narratives. The art of dance empowers our community to resist oppression and foster collective healing.

Amongst SCDT’s seven core programs are the Main Company and Emerging Artist Program, the Choreography Center, the School, the Education and Community Programs, the South Chicago Arts Administration Fellowship, the annual South Chicago Dance Festival, and the Cultural Diplomacy Program. Through a pivot to digital production, the SCDT Main Company increased its audience by 65% during COVID-19.

Through the Cultural Diplomacy Program, SCDT targets countries for cross cultural collaboration and artistic exchange who do not have an extensive presence or history of being presented in the United States. Between 2018 and 2020, artists from Seoul, South Korea traveled to the south side of Chicago to participate in this initiative and artists from the SCDT traveled to central Seoul to be integrated into the community at Choomna Art Center. SCDT's founder and Executive Artistic Director Kia S. Smith was also invited to meet with the Cultural Attache at the US Embassy in Seoul in the inaugural year of this program.

SCDT’s work has been featured in Dance Magazine, the Chicago Tribune, the Hyde Park Herald, the Daily Jefferson County Union, the Chicago Sun Times, Chicago Magazine, See Chicago Dance, New City Magazine and Dancermusic.com. In 2018 SCDT received an entrepreneurship award from the Chicago Urban League, a Rising Star Award from the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and was recently nominated for two Princess Grace USA Awards.