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.