African American Arts Alliance to Host Workshops and Dance Auditions

Sponsored by the African American Arts Alliance will present the second year with several Black dance companies of Chicago partnering for a Black United Audition for dancers and choreographers. The free Black Dance Focus on You + Black Dance United Auditions events will include a series of resource-sharing panels and workshops by dance professionals, before giving artists the opportunity to audition for the companies for access to performance, workshop, and intensive opportunities.

Black Dance Focus on You provides professional development in two panel/workshops designed to prepare dancers for the upcoming auditions, along with resources/workshops for choreographers who want to advance their careers. All events will be held virtually via Zoom. Advance registration is required at www.aaaachicago.org.

Jackie Williams, Executive Director of the African American Arts Alliance comments, "Black United provides Chicago dancers a real opportunity to engage with and audition for multiple performing arts companies, and get the tools and resources needed to advance their careers."

The Black Dance United Audition events will begin with audition preparedness panel discussions on Wednesday, May 18, 6:30pm-9pm. Panels for 2022 are as follows:

Panel 1: Dancer Auditions: Stay Ready - Wednesday, May 18, 6:30pm-7:30pm

Join the panelists for an authentic discussion about the current state of the dance and how working as a dancer is shapeshifting and taking on many forms. Are you an emerging artist trying to decide on joining a company or freelancing or wanting to balance both? We will unpack some things to consider in making these career decisions.

Panelists include: Starinah Dixon of MADD Rhythms, Destine Young of Red Clay Dance Company and Ground Rhythm Project, Joshua L. Ishmon of Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, and Damon Green of Texture Dance and The Seldoms.

Panel 2: Choreographers Panel: Booked & Busy - Wednesday, May 18, 7:45pm-9pm

Join this panel of esteemed choreographers and college dance program directors as they share their experiences on dance making and building relationships in the field to support their choreographic journey. They will share tools to build relationships with colleges/universities to get choreographic commissions, as well as what dance programs look for when selecting choreographers to work with students.

Panelists include: Amansu Eason (Choreographer), Keyierra Collins (Choreographer), Julie Johnson (Dance Department Chair/Asst. Professor, Spelman College), and Pamela Pitro (Dance Department. Associate Chair/Associate Arts Professor, NYU).

Auditions will be held on Wednesday, May 25 and Wednesday, June 1, 6pm-9:30pm. Auditions are open to all adults (18+), but some experience is recommended. Advance registration is required at www.aaaachicago.org

Participating Dance Companies in 2022 include: Black Girls Dance, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, Ground Rhythm Dance Project, Joel Hall Dance Center; Inaside Chicago Dance, M.A.D.D Rhythms, Praize Productions and Red Clay Dance Company and South Chicago Dance Theater.

Events will be facilitated by the Red Clay Dance's Founding Artistic Director, CEO and African American Arts Alliance Board member Vershawn Sanders-Ward. She holds an MFA in Dance from New York University and is the first recipient of BFA in Dance from Columbia College Chicago (Gates Millennium Scholar.) She is currently a candidate for Dunham Technique Certification. Her choreography has been presented in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, The Yard at Martha's Vineyard, and internationally in Toronto, Dakar and Kampala. Vershawn is currently on faculty at Loyola University Chicago in the Fine and Performing Arts Department Her upcoming site-specific choreographic project set to premiere in 2023, Rest.Rise.Move.Nourish.Heal was selected for a 2021 National Dance Project Award from NEFA.

About the African American Arts Alliance

In 1997 a group of Chicago's leading African American artists and arts organizations came together and formed a new organization; incorporated as the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago. This organization embraced the history of the original 1977 Chicago Black Theater Alliance while expanding their scope to include diverse groups of artistic mediums which includes theaters, dance, music, literature, film, visual arts organizations, and individuals.

The mission of the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago is to increase interaction, communication and development of African American arts organizations and artists, while delivering programs that increase their visibility, marketability, stability, and sustainability. We serve as an advocate on behalf of our membership to ensure that they are recognized as important economic contributors to the cultural fabric of our city and state while increasing their visibility and support within the local and national funding community.

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