Reggie Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Group to Return to The Dance Center This Fall

The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago's 44th season of presenting diverse international, national and regional contemporary dance features the return of Reggie Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Group October 12-14 at the Dance Center, 1306 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago.

Choreographer Wilson's new work CITIZEN questions what it means to belong and what it means to not want to belong, inspired by the histories of iconic African Americans who faced prevalent contradictions and irony connected to individuality, anonymity, freedom and dignity in relation to their civic duties. A provocative dialogue emerges through a series of five intricately woven solos, layered with haunting footage that suspends time and placE. Wilson, whose postmodern work embodies elements of blues, folk and African Diaspora cultures, works down to the marrow in CITIZEN, exposing isolation and the ways in which we make space for our communities and our countries without sacrificing the authentic sense of self and the legacies of our diverse cultural identities.

Founded in 1989, Reggie Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Group is a Brooklyn-based dance company with a mission to create, research, develop and present new performance work that investigates the intersections of culture and movement practices. The company's body of works draws from the spiritual and mundane traditions of Africa and its Diaspora. Fist and Heel believes in the potential of the body as a valid means for knowing. The choreography of Reggie Wilson displays rigor, structure and craft in a postmodern dance vernacular. His choreography expands the limitations of textbook definitions of "black dance" and range from strict dance pieces to full, all-inclusive performance art pieces with arranged vocalizations, text and inclusion of other media. Fist and Heel's performance works strive for authenticity and respect of Wilson's creative vision.

There is a post-performance conversation with the artists Thursday, October 12 and a pre-performance talk with Reggie Wilson Friday, October 13 at 6:30 p.m. at Sherwood Community Music School's recital hall, 1312 S. Michigan Ave. (next door to the Dance Center), both free to ticket holders. Additional residency activities with community partners and Columbia College Chicago students take place throughout the week leading up to the performance weekend.

The Dance Center presents Reggie Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Group October 12-14 at the Dance Center, 1306 S. Michigan Ave. Single tickets are $30; subscribers to three or more performances during the season and groups of 10 or more receive a 25 percent discount. Tickets are available at 312-369-8330 and colum.edu/dancecenterpresents. All programming is subject to change. The theatre is accessible to people with disabilities.

The Dance Center's 2017-18 season begins with the return of Chicago Human Rhythm Project, featuring new works by Artist In Residence Dani Borak, September 21-23. Following Reggie Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Group in the fall are Elevate Chicago Dance, a festival of diverse choreography, October 20 and 21 and the Chicago debut of choreographer Cynthia Oliver's COCo. Dance Theatre November 2-4. In 2018, Doug Varone and Dancers returns as part of its 30th anniversary season February 8-10; Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan brings its newest work to the Harris Theater for Music and Dance March 2 and 3; and the Process v. Product Festival features Chicago's Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak March 29-31 and Bebe Miller Company April 5-7. In addition, the B-Series, a free mini-festival of hip-hop and street dance forms, takes place October 27-28 and April 13-14.

The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago is the city's leading presenter of contemporary dance, showcasing artists of regional, national and international significance. The Dance Center has been named "Chicago's Best Dance Theatre" by Chicago magazine, "Best Dance Venue" by the Chicago Reader and Chicago's top dance venue in 2014 by Newcity, and Time Out Chicago cited it as "...consistently offering one of Chicago's strongest lineups of contemporary and experimental touring dance companies." Programs at the Dance Center are supported, in part, by the Alphawood Foundation, the MacArthur Fund for the Arts and Culture at Prince, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Martha Struthers Farley and Donald C. Farley Jr. Family Foundation, the Irving Harris Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, as well as the Arts Midwest Touring Fund, a program of Arts Midwest that is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional contributions from the Illinois Arts Council and the Crane Group. Special thanks to Friends of the Dance Center for their generous contributions to the Dance Center's work.

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