In celebration of TDC’s 17th season!

This March, we celebrated TDC’s birthday – 17 seasons! That’s a nice run and TDC continues to grow. Margi’s set of skills go beyond choreography, she knows the ins and outs of running a business. She’s a grant writer, budget maker, deadline queen, collaborator, director, teacher, coordinator of all; the list never ends.

In celebration of TDC’s 17th season, I’ve gathered some quotes from past and present dancers regarding their experience with Margi and the dancers, and people who are involved in the dance community who are aware of Margi’s work and methods, and how she’s impacted Chicago’s dance community.

Working with Margi Cole is refreshing! She is the consummate professional and I think her general "equality vibe" infiltrates the organization. It is clear that she is the director but at no point did I feel inferior, quite the opposite, I felt that she was very empowering. If a dancer had a talent or inkling then she was a huge supporter. She is also one of the few artists I have ever seen really and earnestly partake in collaboration. She is really good at it. I understand why people work with her for a long time, because it is not the kind of work that breaks you down (physically or spirit). She is invested in her dancers and allows them to continue to grow. -Molly Schneider Perez, Former TDC company member

TDC offered a safe environment to grow as an artist. I was given the freedom to think about dance in new ways and be challenged. I also got to watch Margi grow as a choreographer over the years. She continually challenges herself. Her work today is more complex and layered than her earlier work. That's part of what makes TDC an exciting company to watch. -Alaina Murray, Former TDC company member

I first recognized Margi’s awesome talent in the mid-80s, in a Beginning Modern class at the old Dance Center. She wouldn’t remember me being there, but I sure remember her—I was totally intimidated by her strength and finesse. She’s still strong. It’s no mean feat to have kept a company going for 17 years, which she’s done partly by coming up with ingenious ways to fuel her creativity: by continuing to dance challenging solos herself, and by opening TDC to collaboration—a goal of hers from the get-go. Watching TDC in rehearsal and performance, I get the feeling of a true, loyal, very female family working together. Happy anniversary! -Laura Molzahn, Dance critic and writer for the Chicago Reader

Working with Margi is an all-encompassing dance experience. The work itself is physically demanding, and also calls for rapt attention to the nuances of human experience. The body cannot lie when performing Ms. Cole’s work…as dancers, we are challenged to draw from the experiences that make us unique, real, and connected to those around us. Margi’s methods for molding these ideas into relatable, engaging dance composition are both artful and ever changing. - Erin Jaffe, Former TDC company member

Margi is one of the most talented and skilled choreographers and teachers in Chicago. I have known Margi since she was a student at the Dance Center of Columbia College. Over the years I have found her to be generous and supportive in her relationships with fellow artists and to demonstrate outstanding managerial skills. Margi makes an important contribution to Chicago's dance community. - Shirley Mordine, Artistic Director of Mordine and Company, and founder of The Dance Center at Columbia College Chicago

TDC is more than a dance company it is a group of artists collaborating, exploring and pushing boundaries together. In my experience thus far I have enjoyed that every voice matters. Margi is a director and teacher that is clear, organized, open, explorative, and knows how to challenge her dancers. The piece that we are currently working on recently shifted for me, for the movement I perform now feels like my own. -Julie Boruff, current TDC apprentice

Margi Cole has proven to be an integral part of the Chicago dance community. To say it has been a pleasure to evolve and grow with her the past 7 years would be an understatement. Her roles as dancer, choreographer, artistic director, business administrator, mentor, and friend have had an incredible impact on my life, both personally and professionally. -Maggie Koller, current TDC member

My experience in my first season with TDC has been eye opening. Having the joy of working with such amazingly talented and inspiringly strong women has giving me a new confidence in myself that I am only beginning to understand. Margi is always surprising me with her choreographic challenges and ability to shake and alter an image, an idea, a movement phrase and make it fresh and thought provoking. I am being challenged constantly and feel myself growing as an artist, a dancer, and a young woman. -Molly Kirkpatrick, current TDC apprentice

I can't imagine where I'd be as a dancer and person if I didn't have my experience with Margi and the girls! I have made the most wonderful, caring and unique group of friends any person could ask for while dancing with TDC. Sweat, tears, confrontations, laughter and the usual joke during planks are just a few things I looked forward to in every rehearsal for ten years. Ten years my life was TDC, swooshes, contraction series and the dreaded developpe along to Margi's top ten playlist on her "I-thing". I learned respect, professionalism and how to find my head tail connection while also finding my two-way energy all at the same time! If you've ever had the pleasure of working with Margi and TDC you understand. If not, go and take a class with the company. You'll always be welcomed like a friend. -Molly Grimm-Leasure, Former TDC company member

TDC has been an experience that has helped me grow as an individual, but also as a collaborator. Margi has helped me become a better dancer/creator/witness to my own work and has shown me the importance of working hard and being involved in as many ways as possible. I have applied this method to many areas of my life and see myself and our work as a company progress because of it. -Madelyn Doyle, current TDC company member

I’d like to thank everyone for their quotes and thoughts.

So, surprise and congratulations, Margi! You’re an inspiration and you’ve done, and still do, so much for people inside our dance community. I’m lucky to be surrounded by such a great bunch. I know you’ve endured many struggles throughout the years, but with struggle comes success, and that success continues to grow with each season, enriching the movement and I like to think, making dance history. 


Submitted by TDC Dancer Katie Petrunich on Monday, April 1, 2013.