Reflections about the early years by a Founding Member

Dancer:  Ebony Lashay Bitner

 

I fell in love with and became serious about dance at the comparatively late age of 14.  When I had a dream of becoming a professional dancer, I stepped out on faith knowing that the odds were well-stacked against me.

Margi was the first and in many ways the only teacher I ever had who saw beneath the surface of me.  She took the time to nurture and mentor me as a dancer. She saw my potential.  She supported my strengths rather than remain honed in on my weaknesses. She made me believe that my dream could become real because she believed in me...

The early years of the TDC were a lot of things.  Creating our own vocabulary..."corn-fusing" to others but making perfect sense to us! Hours filled with laughter and sometimes frustration sprinkled with drama and tears.  State fairs and sweaty July afternoon rehearsals at the Broadway Armory preparing for another performance. Group therapy, over cocktails and P-funks.  Celebrations of birthdays and break-ups, weddings and first-borns.

Stated simply, those early years were all about growth.  Through the shedding of our individual layers and with a healthy dose of guidance and patience we all evolved.  Through the expression of dance we became one entity. We crossed the threshold of being young women to being women and with that crossing over came the unavoidable shift of dreams and priorities.

Above all for me, those days were about forging friendships and forming incredibly meaningful bonds with women I may have never gotten a chance to know at all in the "real world"  We became sisters in a very true sense.  Our kinship was born out of the most unlikely of people and circumstances.  The early days of TDC were about everyone doing their part and  coming together with a spirit of support and love, expressing it all onstage in the most beautiful,  unique and honest way imaginable.

What fun we had!   I think of those days often and they always make me smile. They were and will always be some of the happiest days of my life.

Congrats Margs!  Here's to another 20 and beyond...

Submitted by TDC Founding Member Ebony Lashay Bitner, October 17, 2015

Dance COLEctive Summer Technique Week with a Twist!

Shannon Edwards Archives

For more than 12 years The Dance COLEctive has conducted an annual Summer Dance Workshop.  The beginning of this year, our 20th Anniversary Season is no different really....

The Dance COLEctive Summer Technique Week with a Twist is a great way to be exposed to the company.  While we are not having an official audition this season we are scouting for dancers to participate in our 20th Anniversary Performances.  Read long time company member Shannon McGuire Edwards' story about her first workshop and how it impacted her journey to join the company.  

Shannon says:
 
It was the summer after graduation in 2009. I never had the privilege of taking Margi's class in college, but I did have her as a sub once. I remember loving her class and found myself particularly eager to master "the run around".  So I signed up for the summer intensive. I was planning on attending the audition at the end of the week. I especially remember Margi talking about weight in the pelvis, the importance of authentic touch, and allowing the body to sink into the floor. These are concepts that still resonate with me show in the work I do with The Dance COLEctive. I still take Margi's class today and think about the special corrections and notes she gave me during those five, intense days at the TDC Summer Workshop.

This is the calendar still hanging in my bedroom at my mom's house. It's still on this page and I look at it often remembering how important that week was to me. (On the 8th it says "audition" and "family" because I went to my family reunion a day late so I could make it to the audition).

Margi says:

I remember Shannon working so diligently as a student in my Repertory Performance Workshop class at Columbia College.  I was drawn to her work ethic and to her powerful presence as a performer.  It has been such a pleasure to watch Shannon grow as a person and an artist in her years with the company and I am still magically drawn to her beauty and vulnerability as a performer.  

This year, in honor of our 20th Anniversary, we will not only do technique but we will teach repertory from our long history.  Should be fun! 

You can find more information here!

Submitted by TDC dancer Shannon Edwards, August 2, 2015.   

Then I began to remember...

I've never really felt as old as I am, even when I was younger. 18 years old felt more like 15 and at 21 I DEFINITELY didn't feel legal. So when I was asked to write about what it feels like to be "the most senior member" of TDC, My first thought was "Well it feels just like the first year..."

Photo by William Frederking

Then I began to remember.

How scared I was. How nervous I had been about my technique EVERY rehearsal. How many jobs I worked just to be able to eek out a living so that I could spend another month in Chicago able to dance with TDC. How I could stroll into rehearsal after a full day and dance my butt of without thinking about it, then wake up the next morning feeling like a million bucks. How my feet didn't hurt, and my knees didn't crack with every plie or lunge I performed. How long I spent on the CTA, EVERYDAY. How the girls that I was dancing with were some of the funniest, smartest, most loving people I had met and how they made my transition to living in the city and joining the company smoother. What I remember and forget all at the same time is how quickly I have twirled my way through 7 seasons, all because time flies when you're with people you enjoy being around. Being the most senior member now I hope that my presence does for our newer members what the oldie goldie girls I danced with back in 2008, did for me. They created an inviting and accepting environment, full of creative energy and support, laughter and advice and they are still a HUGE part of my life today. When I look back on my time dancing with TDC and in the Chicago dance community I know I will remember the performances and projects I have been a part of but more than that, I will know the people I shared those experiences with helped shape who I am today both as a dancer and an "adult". No matter if I feel like one or not. 

Submitted by TDC Dancer Olivia May on Wednesday, March 25, 2015.  

Swirling my Karma

Jamie flying with Shannon!  Photo by William Frederking

So, as one of the Social Media Divas this month I have been tasked with the writing of this blog post that reflects on my experiences thus far as an apprentice for TDC. The previous zillion attempts I’ve made at this first sentence, I have rapidly deleted out of horror at how cheesy, or cliché, or sentimental they were. But alas, after that many attempts I will just have to settle for being self-reflexively cheesy, cliché, and sentimental in hopes that I can convey my ruminations without grossing anyone out. Here we go: Oh yes, it starts with a flashback…

A year ago at this time, my brain was predominantly occupied with panic: panic about finishing that piece I was choreographing, panic about presenting my thesis in front of a crowd, and mostly, panic about what-the-heck-am-I-going-to-do-with-the-rest-of-my-life. Now, I can’t reassure you by saying that I don’t panic about what-the-heck-am-I-going-to-do-with-the-rest-of-my-life because I do, on a daily basis, but I can reassure you that I am absolutely loving the way that I’m spending the Tuesday and Thursday nights that are part of this rest-of-my-life. 

Warning: We’re entering mush territory. Firstly, the ladies of TDC are brilliant and I have a great admiration for the commitment they bring to the project that is TDC. I call TDC a project because it is so ongoing, so collaborative, so ever evolving. I’m honored that even as a newbie I feel welcome to share my thoughts and my movement. The collaborative atmosphere makes everything more fun, but it also brings an extra challenge. There is no, just showing up and learning the moves, the work actually requires me to, gasp, think and create! I’m so grateful to Margi and all the TDC women for providing an environment that challenges, but also validates my ideas even so early in my career. This sort of cooperative environment was one of the things I valued most about my dance studies in college and I’m so happy to have found a place where I can continue collaborating and learning: Learning about working with new bodies and new minds, about giving it my all even if it’s just a rehearsal, about making decisions and committing to them, about climbing walls, speaking onstage, and (to end as cheesy as possible with a quote) about “being sea kelp and swirling my karma.” Thanks TDC for an awesome first six months! 

Submitted by TDC Apprentice Jamie Corliss, Saturday, February 28, 2015. 

It felt right. I felt lucky!

Liz & Shannon      Photo by William Frederking

This past May I graduated from Ohio University with a BFA in dance. With a degree in hand and most of my belongings packed up in my parents Subaru I made my way to Chicago.  With only a week of city livin’ under my belt I found my way to Margi’s Dance COLEctive Technique Week, at the end of which would be my first professional audition.  Getting back to technique and meeting so many wonderful people was such a great way to get me introduced to this city. I was excited about the promise of being a part of a company so soon in my career.
 

Not long after the call back I got the email that told me I would be an apprentice with the company.

It felt right.  I felt lucky!

It made me happy for the 17 year-old Liz that convinced her Mom she should be a dance major in college.

After a quick call to my family with a slight undertone of “I told you so”, I got ready for my first rehearsal.

Coming right out of a college program that valued the choreographic process, and building of the artistic voice, Margi’s work felt right at home. Discovering that my voice would be heard, even as an apprentice was an exciting venture. And finding a dance community that I could be a part of so soon was more than I could have hoped.

I dearly miss the group of dancers I left when I graduated. And in this -15 degree weather I am noticing now more than ever that I am no longer in the soft warm blanket that college had me wrapped up in. But The Dance COLEctive makes me feel supported and heard and warm.  I certainly didn’t expect to be a part of such a creative and open group of dancers so early on in my career in Chicago. Plus, knowing that I am following in the footsteps of many, many great women is something pretty exciting.
 

Submitted by TDC Apprentice, Liz Conway, February 19, 2015.

With Gratitude

Dear Dance COLEctive Enthusiasts,

The Dance COLEctive is wrapping up an excellent year of visible and diverse performance opportunities throughout the city of Chicago and beyond. We had the pleasure of performing at the Elgin Ties Dance Festival, the Pivot Arts Festival, and the Peep Show at Links Hall. Through our self produced concert Holding Ground, we produced dancer Madelyn Doyle's work for the first time, and we launched our very first Live Streaming Performance.  There were separate 209 devices, at least 400 TDC fans from around the country that hosted viewing parties and watched the show.

You can see our 2014 Year End Video here.

You can also see what the Chicago Tribune said here.
 
Almost 19 years ago I founded The Dance COLEctive as a means for my friends and I to produce and showcase our work. Today it is much more than that. Often seeking out new collaborations, we joined photographer Eric Olson in the studio with the idea of creating “piles” and intimate moving “portraits”.  You can see what a successful collaboration this was by viewing these images in our gallery.  

Photo by Eric Olson

 Artistically, I have been very fortunate this year. I mentored choreographers through the Thodos New Dances program, performed at the Going Dutch Festival, taught around the country, created work for Columbia College students, and studied dancemaking with master choreographer Joe Goode.  I continued to perform in a new dance/theater work with independent choreographer Peter Carpenter and was also acknowledged as a Woman of Inspiration by Today’s Chicago Woman.

Many good things are coming up for us this year, including my choreographic collaboration with Peter Carpenter, Rituals of Abundance for Lean Times #14: Curious Reinventions. We have every intention of sharing this with you through another live streaming performance. Fingers crossed!

Photo by William Frederking

Currently the company is comprised of 7 thoughtful and sophisticated young women (you can read some of the writing about their experiences here) who are helping me to fulfill my desire to mentor while also actively creating new work. Their dedication and remarkable growth as artists inspires and energizes me to keep finding ways to create performance and mentorship opportunities and to continue adapting to an ever changing landscape. The current national and local economic and political environments continue to pose serious challenges to TDC's future. Disappearing resources on the the state and city level, as well as more limited support from local foundations, continues to impact TDC's ability to support itself and its artists. This is why we need you more than ever. Many of you have been collaborators, students and mentors. Many of you are family, friends, peers, acquaintances, board members and audience members. You have personally witnessed my passion for dance and the power of a positive experience!

Please consider making a year-end donation to TDC.  In supporting us, you are not only making a financial contribution, you are investing in the continued growth of our artists. In addition, you will help us to create new and innovative dance and find more ways to share it with you.

To make a donation, simply go to our website or you can send a check to our snail mail address below.
You can also support us while you are shopping on Amazon.

Thank you so much for your continued interest in the Company and have a safe and wonderful holiday!

Most Sincerely, 

The Dance COLEctive is graciously funded by The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The MacArthur Funds for Arts and Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation,  the Illinois Arts Council, the Arts Work Fund for Organizational Development and many generous individuals like you.  Special thanks to our season sponsors Lakeside Bank, Pacific Management Inc. and the Rivendell Foundation. 

 Submitted by TDC Artistic Director, Margi Cole, Monday, December 22, 2014

Laughing, Crying and Eating Cupcakes

Remaining in the positive when you are in a red zone is flat out hard. Getting people in the seats is rough right now. Someone brilliant once told me that we are our own cheerleaders. If we do not believe in ourselves, if we do not push to be our best, even better, at any given point in time, then who will? That has been a through line in our story as of late and it should not hold this segment of our tight knit community down.  

We spend the majority of our time grueling to make ends meet, to pay our rent, and attempt to pretend that we have social lives. Truth, the majority of our social lives are spent on a particular hardwood floor surrounded by mirrors and red brick walls. We come to laugh, cry and most importantly, eat cupcakes. We energize the space with creative movement, singing and dancing, yes. We come to this space to be free, to connect, to breathe. The hours we set aside for “me” time are spent with each other and that, for me in itself, is comforting.

This group is and always will be my second family. We spend hours that turn into years building upon these relationships. We meet to create bonds that strengthen loose ends. This is why our movement invention and connections are rich on the dance floor. We own man-handling bodies and shifting through space. We are fierce, strong women who can pick each other up physically and emotionally. We strive for vulnerability and let each other see it. Being exposed and honest is what makes a true artist; throwing yourself out in front of others, waiting to be judged. We roll rawness right out of our bodies in hopes of moving our viewers.

We are not always actors, we do not always have to portray certain feelings – we get do that enough at our day jobs. Having the ability to share our stories, events we lived and experienced – when we have the courage to tell those stories is what makes what we do real. Being there for each other, physically and emotionally, gets me kicking. It makes me feel alive, proud and happy to be doing what TDC does best. Every dancer should be prepared for anything and I always want just that. I just realized in my own truth, that I always had. 

Holding Ground will be presented at Links Hall on October 31, November 1 and 2 at 7:00pm.  For tickets go to: www.linkshall.org

Submitted by TDC dancer Katie Petrunich on Thursday, October 23, 2014.