The Dance Center presents

B-SERIES Spring 2025

B-yond Borders: Celebrating the kinships and impact of Global Afrodiasporic street and social dancing

Tickets: Free with reservation.

Events take place at the Dance Center at Columbia College, Chicago except otherwise noted.

B-yond Borders: Celebrating the kinships and global impact of Afrodiasporic street and social dancing, co-curated by Daniel “BRAVEMONK” Haywood and Kelsa “K-Soul” Rieger-Haywood, brings together guest artists, students, and community members to honor the nuance and specificity of Afro street and social dances, the relationships and influences between them, and their immense global impact across bodies, disciplines, and cultures. B-yond Borders will include workshops, conversations, film screenings, and a dance jam including performances and battles. B-yond Borders features two pioneering and world-renowned NIgerian Afro Dance artists Sarah Olaniran, A.K.A. “Sayrah Chips” and TomTom of Westsyde Lifestyle, as well as esteemed local, regional, and student artists, including: Ayodele Drum & Dance, Imania Fatima, Jovan Landry, Kiana “KC” Cook, Sterling “Steelo” Lofton, and the Renegades Hip Hop Dance Team.

Register

Schedule

The Preservation Station in Collaboration with the Chicago Hip Hop Heritage Museum
at B-Series February 27 – March 1

Visit the Chciago Hip Hop Heritage Museum Exhibition at the B-Series and be a part of preserving Columbia College Chicago’s Hip Hop legacy! On Record: A Legacy of Hip Hop at Columbia College Chicago is collecting photos, videos, artwork, and event materials from the late ’80s to early 2000s for an upcoming exhibition. Visit The Preservation Station at the B-Series to share your memories and help document this history.

Find out more.

Pre B-Series Kickoff Event
B-Yond Borders Cypher Session – 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
at The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, 9th Floor Loft
presented by The Committee on Theater and Performance Studies (TAPS) at University of Chicago
Host: BRAVEMONK
DJ: Kin Solo
Come vibe out to an array of sounds including funk, house, Hip Hop, juke and afrobeats at this Kick-Off event to the B-Series week! This is a space for dancers to celebrate and experience the many synergies between Black and Afrodiasporic street and social dances.
Register to participate.
Film Screening – 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. (Dance Center Theater)
Tickets: FREE, Reservations Recommended
Join Jovan Landry, SayRah Chips, and TomTom as they share captivating short dance films and performance excerpts and engage in a post-screening conversation exploring the intersections of Afro Dance and film.
Reserve tickets.
Workshop with TomTom - 10:30 a.m. –12 noon (Dance Center Theater)
part of our Friday Class Series
Register to participate.

Master Class with SayRah Chips - 6:00 – 7:15 p.m. (Dance Center Theater)
Free Afro Dance Master Class a with Dancer, Choreographer, Director, and Entrepreneur Sayrah Chips!
Register to participate.

Verbal Cypher– 7:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Led by Daniel “BRAVEMONK” Haywood, this conversation with featured B-Series artists and community members is inspired by the local and global relationships across Black American/Chicago-based dance practices and Afro Dance from the Motherland.
Register to participate.
Master Class with TomTom: 12 - 1:15 p.m. (Studio 102)
Free Afro Dance Master Class with Dancer, Artist, and Content Creator TomTom!
Register to participate.
Master Class with Imania Fatima: 1:15 – 2:30 p.m. (Studio 102)
Ayodele Drum & Dance’s Imania Fatima Detry will lead participants through training in Traditional/Contemporary social street dance from West Africa (Mali, Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast) and its similarities within the music and dance styles of Black Diasporic Dance.
Register to participate.

And also on Saturday, March 1:

B-YOND Borders Battle & Jam

from 2 – 9:00 p.m. (Dance Center Theater)

The Dance Center Theater morphs into a free DJ’d dance party with head-to-head freestyle dance battles, performances and cyphers, hosted by: BRAVEMONK and Kiana "KC" Cook. DJs Aced Spade, Bre5lin, Kin Solo, and Slot-A spin Afrobeats, Afro-House, Afro-Funk, Hip Hop, and more! There will be a fashion design installation by Sterling “Steelo” Lofton and performances by Ayodele Drum & Dance and Columbia College Chicago's Renegades Hip Hop Dance Team!

Our featured Guest Judges include: Imania Fatima Detry, SayRah Chips, and TomTom.

Build-A-Crew Battle Format: Dancers will be handpicked by judges from freestyle cyphers, then randomly paired together for 2v2 head-to-head battles. The winning crew will select one dancer from their competition to join them in the next round for a 3v3 battle. The competition continues this way until the 5v5 final battle.

Prizes: 2nd place Crew $500, 1st Place Crew - $1,000, and One dancer will be selected by the judges for automatic entry into the Red Bull Dance Your Style Open Qualifier on March 22.

Battle & Jam tickets