Revel in a sampler evening of original, brand new, short works by student choreographers selected from an open application process. Some artists are sharing pieces on the Dance Center’s stage for the first time, others offer works informed by their years immersed in the Dance Center’s pluralistic curriculum.

Each week’s distinct program features the culmination of eight dance majors’ journeys through the choreographic process: from creative impulse through auditions and rehearsals, outside eyes and design decisions, to presenting their choreographic projects for the first time on the concert stage.

Kiswahili for “gifts”, the ZAWADI culminating concerts of 2026 at the Dance Center feature choreographic offerings by guest choreographers Matumbe Himons, Nejla Yatkin, and Assistant Professor Dardi McGinley Gallivan set on students in the Repertory Performance Workshop course. Also on the program will be a new work choreographed by faculty members Darrell Jones and Lisa Gonzales.

A Dance Center commission, this world premiere by South Chicago Dance Theatre Founder and Director of Vision and Strategy Kia S. Smith is the fourth evening-length work by the 10-year-old company. Inspired by Smith’s Great Grandmother Josephine Griffin Jones, the new dance theater work explores how family histories and embodied knowledge can flower into artistic expression and the power of belief and hope to transform and vanquish, survive and thrive.

The fourth annual student produced, directed, choreographed and performed revue featuring Acting, Dance, Design, and Musical Theatre majors bringing their fresh take on musical theatre dance numbers

B-COMING, the 2027 B-Series Festival + Symposium, looks at the changing paths of street, club, and traditional dance forms through the lens of identity, memory, and shared global histories. B-COMING focuses on globalization and cultural exchange, exploring the powerful, in-between spaces where different traditions meet—and sometimes collide—at the crossroads of community and identity.

Michael Estanich and Lucy Vurusic Riner’s RE| dance group makes its Dance Center debut with two Chicago premieres by Artistic Director Michael Estanich. In keeping with RE|dance group’s signature style, both dance theater works merge movement, song and text, and complement and serve as foils for one another through divergent approaches in environment and tone.

IS/LAND makes its Dance Center debut with the Chicago premiere of Until We Fill the Ocean – an evening-length, interdisciplinary work blending sound, dance, and poetry to honor the detainees on San Francisco Bay’s Angel Island from 1910 through 1940.

This festival returns for its second year showcasing student run dance organizations open to all majors at Columbia College Chicago.

Red Clay Dance Company returns to the Dance Center as part of its 18th season. Founded by Vershawn Sanders-Ward (BFA ’02), Red Clay Dance Company has become a leading force in contemporary dance rooted in African Diasporic traditions.

The Dance Center embraces spring’s energetic lift with original, brand new, short works by selected student choreographers. These eagerly-anticipated concerts feature audiences as electric as the performances.

The culminating performances of Dance majors’ journeys through the choreographic process: from creative impulse through auditions, rehearsals, outside eyes, and design decisions, to presenting their choreographic works for the first time on the concert stage.

The Dance Center’s renowned professional Dance alumni and faculty choreograph new works performed by students.