What comes to mind when you think of your homeland? If you were to create a dance that was a love letter to your homeland, what would it look like?
Latest, Presented companies, Process, The Dance Center
Dance Center Artistic Director Meredith Sutton sat down with South Chicago Dance Theatre’s Founder, Director of Vision and Strategy, and Resident Choreographer Kia S. Smith this past summer to talk about how she was approaching the process of creating the company’s first holiday show.
Sharon Hoyer of New City interviews T. Ayo Alston about our upcoming presentation of Ayodele Drum & Dance at the Dance Center in “Joy and Sisterhood: Ayodele Drum & Dance Make Their Dance Center of Columbia College Debut.”
Latest, Presented companies, The Dance Center
Dance Center Artistic Director Meredith Sutton sat down with Ayodele Drum and Dance Founding Executive/Artistic Director and Columbia faculty member T. Ayo Alston to talk about BEAUTY AND THE BEAT: MASKED as part of Season 52.
Reflection, Alumni, Symposium
Timothy Tsang (BA, Dance 2017) returns to the Dance Center to present a workshop on his current research into Leslie Cheung, the Hong Kong pop icon whose concerts and films have become central to queer cultural memory as part of our Fall 2025 symposium. Here, Timothy reflects on What is Contemporary?
Raynner Garcia (BFA, Musical Theatre ‘26) shares his experience of the National Association for American African Dance Teacher’s annual dance intensive NANIGO 2025 in this reflection. “Just a block from the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, the Autin Lo’Ren Studio was full of warmth and rhythm the moment we stepped in. You could feel the energy pulsing before any music played; it was a community in motion. As someone with limited experience in Umfundalai, I came with a few nerves, but the generosity of the community quickly washed those away. That is the essence of Umfundalai. More than a technique, t’s a philosophy rooted in Diasporic movement traditions, ancestral connection, and the beauty of the African body.”
