Artist Director Wilfredo Rivero speaks with the WGN-TV Spotlight Chicago team about the upcoming performances by Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre coming to the Dance Center’s stage on Channel 9.
Third Coast Review’s Kathy D. Hey reviews Didę by Compagnie Multicorps, choreographed by Marcel Gbeffa from Benin, with direction and wood masks designed by Sarah Trouche from France.
Artistic Director Meredith Sutton sat down with Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre’s Co-Founder, Artistic Director, and CEO Wilfredo Rivera to talk about the company's first concerts at the Dance Center on April 30-May 2, 2026.
La directora artística Meredith Sutton se reunió con Wilfredo Rivera, el cofundador, director artístico y CEO de Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, para dialogar sobre los primeros conciertos de la compañía, que se darán a presentar en el Dance Center, del 30 de abril de 2026 al 2 de mayo de 2026.
Guadalupe Loza-Sanchez, Reporter for the Columbia Chronicle, featured the Mi Gente showcase in an article that highlighted the student dance club dedicated to Latin dance forms and its performances as part of the first-ever Festival of Dance Clubs at the Dance Center.
See Chicago Dance’s Tristan Bruns picks our upcoming presentations of the midwest premiere of Didę by Marcel Gbeffa and Sarah Trouche and our upcoming performances by Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre coming for the first time to our stage.
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.”
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.”
Kerry Reid of the Chicago Reader wrote a remembrance of Shirley Mordine, our founder. Mordine, 89, founded the dance department at Columbia College Chicago and the college’s influential Dance Center. During her 30-year tenure at Columbia, which began in 1969, she instituted the center’s Dance Presenting Series in 1974, which brought contemporary dance artists from around the country to Chicago, often placing them in conversation and collaboration with local talent.
