© Michele Reid
THE TOURING COMPANY
Founded in Brooklyn, NY in July 2008 and now based in Chicago, IL, Red Clay Dance Company is the brainchild of Vershawn Sanders-Ward, the institutions’ Founding Artistic Director & CEO. Red Clay Dance Company is Chicago’s premier Afro-contemporary dance company, voted Best Dance Organization by the Chicago Reader in 2019 and selected as Best Dance Company in 2020 by the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago. The touring company is a versatile and dynamic ensemble of dance Artivist that tours and performs locally, nationally and internationally the choreographic work of its founder. The company has produced 13 concerts for it’s beloved hometown of Chicago and performed in venues like the Dance Center of Columbia College, the DuSable Museum Roundhouse, the Museum of Contemporary Art, ODC Theater, Dance Mission Theater, The Painted Bride, Joyce Soho, and the National Theater of Uganda.
LEADERSHIP
Vershawn Sanders-Ward
Artistic Director & CEO
Chaniece Holmes
Rehearsal Director
THE COMPANY
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Leana Allen
Assistant Rehearsal Director
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Celeste Brace
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Rahila Coats
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Jordyn Gibson
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Alexandria Kinard
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Kaylah King
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SJ Swilley
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Chanelle Turnbull
REVIEWS
JUNE 6, 2023: Block Club Chicago - Red Clay Dance Company Plants Seeds Of Healing With Season Finale At Grant Park Urban Farm
SEPTEMBER 21, 2023: Newcity Stage - Cultivating Community: Red Clay Plants a Seed in Woodlawn (Fall Arts Preview 2021)
MARCH 14, 2019: Chicago Suntimes - La Femme Dance Festival celebrates black choreographers in ‘dancestry’ program
MARCH 12, 2019: Chicago Tribune - La Femme Dance is (just) for women with work about their African-diasporic heritage. And the stronger for it.
MARCH 1, 2019: Newcity Stage - A Glocal Celebration: Red Clay Dance Company presents La Femme Dance Festival at the Green Line Performing Arts Center
U.S Performance History
Joyce Soho - New York, NY
Museum of Contemporary Art - Chicago, IL
Harold Washington Cultural Center - Chicago, IL
Dance Center of Columbia College - Chicago, IL
Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts - Chicago, IL
THE YARD - Martha's Vineyard
Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance - Chicago, IL
Ruth Page Dance Center - Chicago, IL
Chicago Cultural Cente r- Chicago, IL
Pritzker Pavillion/Millenium Park - Chicago, IL
Dance Mission Theater - San Francisco, CA
ODC - San Francisco, CA
Judson Memorial Church - New York, NY
DuSable Museum - Chicago, IL
DuSable Museum Roundhouse - Chicago, IL
Painted Bride - Philadelphia, PA
Links Hall - Chicago, IL
Harold Washington Library - Chicago, IL
Epic Center - Kalamazoo, MI
International Performance History
Ecole De Sables - Toubab Dialaw, Senegal
National Theater of Uganda - Kampala, Uganda
Colleges and University Residencies
Loyola University - Chicago, IL
College of DuPage - Glen Ellyn, IL
University of Chicago - Chicago, IL
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee - Milwaukee, WI
Columbia College Chicago - Chicago, IL
Illinois State University - Bloomington/Normal, IL
Knox College - Galesburg, IL
Presenter Conferences
Associate of Presenting Arts Partners - New York, NY
International Association of Blacks in Dance - Memphis, TX
Midwest Arts Expo - Indianapolis, IN