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Red Clay Dance® Company

@redclaydance

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Chicago’s Award-winning Afro-Contemporary dance company by @vershawnsandersward
📍@redclaydancecenter
Season 18 | Tickets On Sale ↓

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SEASON 18: SPECTRUM

18 seasons of Artivism in Motion—and our spectrum is still expanding.

This season, Red Clay Dance Company celebrates the full range of who we are: the stories we carry, the movement we create, the communities that shape us, and the possibilities still ahead.

From Chicago’s South Side to stages and communities beyond, Season 18: SPECTRUM continues our commitment to creating, performing, and teaching dances of the African Diaspora while awakening Artivism through every step.

And this season is about more than what you’ll see onstage. It’s about the movement we’re building together.

18 seasons brought us here.
1 million Artivists can carry us forward.

Welcome to SPECTRUM. Welcome to Season 18.

Explore the season + join One Million Artivists Strong at the #linkinbio.

📸 @mreidphotog
#RedClayDance #Season18 #SPECTRUM #ArtivismInMotion #ChicagoDance taken in Red Clay Dance Company by @redclaydance

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2 months ago

Day 1 in the studio with Season 18 guest artist @b__capote. ❤️

A first look at the company beginning the process, learning, exploring, and building together.

More to come. 👀

Just a few spots remain for Thursday's Open Company Class! 👉🏾 #LinkInBio
#RedClayDance #Season18 #ChicagoDance taken in Red Clay Dance Company by @redclaydance

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6 days ago

Company Class + good music = this. ❤️

#RedClayDance #CompanyClass #ChicagoDance taken in Red Clay Dance Company by @redclaydance

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6 days ago

Back in the studio. ❤️

A moment from Company Class with guest instructor @imaniafatima of @ayodeledrumdance.

Just another day of moving, training, and staying connected to the work.

#RedClayDance #CompanyClass #ChicagoDance #DanceTraining taken in Red Clay Dance Company by @redclaydance

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6 days ago

Train with the artists shaping Season 18. ✨

Guest choreographer @b__capote joins us at @redclaydancecenter for a special Afro-Cuban Dance Class exploring Orisha dances and Palo through movement, rhythm, gesture, and storytelling.

Come experience the traditions and embodied language informing Beatrice’s practice while expanding your own.

📅 Thursday, October 15
⏰ 9:30 AM
📍 Red Clay Dance Center
✨ All levels welcome. No previous experience necessary.

Save your spot 👉🏾 #linkinbio taken in Red Clay Dance Company by @redclaydance

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12 days ago

Happy Birthday to Company Member @janiyapearso! ❤️

Originally from Queens, New York, Janiya brings a rich background in African and contemporary dance to Red Clay Dance Company, along with a deep commitment to movement, culture, and storytelling. Her journey has taken her through @theaileyschool, @movenyc, @ballethispanico, @universityofthearts, and now into her continued work with our Touring Company.

Help us celebrate Janiya today and wish her a very happy birthday! 🎉🎂

📸: @mreidphotog
#RedClayDance #HappyBirthday #CompanyMember #Season18 #ChicagoDance taken in Red Clay Dance Company by @redclaydance

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12 days ago

Tonight’s the night. ❤️

If you’ve been meaning to see Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar, join us at 7:30 PM at the @wirtzcenter at @northwesternu.

Tickets through the link in bio.
#RedClayDance #FreedomSquare #ChicagoDance #Season18 taken in WGN Morning News by @redclaydance

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17 days ago

One more morning of preparation before the final performance. ❤️

Company Class is where the details get sharpened, the body gets ready, and the work gets carried toward the stage.

Tonight is your final chance to experience Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar at the Wirtz Center at Northwestern University.

Tickets through the link in bio. taken in Red Clay Dance Company by @redclaydance

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16 days ago

@chicagotribune put Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar on its list of things to do in Chicago this week. ❤️

If you’ve been meaning to see the work, this is the weekend.

Two performances remain at the Wirtz Center at Northwestern University.

Join us tonight or Saturday. 👉🏾 #LinkInBio

Photo: @ricardoeadame, courtesy of @mcachicago
#RedClayDance #FreedomSquare #Season18 #ChicagoDance #ArtivismInMotion taken in Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts by @redclaydance

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17 days ago

Art can do more than reflect the world. It can shift how we see it.

In this moment, Founder and Artistic Director @vershawnsandersward speaks to Artivism, the power of dance and storytelling, and why remembering these stories matters long after the headlines move on.

Tonight is the final performance of Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar.
7:30 PM at the Wirtz Center at Northwestern University.

Tickets through the link in bio.
#RedClayDance #Season18 #ChicagoDance #ArtivismInMotion taken in WGN Morning News by @redclaydance

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16 days ago

Image Courtesy of Red Clay Dance Company

One of the great privileges of my life has been co-creating the Black Girlhood Altar. It is also one of the works I am most proud of. When Robert and I created the three-room installation at the @chicagoculturalcenter , I poured so much of myself into it—my art, my love for Black girls, my memories, ancestors, the families and more than 20 years of building @alongwalkhome. More than 80,000 people witnessed the Altar in just three months, but what I remember most is how deeply people felt it.
On the final day, the brilliant, Vershawn Sanders-Ward @vershawnsandersward came to experience the Altar. She was moved by it and asked if she could create a dance work inspired the installation.
As an artist, there are few greater honors than having another artist see your work, love it, and imagine a new life for it.

And today, that new life opens.
Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar opens tonight at Northwestern University, performed by @redclaydance and directed and choreographed by Vershawn. It includes original music by @jamilawoods , costumes by @shaquireed , and visual elements by me.
Tonight, I’ll also join Vershawn, members of the Red Clay ensemble, and Savannah Flowers, one of our Girl/Friends Leaders alumni , for a post-show conversation moderated by Professor Thomas F. DeFrantz and presented with the Black Arts Consortium.

October 1–3. It is a must see. ❤️ by @redclaydance

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18 days ago

What did audiences say after experiencing Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar for the first time?

As we prepare to bring the work back to the stage, we’re revisiting some of the responses that stayed with us.

Powerful. Personal. A work Black girls need to see.
Now it’s your turn to experience it.

Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar
October 1–3 at @wirtzcenter
Tickets through the #linkinbio.

📸 Photo: @ricardoeadame, courtesy of @mcachicago.
#RedClayDance #BlackGirlhoodAltar #ArtivismInMotion taken in Chicago, Illinois by @redclaydance

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18 days ago