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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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#teachingartist #host #actor #dancer

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MEET THE COMMUNITY LOVERS.

Six neighborhoods. Six extraordinary people. One shared love for Chicago.

For Love Is on the Green Line: A Love Letter to Chicago, I chose six people whose love for their neighborhoods is reflected not just in what they say, but in what they do.

They build. They preserve. They invest. They show up.

I call them the Community Lovers. 💚

Swipe to meet the people helping shape the communities they call home.

Englewood • Woodlawn • Washington Park • Bronzeville • Garfield Park • Austin

Fourtune House | 4410 S. Cottage Grove Ave.
Reception: Saturday, October 17 | 5–8 PM

Come meet the Community Lovers in person! RSVP link in bio.

#LoveIsOnTheGreenLine

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After months of meeting extraordinary people, capturing beautiful moments, and listening to stories, Love Is on the Green Line: A Love Letter to Chicago is finally here!

I’d love to celebrate with YOU!

Join me on Saturday, October 17, for an evening of photography, community, connection, and love for the city we call home.

This exhibition is more than a collection of photographs. It’s a celebration of the people, places, and everyday moments that make our neighborhoods special. From Englewood to Austin, these are stories worth seeing, sharing, and remembering.

I can't wait for you to experience them.

Saturday, October 17, 2026
5:00–8:00 PM | Programming begins at 5:30 PM

Fortune House Art Center
4410 S. Cottage Grove Ave., Chicago

Bring a friend. Share this invitation. Come be part of the love.

RSVP through Brushfire using the link in my bio!

This project is partially supported by an Individual Artists Program grant from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), with support from Kindred Civic Arts Forum (KCAF).

#LoveIsOnTheGreenLine

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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

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Black art. Fall nights. My husband. 🖤🍂

Date night looked a little different tonight.

Daniel and I spent the evening experiencing

Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar by Red Clay Dance Company at Northwestern University.

There’s something special about getting dressed, going to the theatre, and experiencing work that celebrates Black stories, movement, memory, and culture together.

More nights like this. More art. More culture. More us. 🖤

#BlackArt #BlackLove #ChicagoArts #DateNight #ChicagoCulture

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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. ❤️

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THE NUMBERS DON’T LIE!

Our collective work today will empower the future of Chicago’s artist landscape. Join the movement and learn more at THE PORTAL!

Tuesday, September 29, 2026
Experimental Station - 6100 S Blackstone Ave
7-10p, open to the public

#everythingisfrequency

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Afro-Cuban Dance Class with Beatrice Capote ✨ Thursday, Oct 15 @ 9:30 AM

Join our guest choreographer for Season 18, @b__capote, for a special community workshop. Explore the powerful movement, rhythms, and cultural traditions of Afro-Cuban dance through Orisha dances and Palo. This workshop introduces participants to the embodied language, rhythms, gestures, and storytelling connected to these rich Afro-Cuban traditions.

No previous experience is necessary! All levels are welcome. Come ready to move, learn, connect with the music, and experience the spirit and energy of Afro-Cuban dance.

Register at #Linkinbio

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We’re BAC(k)! The Black Arts Consortium is excited to kick off the 26-27 academic year by unveiling our electric slate of programming and events for the Fall. With a wide range of presentations and collaborations, we’re excited to start our 15th year with all of you! 🥳

Swipe thru for more info on each event-registration links can be found in our #linkinbio ! 🫶🏾🤩

We’re teaming up with @redclaydance for a post-show talkback following the 7:30pm opening performance of “Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar” next Thursday! This work, inspired by Scheherazade Tillet’s multi-media exhibition “The Black Girlhood Altar”, was created by Red Clay Dance Company CEO @vershawnsandersward to memorialize Black women whose disappearances have gone unaccounted for and unaddressed. Vershawn and Scheherazade will be joined by performer Alex Kinnard in a panel moderated by NW Professor and Director of SLIPPAGE, Thomas F. DeFrantz.

Need a ticket to the show? Request a free ticket via our form in our bio. 💃🏾

@northwestern.theatre undergraduates will present a staged reading of “Rootwoman” by Angela Shannon Preston on Thursday, October 8th at 7pm. This evocative choreopoem, directed by NW Professor and Associate Acting Area Head Detra Payne, produced by Theatre junior Brooks Lansana, and anchored by an all-Black women ensemble is comprised of 40+ poems imbued with the spirit of Chicagoans.

Come early for free food at 6:15pm, and be sure to stick around for a post-show talkback, featuring the playwright herself!

Northwestern Graduate students representing Black Studies, Art History, Musicology and Vocal Performance will come together for an enlightening discussion about the Pulitzer Prize winning opera Omar on Thursday October 22nd at 7pm in Chicago’s Wirtz Center, in collaboration with @lyricopera . Moderated by BAC Assistant Director Anthony Danté Jones, this panel will delve deeply into this opera, based upon the 1831 autobiography written by Omar ibn Said while he was enslaved.

Our pre-show reception begins at 6pm-RSVP today!

As part of our popular Black Arts in the City program, we’re looking forward to inviting students, faculty and staff to a 2pm matinee perfor

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If you are looking for an evening that offers more than entertainment, @fjtheatre is pleased to share an upcoming performance from @redclaydance

For three nights only, Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar will transform Northwestern University’s Wirtz Center into a living sanctuary for Black girlhood, remembrance, healing, and collective action.

Created by @vershawnsandersward, this evening-length production honors missing and murdered Black women and girls through Afro-contemporary dance, storytelling, original music by @jamilawoods, digital media, and immersive theatrical design.

The opening-night performance will be followed by a special discussion presented in partnership with Northwestern University’s @blackartsconsortium and moderated by Professor @thomas.defrantz.

Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar
October 1–3 at 7:30 PM
@wirtzcenter in Evanston

Tickets start at $42, with discounted pricing available for students, seniors, and groups of 10 or more.

Learn more and reserve your seats at @redclaydance.

#FreedomSquare #EvanstonArts #ChicagoDance #RedClayDance

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What an enjoyable, fun-filled outing with Choose Chicago's All for the Love of Chicago, South Side Field Trip with Big Bus Tours! Check out my highlights from the trip a couple weeks ago. I finally got my picture with the Obamas (🤭). The line is Always too long. And I got a chance to get another pic in the Oval Office. ☺️ Spending time with my industry colleagues always brightens my day. One of my long time colleague-friends even gifted me a bottle of wine from @bronzevillewinery. (Yes I cried) that was the sweetest thing! Thank you @choosechicago, @allfortheloveofchicago & @bigbustours for such an amazing day bringing us all together and to everyone involved in bringing this field trip to life!

#AllfortheLoveofChicago
#EventPlanner #PurpleCrownProductions

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The Company. First performance of Season 18! 😍

#ChicagoLive #NavyPier

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