PROVIDING A PLATFORM FOR CHOREOGRAPHERS TO PRESENT THEIR WORK ON THE HISTORIC RUTH PAGE THEATER STAGE, DCF-CHICAGO’S CHOREOGRAPHERS SHOWCASE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO BRING TOGETHER ARTISTS AND DANCERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD TO SHARE THEIR CURRENT PROJECTS WITH EACH OTHER, AND WITH DCFC AUDIENCES ALIKE. FROM AMONG THE DIVERSE BODY OF WORKS SUBMITTED BY OUR APPLICANTS, PIECES HAVE BEEN THOUGHTFULLY SELECTED TO SHOWCASE AN INCLUSIVE REPRESENTATION OF CHICAGO LOCAL, NATIONAL, AND INTERNATIONAL TALENT.

PROGRAM

AUGUST 29

  1. Mandy Milligan Movement Project

  2. Omnivore Dance

  3. Lucy Dillon

  4. sarAika movement collective

  5. Haley Tarling

  6. Valkyrie Yao

  7. Miranda McGovern

  8. Justin Curry and Yinqi Wang

  9. Ashley L. Tate

  10. CPR Dance: Inhale Movement

AUGUST 30

  1. Elizabeth Shea Dance

  2. Chris Johnson Dance

  3. Allison Lincoln

  4. Found Movement Group

  5. Hot Crowd

  6. Mark Gonzalez

  7. Omnivore Dance

  8. Eric Mullis Projects

  9. Lia Smith-Redmann

READ ABOUT OUR 2025 ARTISTS

Chris Johnson Dance

Chris Johnson, makes work that speaks to the human condition, drawing attention to matters of social justice. Critics have lauded her work as "stirring," "mesmerizing" and "ingeniously shifty." Johnson was awarded the inaugural commission of the Side Street Studio Arts Going Dutch Festival and earned First Place for Choreography at the New Prague Dance Festival in Prague, CZ. She has been selected to present work nationally and internationally for DUMBO Dance Festival, Dance St. Louis-Spring 2 Dance, Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival, Detroit Dance City Festival, Going Dutch Festival, Women in Dance Leadership Conference, and World Dance Alliance. Her work won the Laureate and Grand Prix at the Seventh International Competition: Festival of Choreographic Collectives in Moscow. Her dance "Wreath of Memories" was performed by special invitation at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. She has also presented her work in Tanzania, France, Germany, Newfoundland, Belgium and throughout the United States at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, The Ruth Page Center for the Arts, Links Hall, The Union Theater in Madison, Wisc., in St. Louis, Kansas City and Sacramento. Her work has been regularly selected for the gala concerts at the American College Dance Association regional festivals. She performed and choreographed professionally with Dale Scholl's Dance/Art in Sacramento and taught for the Sacramento Ballet.

CPR Dance: Inhale Movement

Sayiga Eugene Peabody

Stevensville, MI U.S.A., of Liberian descent. Peabody began his movement training as a gymnast at age 11 and later fell in love with dance while working with Nancy Myers Gitlin, a protegé of jazz dance pioneer, Frank Hatchett (Broadway Dance Center, NYC). A member of the inaugural class of Berrien County Dancers, southwest Michigan’s premier high school conservatory dance program, he trained in modern technique with Theresa Cozzi Graziano. Peabody also trained in ballet with Rhonda Rabbers’ at Dance Arts, and competed Tap and Jazz with Deb Knuth at Sawyer Dance Academy. Some professional credits include: Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, DanceWorks Chicago, Luna Negra Dance Theater.

T.V.: Fosse/Verdon Series on FX, Andy Blankenbeuler choreography. Theater: Disney’s The Lion King (Rafiki Tour), An American In Paris (1st National Tour Broadway), Maria De Buenos Aires (Chicago Opera Theater), Cats, Anything Goes, Sister Act, and Evita (Marriott Lincolnshire).

Peabody has worked on faculty at Broadway Dance Center (NYC), Ballet Hispanico, and several performing arts high schools in N.Y.C. and Chicago. A former youth program director and master teacher worldwide, Peabody lives to inspire and share his passion for movement with aspiring artists.

CPR Dance: Inhale Movement

CPR Dance: Inhale Movement is the premiere professional contemporary dance company of Southwest Michigan founded in 2022. We value bringing community access to professional dance, while sharing collaborative and engaging opportunities to connect, view, and participate in movement. We propose movement as fundamental to existence as breath. Breathing life, moving life, with attendance towards one another. Through realizing interests in collaborative care, we believe it is possible to permeate into performance, choreographic, and teaching artistries. A way to further succinctly identify and communicate the values of wandering through intangible movement, lost and found, with well-being and care as a fulcrum that doesn’t shy away from but presses into reflective evaluative works.

Elizabeth Shea Dance

Reviewed as “a remarkable contemporary dance display,” Elizabeth Shea’s choreography has been produced by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and presented at numerous festivals and major cities across the USA, as well as in Australia, Israel, and China. Liz has been a guest artist for many professional companies and universities, most recently for Eisenhower Dance and as a collaborator with NYC-based Stefanie Nelson Dancegroup. Liz presented the site-specific work "Ascension" at the Eskenazi Museum of Art to over 1,000 people; her newest choreography, "Rhythm Runs Through It," premiered in 2022 at Dixon Place in NYC and was invited to RADfest, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Liz also creates extensively in new media and film, screening her work at film festivals internationally, and is a professional film curator. Awards include Best Choreography for the Lens, Best Dance Film, and Best Ensemble. Liz teaches her self-developed somatic system, SomaLab®, yogic practices, and choreographic methods at workshops in the USA and abroad, most recently at the Royal Academy of Dance in London, and Dance Italia, in Lucca, Italy. She was awarded an Eastman Residency in the Arts and Humanities on Martha’s Vineyard to develop a program of somatic practice for non-medical hospice workers and presented at the 2022 Performing Arts Medicine Association International Symposium and the 32nd International Association for Dance Medicine and Science conference in Limerick, Ireland. A 500-hour Registered Yoga Teacher, and Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider, Liz is Professor and Director of Contemporary Dance at Indiana University.

Lucy Dillion - Soft Belly/Steel

Lucy Dillon is a dance artist investigating the utility of movement for claiming embodied agency. Her work declares aliveness and unapologetic presence, disrupting systems that restrict bodily autonomy. Her lived experience, community, and training as a dancer, runner, and athlete fuel her movement invention. Pushing against a capitalist patriarchal hegemony intent on driving us to numb and isolate, her work activates a need to connect to our bodies and one another to survive. Emerging from energetic practices and queer/feminist theory, the choreographic material metabolizes experiences of trauma and violence. Lucy is currently pursuing an MFA in Dance at The Ohio State University. She has been an artist-in-residence at Levy Dance, Iowa Choreography Festival, and SAFEhouse Arts. She has shown her work in festivals such as Berkeley’s Broad Statements Festival, Ohio Dance Festival, and PUSHfest Global to name a few. In 2024, she participated in the ATLAS choreographic training program at ImPulsTanz, Vienna’s International Dance Festival. Lucy moves from core commitments to anti-racism, sustainable practices, and body empowerment.

​Lia Smith-Redmann

Lia Smith-Redmann is a Wisconsin-based artist, dancer, and writer. She studied dance and theatre throughout the Five College Consortium in Massachusetts and graduated with a BA in Dance and English from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is a collaborating artist with Hyperlocal MKE, a Guest Choreographer for Fable Dance Company (Milwaukee), and a former member of Ballo Dance Company and Laughing Tiger Tai Chi in Door County, where she also provides production support for the Door Community Auditorium and Death's Door Dance Festival. She has had the opportunity to train with internationally acclaimed artists, notably Chan Ming Shu, Ailey II, and the Bill T Jones/Arnie Zane Company, and has had the privilege of performing the works of choreographers such as Alfonso Cervera, Maria Gillespie, Daniel Burkholder, Dan Schuchart, and Ishmael Koney. For her academic and artistic merit she was awarded two consecutive Undergraduate Research Fellowships under the direction of Maria Gillespie (UW-Milwaukee). Her work has been performed at Still Inspired Future Artists (Chicago), the American College Dance Association Conference, Danceworks MKE Get It Out There, UW-Milwaukee’s Dance Collective, New Dancemakers, New Dramaworks Short Play Festival, and Undergraduate Research Symposium, Hampshire College (Massachusetts), and the Wisconsin Interscholastic Theatre Festival.

Mark Gonzalez

Outside of performing, Mark has had the privilege to present his own choreography regionally, nationally and internationally at festivals including but not limited to COCO Dance Festival (Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago), Detroit Dance City Festival (Detroit, MI), Koresh Artist Showcase (Philadelphia, PA), Iowa Dance Festival, and BarnStorm Dance Festival (Houston, TX). Recently, Mark was selected as a choreographer for New Dances 2024, a partnership with DanceWorks Chicago and Thodos Dance Chicago. Mark is a firm believer in the power of passion and hard work.

Ashley L. Tate

Ashley L. Tate is a director, choreographer, educator, and performer from Saint Louis, Missouri. She is an assistant professor of dance at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, an affiliate faculty member with the UNC Charlotte Department of Africana Studies, and founder and artistic director of Ashleyliane Dance Company (ADC). Tate received her MFA in Dance from Washington University in St. Louis. In addition to various cities in the state of Missouri, her work has been featured in concerts in New York City, Baltimore, Las Vegas, Chicago, Boulder, Greensboro, and Santa Monica. She has been invited to present her research at several conferences and conventions, including the European Hip Hop Studies Network 2024 Conference in Cork, Ireland.  She is a key participant in the nationally recognized No Tears Project, a multidisciplinary festival designed to honor Civil Rights history.

Hot Crowd

About Hot Crowd:

Hot Crowd is a 501(c)3 non for profit Chicago-based modern dance company whose goal is to stimulate and inspire dancers and non-dancers alike through innovative movement, community interaction and accessibility to strengthen and spread the art of modern dance throughout the Chicagoland area and beyond. Since its inception (2017), Hot Crowd has been invited to perform in several major cities throughout the U.S. including Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit and St. Louis as well as out of the country in Seoul, South Korea with a recent invite to Puerto Rico (ATLAS Contemporary Dance Congress). Hot Crowd has produced eleven shows and two professional dance for films. Other programming includes dance workshops, residencies, pay what you can community dance classes, & collaborative events with other local artists and businesses. Hot Crowd is half way through their 8th Season under the direction of Devon Lloyd & Brittany Latta McMahon.

Hot Crowd's Artistic Statement:

Hot Crowd is a female positive, women run company whose artistic work is centered on collaboration. Our work can be described as athletic, quirky, grounded, and versicle in movement and performance. Over the years Hot Crowd has become highly sought after for their innovative movement based partnering focusing on women partnering women which has allowed us to push the definition of modern dance forward. We pride ourselves in a wide repertoire of work ranging from raw human connect, emotion and experience all while creating a narrative backed by a diverse repertoire of soundscapes.

About Gianna Burright:

Hi my name is Gianna Burright. I am from a small town in Southern California, Ojai, land of the Chumash peoples. I grew up with a mother as an educator and a father as an artist. Arts and education have always been a part of my life, both equally have shaped me into the person that I am today and the career that I have built. I am an introvert, learnt extrovert (thanks dad). When ever I speak in public or perform in front of an audience my hands shake. Besides dancing and creating, traveling is what makes me feel most alive.

I am shy upon first meeting but I am intently listening. I grew up playing competitive soccer and horseback riding, I love being in nature, and I am obsessed with my puppy Luna who has a plethora nicknames that drive my loved ones crazy. I lived in London and fell in love with the city which makes it hard for me to commit to live in any other city. I had a transatlantic relationship, and though it didn’t work, it was one hell of an adventure. I have a hard time keeping both my feet on the ground, metaphorically but physically I basically never jump. I cry at pretty much everything even when I watch a stranger win something on TV, seeing them so happy brings tears to my eyes.

I miss my grandmothers deeply. I sometimes question if I am on the right path and feel very alone in my journey. I love anything that reminds me of childhood and I crave performances that shake me to my core.

Miranda McGovern

Miranda McGovern is a BFA graduate of The Ohio State University. She is originally from Henderson, Nevada where she trained and danced competitively with The Dance Zone for fourteen years. During her time at Ohio State she has performed in pieces choreographed by Daniel Roberts, Crystal Perkins, and Countess Winfrey. In addition to training at OSU, she has trained with companies Ate9, Deeply Rooted Dance, Groundworks Dance Theater and Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. After relocating to Chicago, she had the opportunity to perform and choreograph for Alluvion Dance Chicago and Chicago Movement Collective. She is currently training with the Hiplet Ballerinas.

Valkrie Yao

Valkyrie Yao (b. 2000, Qinghai, CHN) is a multidisciplinary artist and choreographer based in both China and the USA. Their works aim to harmonize traditional Eastern philosophies with contemporary Western methodologies, offering a commentary on the complexities of modern life. Their research explores the intersections of culture, identity, and societal complexities.

In 2023, Yao’s short film What’s Left won the Best Short Film Award at SWIFF 2023, showcasing their ability to merge cinematic storytelling with conceptual depth. Their visual art and performance works have gained significant recognition, including Influx: The Bipolar at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and My Name Is… at the Phoenix Art Museum, both lauded for their innovative approach to blending performance and installation art.

Yao’s choreographic portfolio spans both national and international stages, with pieces such as I SEE at National Sawdust, New York City (2024). Since 2015, their works have been performed across numerous venues globally, reflecting a commitment to artistic collaboration and cultural exchange.

In 2024, Yao was honored with an invitation to exhibit at the Florence Biennale XV, a prestigious international platform celebrating contemporary art and design. This recognition underscores their growing impact on the global art scene, where they continue to push boundaries and redefine the role of art in society.

sarAika movement collective

Founded by immigrants and queer women Aika Takeshima (Japan) and Sara Pizzi (Italy), sarAika movement collective is committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within the dance ecosystem. The collective is known for creating multidisciplinary collaborative performances that highlight topical issues and personal insights. Founded in 2021, sarAika movement collective had a significant impact in 2022 with over 50 performances, including our debut evening-length show, "Stella, Come Home," commissioned by Et Alia Theater, and a performance at The Museum of NYC.In 2023, sarAika was honored with a Spoke The Hub award, which gave them the opportunity to create our first solo production, received a RedTail residency at JCAL, and toured Japan. Recently, they were commissioned by IATI Theater to create an evening-length show and were selected as resident artists for 2025 by University Settlement.

Allison Lincoln

Allison Lincoln is a choreographer, performer, and teacher. She has been dancing freely with her duet partner, Alicia Falzon, performing and creating dance on stage, and on film for 4 years. Allison was the recipient of the Emerging Choreographer Award from DDCF in 2023. She is eager and excited to continue to create new works, and explore new movement qualities. Allison and Alicia are passionate about working with local artists, having gotten to perform and create movement for multiple music videos for Detroit musical artists. They perform pieces that are close to their personal experiences; exploring the vastness and complexity of everyday emotions, spirituality, and memories. They both are hoping to create an atmosphere on stage that the audience can personally resonate with, that leads to communication and conversations.

Eric Mullins Projects

Eric Mullis is a dance artist and scholar whose work centers on the possibilities of interdisciplinary performance. His choreography has been featured in the North Carolina Dance Festival, The Fact/SF Summer Dance Festival, Breaking Ground Festival, UrBANGUILD Kyoto, and at Performance Philosophy, Amsterdam. He is a Fulbright Scholar who, in 2021, conducted research on dance and the philosophy of technology at Taipei National University of the Arts in Taipei, Taiwan. Eric has authored of two books, "Pragmatist Philosophy and Dance: Interdisciplinary Research in the American South" (Palgrave MacMillan: 2019) and "Instruments of Embodiment: Costuming in Contemporary Dance" (Routledge: 2022). He is the Director of Goodyear Arts (an artist-run gallery and performance space in Charlotte, North Carolina) and is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Queens University of Charlotte.

Found Movement Group

Company Bio:

In 2006, colleagues Stacie M. Flood-Popp and Erin Law established Found Movement Group under the umbrella of The Village Cultural Arts Center. Passionate about bringing something different to the Nashville dance community, Stacie and Erin, along with diverse individuals from their circle of friends, made up the ensemble. The first three years, the co-directors worked together to develop the company's mission, to provide quality movement education and to bring choreographic artistry to their Nashville home.

In 2010, Stacie continued on with the Found's mission of seeking out new talent and creating thought provoking innovative work. As a result, the company has grown from its humble beginnings to include dancers from outside the Nashville community.

In 2016, Flood-Popp joined forces with long time student, company member and colleague Travis Cooper to create a youth division; Found Youth.

In 2017, Cailin Manning joined the company. One year later and eager to learn from Stacie, Cailin inquired about furthering her role in the company. Inspired by her passion, motivation and talent, Stacie hired Cailin as the associate director of Found Movement Group.

In the past years, Stacie and her team have started to move forward. They established "The FOUNDation: An Artistic Realm, LLC" and started the process for Found Youth to become an independent 501c3 organization.

Choreographer Bio:

For 19 years, Stacie taught at Nashville School of the Arts (NSA). At NSA, she trained dancers who performed with The Louisville Ballet, Pilobolus, Celine Dion, Donna Summer, DCDC and various other professionals in the concert and commercial dance community. She has served as dance faculty at Vanderbilt University Dance Program and was chosen to be a visiting artist at American College Dance Festival, RADfest, and Big River Dance Festival.

In 2016, Stacie earned her certification in Laban Movement Analysis through the Integrated Movement Studies Program at the University of Utah. After her certification, Stacie has studied with Deborah Hay, Christopher Roman, KJ Holmes, and other great dance makers of the current times.

In 2019 Stacie left teaching to give back to her community by developing safe and supporting environments for Nashville artists.

Justin Curry and Yinqi Wang

Currently based in Columbus, OH, Justin Curry (he/him) is an emerging dancer, choreographer, film-maker, and educator with a BFA in Dance from Sam Houston State University. He is a founder artist for Whirlwind Dance Company where he has danced the last 4 years. Justin has presented his choreographic works internationally with highly esteemed companies, organizations, and festivals such as Whirlwind, Eisenhower, Big Muddy, NobleMotion Dance Companies and more.

Omnivore Dance

Yinqi and Maggie are choreographers and dancers from China, and are currently based in Columbus, Ohio. After receiving their MFA in Dance from University of California-Irvine, they continue to dance, choreograph and teach in the United States. Their collaborative works have been presented at various dance festivals and venues across the United States, including Work-in-Progress Showings at American Dance Festival and Bates Dance Festival, Arts on Site (NYC, Jan/25), National Dance Institute (NYC, Nov/24), Columbus Dance Theater (Columbus OH, Sep/24), Stomping Ground (LA, Feb/23), MashUp Dance Company (LA, Feb/23), Guangdong Modern Dance Festival (Guangzhou China, Nov/24), and Powerlong Museum Shanghai (Shanghai China, Dec 2021). Their movement research is heavily influenced by Gaga, Countertechnique, and contact improv. In their choreography, they intend to create humanistic and imaginative artworks through movement, storytelling, and theatrical design, weaving together the deep threads of mythology, folklore, intimacy, and violence.

choreographers showcase Program order

Saturday August 30, 7:00PM

Friday August 29, 7:00PM

  • Mandy Milligan Movement Project

  • Omnivore Dance

  • Lucy Dillion

  • sarAika movement collective

  • Haley Tarling

  • Valkyrie Yao

  • Miranda McGovern

  • Justin Curry and Yinqi Wang

  • Ashley L. Tate

  • CPR Dance: Inhale Movement

  • Elizabeth Shea Dance

  • Chris Johnson Dance

  • Allison Lincoln

  • Found Movement Group

  • Hot Crowd

  • Mark Gonzalez

  • Omnivore Dance

  • Eric Mullis Projects

  • Lia Smith-Redmann

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