DanceWorks Chicago to Kick Off Season Tomorrow at Auditorium Theatre

DanceWorks Chicago (DWC) starts SEASON 7 by welcoming new dancers, making its Dance for Life debut, and engaging national and international choreographers.

Returning dancers Greg Blackmon, Demetrius McClendon, Angela Dice Nguyen, and Matt Wenckowski will be joined by new dancers Liv Schaffer and Sarah Elizabeth Stockman to start the 2013-2014 season. Both incoming dancers were identified in DWC's annual open company audition. Ms. Schaffer, from Algonquin, IL, received her early dance training in the Chicago area and has been active on the West Coast, apprenticing with ODC/Dance San Francisco and graduating summa cum laude from Alonzo King's LINES Ballet B.F.A. Program in May 2013. Ms. Stockman, from Houston, TX, has worked with BalletMet Columbus and was most recently a scholarship student at Lou Conte Dance Studio, home of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Hubbard Street 2. Fulfilling our mission to graduate dancers into the broader dance community, DWC alum Steffi Cheong will join ODC/Dance San Francisco for their 2013-2014 season.

DanceWorks Chicago (DWC) launches SEASON 7 with its debut as one of the featured companies at Dance for Life being presented at the Auditorium Theatre at 8pm on Saturday, August 17. DWC will present an excerpt from Nocturnal Sense, a full company work to music of Vivaldi created especially for DanceWorks Chicago by guest choreographer James Gregg.

New creations in SEASON 7 will include a work by guest choreographer Demis Volpi, resident choreographer of the renown Stuttgart Ballet (Germany). Mr. Volpi, originally from Argentina, will be in-residence with DWC October 7-11, 2013. Choreographic duo casebolt and smith, based in California, will come to Chicago November 5-8, 2013 to create a new work for DWC.

Dance Chance, designed to encourage new work and dialogue between artists and audience, continues at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn, Chicago, at 6pm on September 9. Tickets: $3. In partnership with the Ruth Page Center, Dance Chance: Redux 5.0, an opportunity for Dance Chancechoreographers to further explore and develop work, will be held at Northeastern Illinois University at 8pm on October 11. Choreographers Joshua Blake Carter, Ricardo Garcia, Angela Dice Nguyen, and Rachel Pike will present work and vie for a $1000 Producer's Panel Prize. Tickets: $20, with special prices for students, seniors, and groups.

Founded in May 2007, DanceWorks Chicago is an organization committed to building a foundation for the individual artistic growth of dancers and choreographers, providing a laboratory from which early career artists propel themselves and the art form to a new level through training, collaboration, mentorship, and performance. Led by Artistic Director Julie Nakagawa and CEO Andreas Böttcher, DanceWorks Chicago is dedicated to creating an environment conducive to nurturing experiences of significance for everyone from artists to audiences. To learn more about DanceWorks Chicago, visit www.danceworkschicago.org.

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