Dance Center Hires Ellen Chenoweth as DPS Interim Director

The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago has announced the appointment of Ellen Chenoweth as Interim Director of its Dance Presenting Series (DPS), effective September 11, 2017 through June 30, 2018. Chenoweth assumes responsibilities previously held by Bonnie Brooks, who departed May 31, 2017. During the coming year, the Dance Center will launch a national search for a permanent director.

The Dance Presenting Series showcases contemporary dance artists of regional, national and international significance, offering Columbia students opportunities to learn from world-renowned performers and understand the rigors of the discipline. As director, Chenoweth will oversee all aspects of the DPS-implementation of the 2017-18 season, curation of the 2018-19 season in consultation with Dance Department Chair and Interim Theatre Department Chair Peter Carpenter, personnel management, finance and administration, partnership with internal and external constituents, fundraising, marketing, education, audience development and public advocacy. She also will collaborate on developing curricular and co-curricular opportunities for students.

Said Carpenter, "Ellen thoroughly impressed the Dance Center team. She has a substantial background in arts management that reaches across curation, development, marketing and financial management. Her experience in-and passion for-finding innovative ways to connect audiences to dance will be invaluable to the Dance Center in the coming year."

Chenoweth is currently director of development and communications for Pig Iron Theatre Company. She previously worked as a freelance arts administrator with choreographers in New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC. She was a program development consultant for the American Dance Institute (ADI) for two years, helping evaluate and document its residency program, the ADI Incubator. During four years at the Dance Exchange, she was instrumental in its transition when Founder Liz Lerman left the company, serving as managing director for two years following the transition. She began her career in arts administration at the Kennedy Center, where she worked with iconic artists such as Suzanne Farrell and Katherine Dunham through the Education Department's Performance Plus program. Chenoweth holds a bachelor's degree in history from Rice University and a master's degree in dance from Texas Woman's University. She completed a graduate certificate at Wesleyan University's Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance, where she focused on Philadelphia performance history. Chenoweth is also the executive director for thINKingDANCE, an online dance journal based in Philadelphia.

"I am thrilled to join the Dance Center, with its rich legacy and the unique opportunities it offers by integrating a professional dance series into a first-class educational institution," commented Chenoweth. "I look forward to getting involved in the Chicago dance community as well as partnering with the faculty, staff and students at Columbia College Chicago. We have a thrilling season ahead, and I anticipate meeting fans and friends of the Dance Center with great excitement in the coming weeks."

The Dance Center
The Dance Center's 2017-18 DPS season-its 44th-begins in the fall with the return of Chicago Human Rhythm Project, featuring a new work by Artist In Residence Dani Borak, September 21-23; Reggie Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Group performing its newest work October 12-14; Elevate Chicago Dance, a festival of diverse choreography, October 20 and 21; and the Chicago debut of Cynthia Oliver's COCo. Dance Theatre November 2-4. In 2018, Doug Varone and Dancers returns as part of its 30th anniversary season February 8-10; Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan brings its newest work to the Harris Theater for Music and Dance March 2 and 3; and the Process v. Product Festival features Chicago's Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak March 29-31 and Bebe Miller Company April 5-7. The B-Series, a free mini-festival of hip-hop and street dance forms, takes place October 27-28 and April 13-14.

The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago is the city's leading presenter of contemporary dance, showcasing artists of regional, national and international significance. The Dance Center has been named "Chicago's Best Dance Theatre" by Chicago magazine, "Best Dance Venue" by the Chicago Reader and Chicago's top dance venue by Newcity, and Time Out Chicago cited it as "...consistently offering one of Chicago's strongest lineups of contemporary and experimental touring dance companies." Programs at the Dance Center are supported, in part, by the Alphawood Foundation, the MacArthur Fund for the Arts and Culture at Prince, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Martha Struthers Farley and Donald C. Farley Jr. Family Foundation, the Irving Harris Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, as well as the Arts Midwest Touring Fund, a program of Arts Midwest that is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional contributions from the Illinois Arts Council and the Crane Group. Accommodations are sponsored, in part, by the Best Western Grant Park Hotel. Special thanks to Friends of the Dance Center for their generous contributions to the Dance Center's work.

Photo courtesy of Ellen Chenoweth