See Chicago Dance Announces Inaugural Critical Dance Writing Fellows

In response to the need for more dance critics, new voices and emergent forms of dance writing, See Chicago Dance (SCD), the Chicago dance industry's nonprofit service organization, announces the inaugural cohort of Critical Dance Writing Fellows. The 2020 writing mentorship is a four-way partnership involving the University of KwaZulu-Natal (Durban, South Africa), University of the Witwatersrand-The ARTchive (Johannesburg, South Africa), See Chicago Dance (Chicago, USA) and the University of East London (London, UK).

Although originally intended as an in-person gathering with partner organizations in Chicago, the fellowship activities are instead taking place on a virtual platform, due to COVID-19 restrictions on live events. This shift has offered SCD the opportunity to collaborate with dance scholars and writers in South Africa and the United Kingdom, in conjunction with JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, an annual festival in Chicago's sister city, Durban, South Africa. JOMBA! is a digital presentation this year, running Aug. 25 through Sept. 6. For information on the festival, visit jomba.ukzn.ac.za.

Writers from three continents will gather during the two weeks of the festival (Aug. 25-Sept. 6) and participate in workshops and panel discussions with the following distinguished guests:

Bimbola Akinbola, Northwestern University (USA)

Dr. Sarahleigh Castelyn, University of East London (UK)

Clare Craighead, JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience and University of KwaZulu-Natal (SA)

Sharon Hoyer, Newcity magazine (USA)

Dr. Mario LaMothe, University of Illinois at Chicago (USA)

Dr. Lizzie Leopold, Dance Studies Association and University of Chicago (USA)

Dr. Raquel Monroe, Columbia College Chicago (USA)

Kerry Reid, Chicago Reader (USA)

Tal Rosenberg, Chicago magazine (USA)

Rachel Russell, Northwestern University (USA)

Tammy Ballantyne Webber, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (SA)

Tara Aisha Willis, Museum of Contemporary Art (USA)

See Chicago Dance reviewed more than 30 applications for the fellowship and selected the following individuals to participate (pictured above, left to right, top to bottom): D'onminique Boyd, Tristan Bruns, Ash Davis, Emma Elsmo, Sydney Erlikh, Hattie Jean Hauser, Felicia Holman, Gregory King, Jordan Kunkel, Laura Paige Kyber, Jean Osberger and Mariah Schultz.

"I am happy to bring the writing mentorship project to fruition as part of SCD's larger focus on journalism and storytelling this year," said See Chicago Dance Community Engagement Consultant Surinder Martignetti. "Our journalism program seeks to address the needs of the dance community from a 360-degree view: training new critics, engaging audiences with professional reviews and providing a platform for artists to promote their work. The Critical Dance Writing Fellowship not only helps develop the skills of new dance storytellers. It will in turn help build and engage audiences by expanding and diversifying the number of voices writing about dance."

In addition to writing workshops and performance review assignments, fellows will participate in discussions about South Africa's contemporary dance scene, past and present, and the nature of criticism across various cultural contexts. Writing by the fellows will appear on the See Chicago Dance website and be eligible for publication in Khuluma, a festival magazine produced by JOMBA!, and Hotfoot, a publication of One Dance UK.

SCD's Critical Dance Writing Fellowship follows the design of the Khuluma program, a long-running writing intensive developed by leading South African dance critic Adrienne Sichel and led today by dance scholar Clare Craighead. SCD Editor and Senior Writer Lauren Warnecke helped facilitate the Khuluma program in 2017 as a guest writer-in-residence. "Our goal is to foster a new generation of dance writers distinctly capable of illustrating the range and diversity of Chicago dance on the page," said Warnecke. "It is a happy accident that the SCD residency, which necessarily had to change to a virtual intensive due to COVID-19, was originally planned around the same time as JOMBA!. By engaging with these international partners, we have the opportunity to further enrich Chicago dance criticism and explore contemporary dance from another part of the world."

For more information, visit seechicagodance.com/job/see-chicago-dance-critical-writing-fellowship.

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