Deeply Rooted Dance Theater

Established in 1995, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater (DRDT) reimagines and diversifies the aesthetics of contemporary dance by uniting modern, classical, American, and African American traditions in dance and storytelling. Its professional dance company presents an annual performance season in Chicago and tours across the nation and the globe. Its Dance Education programs introduce emerging talent to training and mentorship to prepare them for successful careers in the arts. Its Arts Management Workforce Development program aims to increase diversity in the arts sector by supporting the professional development of undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students. It is developing the Deeply Rooted Dance Center, a state-of-art performance and dance education venue, which is slated to open on the South Side of Chicago in 2025. This award provides general operating support to DRDT in the Culture, Equity, and the Arts area of the Chicago Commitment strategy.

Deeply Rooted Productions is a contemporary dance company that combines modern, classical and African-American traditions. It is Chicago’s only major contemporary dance company whose work is immersed in the African-American experience. The company offers professional-level training programs that impact more than 60 emerging and practicing dancers yearly. The company also conducts community outreach through workshops, lecture demonstrations, and training programs, reaching more than 4,500 community members each year. The World Indumba Project connects artists from Chicago-based Deeply Rooted with a theater collaborative  in Johannesburg, South Africa, and a dance art foundation in Sofia, Bulgaria. As part of this artistic exchange project, Deeply Rooted and its South African contemporaries create a new work inspired by South African healing rituals called Indumba. They share this work and their collective insights into the creative process with American and Bulgarian artists and audiences. Award funds support direct project expenses: travel, performance, marketing and communication, educational programming costs. This is the second International Connections Fund award to Deeply Rooted Productions.

In support of a multi-year residency with a contemporary dance company in South Africa and participation in the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance festival.

To support marketing and development plans (over two years).