Red Clay Dance Company performs Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar choreographed by Founding Artistic Director and CEO Vershawn Sanders - Ward . Photo credit Ricardo Adame, courtesy of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago .
Red Clay Dance Company performs Her Table choreographed by Rena Butler . Photo credit MReid Photography
A spokesperson says---
"...Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar honors the lives, stories and enduring legacy of missing and murdered Black women and girls...the production blends Afro-contemporary dance, storytelling, digital media and immersive design...
Inspired by The Black Girlhood Altar—the mixed-media installation created by A Long Walk Home artists Scheherazade Tillet and Robert Narcisco—this dance performance incorporates elements of the altar into its scenic and visual design, transforming the stage into a living sanctuary for remembrance, healing and collective action.
...The Company will perform Her Table by Rena Butler, Field: New Ground by Bebe Miller, Written on the Flesh by Vershawn Sanders-Ward, and a new work by Beatrice Capote..."
CREATIVE TEAM:
Vershawn Sanders-Ward - Choreographer / Founding Artistic Director and CEO
Rena Butler - Choreographer
Beatrice Capote - Choreographer
Bebe Miller - Choreographer
Jamila Woods - Composer / Original Music
Shaqui Reed - Costume Designer
Alyna Michelle - Costume Designer
Scheherazade Tillet - Altar Installation Concept Artist
Robert Narcisco - Altar Installation Concept Artist
Thomas F. DeFrantz - Discussion Moderator
WHEN & WHERE:
September 19, 2026 at Navy Pier in Chicago, IL
October 1–3, 2026
Northwestern University’s Wirtz Center
1949 Campus Drive
Evanston, IL
April 8–9, 2027
The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago
1306 S. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL
April 10, 2027
Red Clay Dance Center
808 E. 63rd Street
Chicago, IL
