Banks Performance Project

Meet Guest Artist Kaelen Gouveia! Catch him performing tonight at “On The Move” at Promontory Point in Hyde Park! “On The Move” features other amazing Chicago artists and companies and starts at 4:30pm with BPP performing at 6pm on the left side of the field house. It’s a free event! 🕺🏾🤸🏽💃🏾

✨Kaelen Gouveia✨ began dancing at the age of 16 under the direction of Desire Cremer at Aiea High School on the island of Oahu. Here he learned the foundations of classical and modern techniques while being a member of the Aiea High School Dance Repertoire Company. He earned his B.F.A. in Dance Performance and Choreography from Towson University where he worked alongside notable individuals such as Runqiao Du, Catherine Hortahayden, Vincent Thomas, Alison Siedentstricker, Caroline Rocher-Barnes, Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell, Nicole Martinell and more. Along with this Kaelen has performed works by Runqiao Du, Vincent Thomas, Alison Siedentstricker, Caroline Rocher-Barnes, Nicole Martinell, and Xiang Xu. He has also had the pleasure of performing at the American College Dance Association and Baltimore Theatre Project. Aside from college Kaelen furthered his technical advancement with the LINES Ballet Summer Intensive, Mark Morris GAGA Winter Intensive, and Ruth Page IDE Summer Intensive. From 2022-2023, Kaelen Gouveia joined the Ruth Page Civic Ballet Training Program directed by Victor Alexander and Maray Gutierrez. As a trainee, Kaelen worked with choreographers such as Kia Smith, Nejla Yatkin, Nelson Reyes, and Marcelo Sáenz. While being a Ruth Page Civic Ballet Trainee, he also had the pleasure of being an apprentice with Hedwig Dances. Under the direction of Jan Bartoszek, he performed Metamorphos, a sequel to Oskar Schlemmer’s Triadic Ballet. Currently, Kaelen will be joining Hedwig Dances in their upcoming 2023-2024 season.

Meet Elijah! Catch him performing tonight at 7:30pm at ’s Center Stage. Ticket link in bio!

Elijah Guardiola is from Chicago, Illinois where he started dancing in high school at the Chicago High School for the Performing Arts as a Musical Theatre Major. During his time in high school Elijah concentrated in jazz, ballet, and tap. Elijah also participated in a summer dance program with Forward Momentum Dance Chicago where he studied more modern, african, hip-hop, and latin dances. Elijah then went on to further study dance at Ohio University for one year, in which he gained more training in many genres of dance. Elijah is back in his hometown of Chicago as a returning company member of Banks Performance Project. Since being back he has also been teaching privates in various Latin dance styles, working as a program assistant in the summer for Forward Momentum Chicago, and creating works for various productions.  

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Catch Banks Performance Project performing tonight at 7:30pm at ! BPP will be presenting a new Work-In-Progress “steady forward. always forward.”choreographed by Artistic Director . Ticket link in bio!

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Meet Solomon! Catch Solomon performing tonight at 7:30pm at ’s Center Stage! Ticket link in bio!

Timothy ‘Solomon’ Bowser, hails from the red clay hills of Stone Mountain, Ga. Bowser received his formative dance training from Zandra Taylor, Dean Williams and Pamela Jones Malave at DeKalb School of the Arts. Bowser received his BA at Columbia College Chicago in 2013. Bowser has performed with companies including Winifred Haun and Dancers, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, The Seldoms, Momenta Dance Company, Kanopy Dance Company, Motion/Pictures Dance Project and Kalapriya Center for Indian Performing Arts. Bowser has also worked with Randy Duncan, Pascal Rioux, Deborah Carr, Ded Goodman, and J'Sun Howard. Bowser performed for the release of the 2016 “Coloring Book” mixtape for Chicago’s very own Chance The Rapper. In 2017, Bowser received an Intensive Co-Mission Residency at the arts incubator, Links Hall. In 2018, Bowser created and premiered MATTER for Winifred Haun & Dancers and co-starred in the dance film “Bleeding Backwards” by Motion/Pictures Dance Project’s Talia Koylass. Currently, Bowser serves his community as the Marketing Manager at See Chicago Dance.

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Check us out at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts’ Center Stage on Friday, March 24th at 7:30!!

Purchase tickets here!

http://www.ruthpage.org/centerstage2023

The March newsletter is out!
>>> bit.ly/3y0tc07

Monthly news and resources from Chicago Dancemakers Forum, plus updates from the following artists:
✨ Deeply Rooted Dance Theater (pictured)
✨ Ennerèssa LaNette, Dominique Atwood, Florence Walker-Harris
✨ La Vuelta Ensemble
✨ Helen Lee
✨ Khecari
✨ Red Clay Dance Company
✨ Elysia C. Banks | Banks Performance Project
✨ Sildance/AcroDanza-Silvita Diaz Brown
✨ Christopher Knowlton
✨ Jumaane Taylor
✨ Lane Alexander | Chicago Human Rhythm Project
✨ The Seldoms
✨ Synapse Arts
✨ Hedwig Dances

📷: Deeply Rooted Dance Theater , Photo by Matt Karas. Deeply Rooted Dance Theater’s professional company and Youth Ensemble perform in the Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project’s “Sans Pareil” March 25-26 at the Logan Center.

[ID: A graphic on a dark grey background. In the center, there is a laptop with an image of dancers in a pose facing to their right against a colorful painted backdrop. Next to the laptop is a mobile phone with tiny text. White and read bolded text reads, "Newsletter. March 2023" and there is a text-based Chicago Dancemakers Forum logo in the top right corner.]

✨Meet Anna!✨
Catch her performing today in “Carry us forward” at 3pm at Hamilton Park! Ticket link in bio!

Anna Hershinow is a dancer, aerialist, and painter from Chicago, Illinois. She graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a minor in Studio Arts in 2020. In 2019, Anna had the opportunity to live and learn abroad, studying Gaga and Israeli contemporary dance at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem, Israel. Through her education and professional career, Anna has had the opportunity to study under and perform works by prominent choreographers such as Erin Kilmurray, Terence Marling, Andrea Miller, David Dorfman, Ohad Naharin, Noa Tzuk, Roni Chadash, Crystal Michelle Perkins, Ann Sofie Clemmensen, and Momar Ndiaye. Anna has had the opportunity to perform works internationally at the Suzanne Dellal Center for Dance and Theater, at the International Association of Blacks in Dance (IABD), and across varying performance spaces in Chicago, Ohio, Philadelphia, and New York.

📸: Jacob Kaufman

Join Banks Performance Project and Winifred Haun & Dancers at “Carry Us Forward” on May 27th and 28th! The show will feature both new and repertory works choreographed by both Artistic Directors, Elysia C. Banks and Winifred Haun. Ticket link in bio!

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✨Meet Julia! ✨
Catch her performing in “Carry us forward” tonight at 7pm and tomorrow at 3pm at Hamilton Park! Ticket link in bio!

Julia Rzonca is a dancer, teaching artist, and choreographer from the Chicago area. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Western Michigan University in May 2021. During her time spent at Western Michigan, she studied under the guidance of Jeremy Blair, David Curwen, Sharon Garber, Monique Haley, Seyong Kim, Whitney Moncrief, Carolyn Pavlik, and Kelsey Paschich.

Growing up, Julia studied at The School of Ballet 5:8 Conservatory program under the guidance of Julianna Slager, using the Vaganova method. Following her ballet studies, she continued her dance education at Western Michigan University in a Trifold program studying ballet, jazz, and modern. During Julia’s undergraduate education, she explored different movement approached such as Countertechnique, Laban Movement Analysis, and the Balanchine Method. Later into her college training, she began teaching at a local dance studio in the Kalamazoo area where she found her passion for teaching dance to younger generation students. Julia also expresses her passion for dance by creating ballet and contemporary based choreography. Her latest work has been presented in Western Michigan University’s Winter Gala Concert, and in her graduating project based on choreographic gestures and authentic movement studies.  
 
After graduating college, Julia moved back to Chicago and is now a Teaching Artist at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and a company member with Banks Performance Project. She is very excited to participate in her first season with Banks Performance Project!

📸: Olivia Lemmenes

✨Meet Natalie! ✨
Catch her dancing in “Carry us forward” tomorrow at 7pm and on Saturday at 3pm at Hamilton Park Cultural Center! Ticket link in bio!

Natalie Dellutri is a contemporary dancer and choreographer originally from Milwaukee, WI. She grew up training at the Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy, and went on to get a BFA in Ballet and a BS in Psychology from the University of Utah. Throughout the course of her career, she has had the opportunity to work with and learn from a multitude of fantastic artists and choreographers, and attend summer intensives and workshops around the country. Dellutri has mainly gained recognition for her work with Roderick George and Anouk van Dijk, as well as a number of her own choreographic works and shows she has directed. Since moving back to the Midwest in May of 2019, Dellutri joined Banks Performance Project as well as Kaley Pruitt Dance, and has become an active artist in both the Milwaukee and Chicago freelance dance communities. She is excited to continue this next chapter of her dance career, growing and learning from new artists in terms of both movement and ideas.

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Catch Banks Performance Project Performing tonight with in
The Light Returns: Dance & Music at Unity Temple
Saturday, February 26
5:30pm & 8:00pm
Unity Temple, 875 Lake St., Oak Park
Tickets: $20-39! Ticket link in bio! Special thanks to !

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Catch Banks Performance Project Performing tonight with in
The Light Returns: Dance & Music at Unity Temple
Saturday, February 26
5:30pm & 8:00pm
Unity Temple, 875 Lake St., Oak Park
Tickets: $20-39! Ticket link in bio! Special thanks to !

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Catch Company Member, performing tonight at Take Up Space, , at 7:30pm! Purchase tickets to stream the show online!

✨Link in bio!✨
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TAKE UP SPACE Was created in 2019 by Megan Rhodes and Mackenzie King. What started off as a collaborative evening-length work quickly grew into a 4-night dance festival. Take Up Space 2019 featured 12 female choreographers from Chicago and beyond. This festival is produced with the intention of giving talented female artists a platform to share their work and to take the space.



✨Online show link in bio!✨

Catch the Ruth Page Civic Ballet Training Company performing tomorrow!

“Our Community. Our Art.”
Friday, November 12, 2021
Hamilton Park Cultural Center
513 W. 72nd Street
Chicago, IL 60621
Reception—6pm
Performances—7pm
Free! Donations Welcome!

✨RSVP Link in bio!✨

Welcome our final guest, the Ruth Page Civic Ballet Training Company, to “Our Community. Our Art.”!

“Our Community. Our Art.”
Friday, November 12, 2021
Hamilton Park Cultural Center
513 W. 72nd Street
Chicago, IL 60621
Reception—6pm
Performances—7pm
Free! Donations Welcome!

Check out Kenwood School of Ballet this Friday, November 12th at Our Community. Our Art.”!

“Our Community. Our Art.”
Friday, November 12, 2021
Hamilton Park Cultural Center
513 W. 72nd Street
Chicago, IL 60621
Reception—6pm
Performances—7pm
Free! Donations Welcome!

✨RSVP Link in bio!✨

Photo credit:

Meet Kenwood School of Ballet! We’re pumped to have them joins us this Friday, November 12th for “Our Community. Our Art.”!

“Our Community. Our Art.”
Friday, November 12, 2021
Hamilton Park Cultural Center
513 W. 72nd Street
Chicago, IL 60621
Reception—6pm
Performances—7pm
Free! Donations Welcome!

Photo credit:

Make sure you check out Hot Crowd this Friday, November 12th!!

“Our Community. Our Art.”
Friday, November 12, 2021
Hamilton Park Cultural Center
513 W. 72nd Street
Chicago, IL 60621
Reception—6pm
Performances—7pm
Free! Donations Welcome!

✨RSVP Link in bio!✨

Meet Hot Crowd! We’re so excited to have them join us this Friday, November 12th at “Our Community. Our Art.” !

“Our Community. Our Art.”
Friday, November 12, 2021
Hamilton Park Cultural Center
513 W. 72nd Street
Chicago, IL 60621
Reception—6pm
Performances—7pm
Free! Donations Welcome!