Chicago Dancemakers Forum and the Department of Cultural Affairs present

What Does Dance "DO" for the World?

What is art's purpose in the 21st century? Is the function of art led by the interests of entertainment and financial profit? Is it a tool of civic education and community-building? This panel explores this moment''s revitalized interests in art's effects on American society. From the impact of teaching artists and arts education to discussion of a new cultural policy and the possibility of a new culture wars, there is a growing conversation about defining art's value in contemporary American society.

A panel of artists will address how they approach and apply these broad issues in art and art-related educational programming to their own creative work and practice. Panelists include Peter Carpenter, Ananya Chatterjea, Michelle Kranicke and Boogie McClarin.

What Does Dance "DO" For The World?

DAWF Panel Discussion co presented by the Department of Cultural Affairs and the Chicago Dancemakers Forum

Monday, November 22
6:00-7:30pm
Chicago Cultural Center
78 E. Washington St.

Light refreshments will be served.

PANELISTS INCLUDE:

Peter Carpenter makes dances under the auspices of the Peter Carpenter Performance Project, as a commissioned artist for professional companies, and as an educator in institutional settings. Carpenter's interest in cultivating the politics of movement through dance informs his body of work, and this has been supported by grants from the Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist Grant, the Illinois Arts Council Choreography Fellowship, the Dance Bridge Space Grant Initiative of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and a Columbia College Chicago Faculty Development Grant. He has received commissions for the creation of new work from Lucky Plush Productions, Same Planet/Different World Productions, Robin Lakes/Roughdance, OutNorth Contemporary Art House in Anchorage, Alaska, and the Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill, N.C. He is currently Associate Professor of Dance at Columbia College Chicago. More info at: http://www.petercarpenterperformance.com/

Ananya Chatterjea is a dancer, choreographer, dance scholar, and dance educator, envisions her work in the field of dance as a "call to action" with a particular focus on women artists of color. She is Associate Professor in the Dept. of Theater Arts and Dance and Director of Dance in the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. She is also the Artistic Director of Ananya Dance Theatre, a dance company of women artists of color who believe in the powerful intersection of artistic excellence and social justice.
http://www.ananyadancetheatre.org/

Michelle Kranicke is founder and artistic director of Chicago's Zephyr Dance. Her choreography has been presented by the Dance Center of Columbia College, Links Hall and the Ruth Page Center for the Arts Chicago; Triskelion Arts, Brooklyn, NY; Mulberry Street Theatre and Cunningham Dance Studio, New York; The Art & Culture Center of Hollywood, Hollywood, FL; North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND; Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, AR; Margaret H'Doubler Theatre, Madison, WI; and more. In 2006 Michelle received a Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist grant for the research and development of Just Left of Remote. In 1995 and again in 2003, Michelle was commissioned by Illinois Wesleyan University to create new works for its student repertory dance company; and from 1996-2000 she was commissioned to create and perform new works annually for Chicago's Next Dance Festival (an artist-curated and produced festival known for commissioning and presenting ground-breaking contemporary dance). She pioneered the first arts integrated education residency at the college level for Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois giving students a physical experience within their course curriculum. Michelle is known and valued for her expertise in curriculum development, working with artists and educators both locally and internationally. Her work with arts integrated curriculum has been cited in two books: Renaissance in the Classroom: Arts Integration and Meaningful Learning and LEAPing Toward Change: A Portrait of Teacher-Artist Collaborative Instructional Practice in the Elementary Classroom. In April 2005 she was invited to Scotland by the Scottish Arts Council for the kick-off and professional development retreat for Arts Across the Curriculum, Scotland's three year research project based on collaborative planning and teaching by teachers and artists. She has been a guest artist at Illinois Wesleyan University, Eastern Illinois University, and Ohio Wesleyan University, and taught residencies and master classes in modern dance in Chicago and throughout the Midwest. Michelle is currently an adjunct professor at Illinois Wesleyan University teaching in the University's May Term course. More at: www.zephyrdance.com

Boogie McClarin began her dance training at Whitney Young Magnet High School and the underground House parties of the late 1980s. She continued her training under Laurie Sanda at Iowa State University and was strongly influenced by her conversations with prominent activists like Sonia Sanchez, Kwame Toure, Dr. Eric Michael Dyson and Dr. Cornell West. Returning to Chicago in 1998, Boogie has continued her formal dance training at the Joel Hall Dance Center, while cultivating her talent for hip-hop and urban street forms with the internationally renowned Rennie Harris and Puremovement (Philadelphia), The Electric Boogaloos (LosAngeles), Compagnie Kafig (Paris) and Phaze II (Chicago). Some of her other significant influences include participation in master classes by Anna Sokolow, David Dorfman, Ronald K. Brown, the Urban Bush Women and her study of the Brazilian martial art capoiera. Boogie has received recognition for her performance in "Cinderella: A Hip-Hop Tale of an Illegal Alien" (2001) and has choreographed for concerts, theater and stage in works ranging from a hip hop-rendition for Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors, "The Bombitty of Errors" and concerts by rappers Ghost Face, Raekwon and Mos Def, to a reading by poet Nikki Giovanni.  More info at: http://www.oldtownschool.org

The November 22 panel will be moderated by Meida Teresa McNeal, Dance Researcher for the Chicago Artists Resource.

This event is part of the Department of Cultural Affair's year-long Dancers At Work Forum Series.