Red Clay Dance Company is celebrating the ending of its 15th anniversary season with a bang by expanding its biennial La Femme Dance Festival from two days to three, said Vershawn Sanders-Ward, the company’s founding artistic director and CEO.
The expanded version of the dance festival, which brings choreographic works created by Black women and women of the African diaspora to Chicago audiences, starts with a reception Thursday at Arts Club of Chicago with choreographer Fatima Robinson and closes with performances at the Harris Theater on Saturday, featuring two world premieres performed by the Red Clay Dance’s touring company and a Chicago premiere of Wanjiru Kamuyu’s “Portraits in Red.”
“There’s so many spaces that we stand in, in support of others. So I’m happy to be able to support these women and their voices in a field where we give so much but oftentimes aren’t credited for what we have given and what we have added to the field,” Sanders-Ward said. “That’s why the La Femme Festival is so important. People will ask: Do we still need spaces like that? Of course, we do. We always need spaces where we can affirm one another, we can work and sit outside of the white gaze and really understand our impact, our work and how we can help to move our community forward. It’s always inclusive in my mind.”
The two world premieres are “Her Womb: Crucified, Conceived, Crescent, Congo… The Gathering” by Dallas-based choreographer Michelle Gibson, and Sanders-Ward’s “Unconditional Conditions.”
“Unconditional Conditions” looks at the characteristics of the self that one doesn’t always present to everyone. “You’ll see a lot of duos; being able to look at self outside of self to figure out more about identity — who you want to be and who you’re becoming, not ignoring those parts of self that you’re still processing,” Sanders-Ward said. “This came about coming out of COVID, hearing so many people talk about the moments of isolation, I thought about how can isolation be a gift? What can it tell you about yourself, being with self? That’s what the work explores.”
Sanders-Ward said Red Clay tripled its budget during the pandemic, primarily due to securing a space of their own in the city — one of the few dance studios located on the city’s South Side. She said it wasn’t easy learning how to grow a nonprofit and a business when she didn’t go to school for it. It is through building relationships that Red Clay continues to evolve, Sanders-Ward said.
The center offers dance classes year-round as well as youth programming. As an adjunct at Loyola University, she teaches a course on the influence of diasporic practices in contemporary dance, an area that she considers her “wheelhouse.”
“I love dancing and the culture of the African diaspora,” she said. “I feel my work, Red Clay’s work and this festival is to highlight that, for us to understand how we shape culture, how we move culture through our culture. Now more than ever, it is even more important to amplify, not only diasporic practices, but choreographic work by Black women.”
That’s why Sanders-Ward, an Alabama native reared in Chicago’s South suburbs, is so excited about Robinson’s appearance at the festival, which falls during Women’s History Month.
“It’s just so amazing to be seen by someone that’s worked in the field over the years and has so much wisdom to share. I’m excited for that opportunity, not only to hear from her but for artists in Chicago, to be seen by her,” Sanders-Ward said.
On Friday at Red Clay’s center in Woodlawn, Robinson will conduct a session where she plans to share details about how to make a career in dance. During the masterclass with professional dancers, she said she usually teaches a combination (this time something from the film “The Color Purple,” which she choreographed).
“I’ll give them the ability as well to show me something that they are working on … I’ll feel out the room and see what feels right, but a lot of times I like to do a bit of a mock audition,” Robinson said. “I can give them feedback and help them have an experience of what it’s like in my world.”
As one of the producers of CBS’s “Grammy Salute to 50 Years of Hip-Hop,” Robinson said she wants to don the producing hat more going forward to see more dance-driven content in TV and film. Robinson, who got her start by dancing hip hop in California clubs, looks back on hip hop as being transformative. Growing up in the genre as it developed, Robinson said her goal was for hip hop to be seen as a true art form of dance.
“In the beginning, people thought that it was just a fad,” she said. “It’s amazing to not only see it taught in every studio and part of a dancer’s vocabulary, but to really be respected. And with platforms like TikTok and YouTube, it’s spreading and ever-evolving. When you see the way young people are moving their bodies, it’s so incredible because of all the training they have access to whereas back in the day, if you weren’t in the clubs, you didn’t know how to dance hip hop. I love the evolution of it, I think it’s amazing.”
Sanders-Ward said Red Clay features a rotating class on Saturdays. She’s found people enjoy finding the through line between diasporic movement and contemporary dance.
“Afro-Cuban or Afro-Brazilian or hip hop or house or even a West African class, what I found is folks really enjoy learning the breadth and depth of the diaspora, but also the areas of overlap,” she said. “I think that tells us so much about our interconnectedness as a Black diaspora, as Black people.”
Sanders-Ward wants to uplift all Chicago artists and encourage folks in the city to continue to support them so that they stay here. “That’s really important to me,” she said. “We don’t want to lose any more homegrown talent so continue to support and advocate for the art and culture sector in the city because we need that support.”
La Femme Dance Festival runs March 14-16 at venues including Arts Club of Chicago, the Red Clay Dance Company’s Center for Excellence and the Harris Theater; tickets and more information at redclaydance.com/la-femme-dance-festival
