AERIAL DANCE CHICAGO IS A CONTEMPORARY DANCE COMPANY, CREATED IN 1999 AND GUIDED BY THE ORIGINAL CREATIVE VISION OF FOUNDER & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR CHLOE JENSEN. CHARACTERIZED BY EXTRAORDINARY PHYSICALITY AND ORIGINALITY, THE COMPANY'S WORK HAS BEEN SHARED ACROSS THE NATION, TOUCHING PEOPLE OF ALL WALKS OF LIFE WITH THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF AERIAL DANCE. ADC OPERATES CHICAGO’S PREMIERE CENTER DEDICATED TO TEACHING AERIAL DANCE, OFFERING CUTTING-EDGE CURRICULUM FOR ALL AGES, BEGINNER THROUGH PROFESSIONAL. AS ADC MOVES FORWARD, CREATING, PERFORMING AND TEACHING, THE COMPANY TRANSCENDS ASSUMED LIMITS OF DANCE AND INSPIRES PEOPLE TO RISE TO THEIR HIGHEST POTENTIAL. WWW.AERIALDANCECHICAGO.ORG.

ELIJAH MOTLEY RECEIVED A BA IN DANCE AND A BS IN CIVIL/ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING FROM OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY. WHILE IN COLLEGE, HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE HIP HOP COMPANY BAILA FUSION WHERE HE BEGAN LEARNING BREAKING, POPPING, HOUSE, AND KRUMP. HE HAS ALSO STUDIED GAGA AND TRAINED WITH KIBBUTZ CONTEMPORARY DANCE COMPANY IN ISRAEL. AFTER GRADUATION ELIJAH MOVED TO CHICAGO AND DANCED WITH CHICAGO DANCE CRASH FOR THREE SEASONS. DURING THAT TIME, HE WAS ALSO A FREELANCE PERFORMER/CHOREOGRAPHER WHOSE WORK WAS COMMISSIONED BY VARIOUS COMPANIES AND FESTIVALS. IN 2023, ELIJAH RECEIVED HIS MFA IN DANCE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA GREENSBORO.

ELIJAH RICHARDSON IS A BAY AREA NATIVE ARTIST BASED IN CHICAGO. HIS EARLY TRAINING CONSISTED IN MUSICAL THEATRE, CLASSICAL CHOIR, AND FIGURE SKATING BEFORE EARNING HIS BFA IN DANCE PERFORMANCE FROM CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY. HE HAS GONE ON TO PERFORM WITH DANCEWORKS CHICAGO, COLLAGE DANCE COLLECTIVE, THE CAMBRIANS, AND SYMBIOSIS ARTS. HIS OWN CREATIONS HAVE BEEN PRESENTED AT LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO, SOUTH CHICAGO DANCE THEATRE, EVANSTON DANCE ENSEMBLE, SECOND CITY DANCE MINISTRY, TRIFECTA DANCE FESTIVAL, AND FOUR TIMES AT MOBILE DANCE FILM FESTIVAL, AMONG OTHERS. RECENTLY NAMED DANCE MAGAZINE'S 2023 “25 TO WATCH”, ELIJAH CURRENTLY DANCES WITH SOUTH CHICAGO DANCE THEATRE.

EMMA DRAVES IS A DANCE ARTIST AND EDUCATOR NAVIGATING INTERTEXTUAL SPACES OF IDENTITY. SHE DRAWS FROM TRAININGS IN MODERN, BHARATANATYAM, BALLET, JAZZ, AND ETHNOGRAPHY, TO WEAVE WORK OF KINESTHETIC NARRATIVE - DERIVED THROUGH COLLIDING MULTIPLICITIES OF PHYSICAL EFFORT, IDIOSYNCRASY, AND EMOTIONAL LANDSCAPE. EMMA’S CHOREOGRAPHIC WORK HAS BEEN SHOWN ACROSS CHICAGO, NEW YORK, AND MILWAUKEE; AND INTERNATIONALLY IN EDINBURGH (UK) & VANCOUVER (BC).

HELEN MONEY IS A CELLIST AND COMPOSER WHOSE MUSIC CUTS ACROSS MULTIPLE GENRES INCLUDING CLASSICAL, PUNK, INDIE ROCK AND METAL. SHE HAS RELEASED FIVE ALBUMS OF HER OWN COMPOSITIONAL WORKS. HER CELLO PLAYING CAN BE FOUND ON OVER 150 ALBUMS INCLUDING RECORDINGS FROM ARTISTS AS DIVERSE AS ANTHRAX, CHRIS CONNELY, RUSSIAN CIRCLES, BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE, BOB MOULD, SEA AND CAKE, MONO, & VERBOW.

GIORDANO II (GII) is dedicated to the nurturing and elevation of young professional dancers under the artistic leadership of Nan Giordano and directed by Katie Rafferty. The dancers of GII are provided the unique opportunity to be mentored by Giordano Dance Chicago dancers with the goal of advancement to the main company. Through the company’s Giordano on Giordano program, GII premieres new works each season created by GDC’s artistic team and main company dancers. GII performs at venues throughout the Midwest, preparing dancers with on-stage experience necessary for a career in concert dance and allowing them to broaden their technical and artistic range.

TAYLOR MITCHELL IS A CHICAGO-BASED CHOREOGRAPHER, PERFORMANCE ARTIST, AND DANCE EDUCATOR. HE EARNED HIS BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA (2014) WHERE HE RECEIVED THE CREATIVE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR NUMEROUS WORKS OF CHOREOGRAPHY PRESENTED BY THE UA DANCE ENSEMBLE AND ALSO WORKED WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF THEATER.

 TAYLOR HAS PERFORMED WITH THODOS DANCE CHICAGO, CERQUA RIVERA DANCE THEATRE, COCODACO DANCE PROJECT, C5 CREATE WITH NO LIMITS, AJA TALENTS, AND OTHER NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS. HIS PROFESSIONAL CHOREOGRAPHY CREDITS INCLUDE DANCEWORKS CHICAGO, VISCERAL DANCE CHICAGO, THE BIG MUDDY DANCE COMPANY, THODOS DANCE CHICAGO, HOUSTON METDANCE, AERIAL DANCE CHICAGO, CHICAGO REPERTORY BALLET, CERQUA RIVERA DANCE THEATRE, COCODACO DANCE PROJECT, NEW DANCES (CHICAGO), SYMBIOSIS ARTS, DANCE IN THE PARKS, LEVEL DANCE, HOUSTON CONTEMPORARY 2, CHICAGO HOUSE, AND THE BATON ROUGE BALLET THEATRE. 

 HE HAS PRESENTED WORK AT THE KIELER WOCHE FESTIVAL (2017) - ONE OF THE LARGEST SUMMER FESTIVALS IN NORTHERN GERMANY AND THE HARVEST CONTEMPORARY DANCE FESTIVAL IN CHICAGO (2018, 2019, 2022). HE HAS ALSO SERVED AS AN ARTIST IN RESIDENCE WITH WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY (2019), SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY (2018, 2021), THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA LAFAYETTE (2019), AND KESHET CENTER FOR THE ARTS (2018).

HE CURRENTLY SERVES AS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR/CHOREOGRAPHER/COLLABORATOR OF THE MITCHELLMOVEMENT COLLECTIVE, HIS OWN PROJECT, WHILE FUSING HIS UNIQUE VOICE OF CONTEMPORARY DANCE WITH ASPECTS OF PHYSICAL THEATRE/CLOWNING TECHNIQUE. CURRENTLY, TAYLOR IS A NEWLY CERTIFIED TEACHER FROM THE NEW ENGLAND FELDENKRAIS® (ATM®) PROGRAM AND IS LOOKING FORWARD TO BRINGING THE METHOD FURTHER INTO HIS EDUCATIONAL AND CREATIVE SERVICES.

Kim Jones is the Artistic Director of Movement Migration and Associate Professor at UNC Charlotte.  Jones is Korean-American raised in NYC. She received her BFA at Marymount Manhattan College and her MFA from Florida State University. She danced with the Martha Graham Company and the Metropolitan Opera. She was a principal dancer for US National Broadway tour.  She also re-imagined “lost” works for the Graham Company. Choreographer Paul Taylor offered Tracer (1962) as the subject of a scholarly reconstruction with performances at the Joyce Theater, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Jones's dance reconstruction work was supported twice by the US National Endowment of the Arts and, most recently, the National Endowment of Humanities. Jones presented her choreography in Italy, Mexico, South Korea, England Austria and various cities in the US. 

Purus Motus was founded with the belief we are all movers. Artistic directors Katie Carey, a contemporary, concert dancer, and Daniel Williams, trained in multiple styles of hip hop, wanted to organically bring the two worlds of movement together. Purus Motus is an idea that allows all forms of dance to be displayed at a high level of maturity through constructs of musicality, improv, energy and emotion through real life experiences to connect the viewer to the performer in depth. From bboys to ballet dancers, we want to show the pure dedications to the artistry in itself as well as bringing awareness in times of social injustices. Purus Motus has been selected to present their work at film festivals all over the world. 

THE SELDOMS CREATES MULTIMEDIA PERFORMANCE CHARGED BY BOLD, EXACTING PHYSICALITY, AND THE BELIEF THAT DANCE CAN INSPIRE THINKING ABOUT CRITICAL SOCIAL ISSUES. EACH PROJECT IS FUELED BY AN APPETITE FOR RESEARCH AND INCUBATED WITH PARTNERS FROM FIELDS SUCH AS HISTORY AND SCIENCE. UNDER THE DIRECTION OF CHOREOGRAPHER CARRIE HANSON, THE COMPANY DESIGNS EXPANSIVE PRODUCTIONS WITH PRACTITIONERS OF VISUAL ARTS, ARCHITECTURE, THEATER, SOUND, AND FASHION. ENSEMBLE MEMBER MAGGIE VANNUCCI HAS BEEN WITH THE COMPANY SINCE 2019, CONTRIBUTING TO FOUR MAJOR PROJECTS AND COMPANY TRAINING.

TRISTEN SANBORN RECEIVED HIS EARLY TRAINING AT A LOCAL MINNESOTA STUDIO, BEFORE ATTENDING SAINT PAUL CONSERVATORY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTISTS, CONCENTRATING IN DANCE. FROM THERE, TRISTEN RELOCATED TO CHICAGO, RECEIVING HIS BFA IN DANCE FROM COLUMBIA COLLEGE CHICAGO IN MAY OF 2023. THROUGHOUT MINNESOTA'S TWIN CITIES AS WELL AS CHICAGO, HE HAS BEEN SEEN IN VARIOUS PROFESSIONAL WORKS AT AND WITH THE WALKER ARTS CENTER, THE COWLES CENTER, COMMON CONSERVATORY, THE TEK BOX THEATER, SHAPIRO & SMITH DANCE, AND MORE.