Project Danztheatre Company, a non-profit multi-disciplinary arts organization founded in 2001, comprised of two distinct groups: Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, which is the adult performance company, and the outreach program Kids Project. Mission Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble is a non-profit multi-disciplinary arts organization, which was founded in 2001 as Adler Danztheatre Project. Inspired by the German Expressionist movement, Tanztheater, Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble is a collaborative performance company that strives to create socially conscious works by fusing elements of world literature and traditional western theatre with physical theatre, contemporary dance, visual art and multimedia. Using the written word as the structure and body movement as the primary storytelling tool, Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble creates original and compelling narratives that inspire new awareness and are accessible to wide-ranging audiences. Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble's outreach program, Kids Project strives to help build a foundation for artistic appreciation and greater self-esteem by introducing young students to the fine and performing arts, using children's literature as a vehicle. Its goal is to increase children of all backgrounds, an awareness of arts and literacy through experiences in many artistic disciplines, including painting, photography, acting, and dance.

Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble is a premier performance company focused on engaging audiences in socio-political theater, touring, arts in education, and continuing to push artistic boundaries with innovative performance styles and collaborations. The commitment of company members is instrumental to our programs and to the creation of our artistic work. The creative work of Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble is developed through an ensemble-based creative process under the direction of Artistic Director, Ellyzabeth Adler. Our work reflects our commitment to diversity and our mission of developing original works and literary adaptations into uniquely stimulating performance experiences. Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble has explored a multitude of topics through performance: the effects of suicide on families, women's body image, dreams, and adolescent coming-of-age. CDE has adapted the writing of T.S Eliot, Edgar Allen Poe, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. We have brought to life the artwork of Rene Magritte, adding a touch of Sigmund Freud. As well as working on adaptations, the ensemble members continue to write original poetry and stories to add to our blend of dance, theatre and music. We have a strong connection to our roots in the city of Chicago, creating works about the city and partnering with local musicians. With both The Voices Project and Full Circle Danztheatre Festival, CDE focuses on our collaboration with individual artists and performance companies in the city. Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble Programming In the fall of 2006, Danztheatre launched The Voices Project. This project has as its mission the creation of socially conscious works that will both illuminate important sociopolitical issues and help raise awareness for organizations who do work surrounding those issues. Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble founded the Full Circle Danztheatre Festival in 2003, which blends all forms of art, dance, text, music and visual art, into performances that capture and stimulate the mind. Full Circle's mission is to create a platform for artists to explore, refine, and present their work, and to create a venue where artists and community groups collaborate to develop new work that promotes the artistic ideals of Danztheatre. Danztheatre comes from the German Expressionist movement, tanztheater that Rudolf von Laban, hoped "through dance hoped to unite all art media and achieve an all-embracing, radical change in humankind." Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble is committed to community outreach as one of our highest priorities. We Our outreach efforts include performances, workshops, and classes, as well as holding food, clothing, or supplies drives for partner organizations at our performances. We have developed relationships with many organizations including Christopher House and the Neighborhood Writing Alliance. We are developing a poetry and performance workshop with the Neighborhood Writing Alliance for the fall of 2008. Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble is dedicated to creating performances and partnerships that bring about change in the world around us, even on a small scale. We work to grow a diverse audience, manifesting change on many levels, be it by touching someone through a performance or by working hand-in-hand with partners in the community.

http://www.danztheatre.org

• Ellyzabeth Adler
• 773 486 8261
• Need admin access?