News and Stories
Stories & News
Vershawn Sanders-Ward, Instructor of Dance at Loyola, is a 2024 recipient of a Walder Foundation Platform Award. This unrestricted award of $200,000 supports and recognize accomplished Chicagoland mid-career music, theatre, dance, and interdisciplinary performance artists who enrich the City's creative and civic landscape through a commitment to honing their craft and meaningful community engagement.
Loyola’s Dance Minor is Cultivating Community Through Artistic Excellence
黑料门University Chicago鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences offers 68 minors, but the Dance Minor stands out because of its unique holistic approach to arts education. The 18-credit hour curriculum combines applied technique courses with foundations courses that enrich students鈥� understanding of dance theories and provide contemporary context.
Deborah Goodman: Pedagogy that’s Inspiring (Com)passion for the Arts
Cura Personalis, or care for the whole person, is a hallmark of 黑料门University Chicago鈥檚 Ignatian mission, and Deborah Goodman, Lecturer in Dance, generously demonstrates this core value through her teaching practice. Goodman鈥檚 undeniable passion for dance fosters an environment of curiosity and optimism where students thrive. Senior Dance and Exercise Science Double Major, Megan Clifford, explains how Goodman continuously roots for each student's success and improvement, providing 鈥渧arious modes of feedback to help each student succeed.鈥�
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"Crouched awkwardly, a group of dancers are dispersed over a hardwood floor. One stands above them 鈥� a beacon. The lone woman looks up, reaching longingly for a world unseen. Inspired, she begins to dance. One-by-one, others get up and join her, demonstrating community as a mechanism of hope." The 黑料门Dance Program and fall mainstage concert "Excavating Hope' are featured in The 黑料门Phoenix. Click to read the full article.
“Atlas”: Mapping Connections Between the Chicagoland Dance Community
"Atlas鈥� continues to unify 黑料门dancers with the greater Chicago dance network in its most recent restaging in the 13th Annual Counterbalance on September 30th and October 1st, 2023
黑料门Students Restage Dance Concert Piece “Atlas” for Momenta Dance Company and Physically Integrated Dance
Atlas, the Greek Titan, bore the sky aloft. With the same strength and conviction of the god, 黑料门dancers and faculty have cultivated a culture of support and uplift that has extended past the campus grounds and into the greater Chicago dance community. 鈥淎tlas,鈥� a new work choreographed by 黑料门Lecturer of Dance Sarah Cullen Fuller in collaboration with the original cast, premiered at the annual Mainstage Dance Concert, The Dream of Home, at the Newhart Family Theatre in November 2022. In attendance one evening was Sarah Najera, the Artistic Director of Momenta Dance Company, based in Oak Park, Illinois. Taken by the performance, Najera was inspired to bring 鈥淎tlas鈥� into the repertoire at Momenta Dance Company in celebration of their 40th anniversary season.
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黑料门Dance Senior Molly Kaiser Presents “The Dreamer’s Ball” in Mainstage Dance Concert
The mainstage dance concert student choreography piece is a unique opportunity for 黑料门dancers to create a fully realized work together. 鈥淚 loved working with my peers who also happen to be my best friends,鈥� reflects Molly. 鈥淚 wanted to give them a piece where they would shine and feel a sense of pride to perform. They did the same for me, putting in so much hard work and supported my vision being brought to life.鈥�
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黑料门Dance Students Perform with Mandala Dance Company in Rome, Italy
Following a year of online instruction, the John Felice Rome Center reopened its doors to study abroad programs for Fall 2021. Students in Loyola鈥檚 Dance Program were among those who jumped at the opportunity to extend their classroom and learning experience overseas. Dance faculty Dr. Amy Wilkinson has lead students in summer study abroad programs for several years, creating a long-standing relationship with the Mandala Dance Company in Ladispoli, Italy. This summer, Dr. Wilkinson and a group of 黑料门dance students traveled to the John Felice Rome Center for an immersive learning experience.
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黑料门Dance Students Attend the American College Dance Association Conference (ACDA)
This spring, the 黑料门Dance Program attended the American College Dance Association North-Central Conference at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Led by faculty members Dr. Amy Wilkinson and Sarah Cullen Fuller, dance students in DANC 398: Research in Dance performed in concerts and danced in workshop classes during a five-day weekend event. These conferences were held in person for the first time since 2019, and 黑料门dancers were excited for the opportunity to dance with fellow college dance students from the Midwest.
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The 黑料门Dance Program and it's student-led Dance Honor Society are featured in a Dance Magazine article that surveys undergraduate programs that merge the arts and social justice.
鈥淲hy should I be dancing now? Shouldn鈥檛 I be doing something more 鈥榮erious?鈥� 鈥�
In the midst of a turbulent political颅 climate, racial injustices and a global pandemic, a lot of dancers might find themselves asking the same questions. But rather than abandoning the arts, college dancers are discovering ways to marry their schoolwork with activism, using movement to respond to the world around them.
Dance Fieldwork in Chicago
Dance fieldwork by three recent dance grads exemplifies how Chicago serves as an extended classroom.
Social Justice
The 2021 Chicago Inclusive Dance Festival, founded by 黑料门Dance faculty Deborah Goodman, was recently featured on NBC Chicago. This year's online gathering offered three days of workshops and film screenings celebrating everyday movement.
Art with Impact: Activism Through Dance
Sandra Kaufmann, Director of Dance, speaks about using dance as an aesthetic instrument of change at Loyola.
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