The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago

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The Dance Center was established in 1969 to house Columbia College Chicago’s Dance Department and has grown into a nationally respected academic program. Challenging technique courses across a range of styles, combined with the study of improvisation, composition, dance history and theory, music, and technical theater, provide students with essential learning and practice preparing them for professional and graduate endeavors in dance. Many of these classes are also open to the public. The faculty is comprised of working artists, enhanced by an array of visiting artist teachers of national and international stature.

In 1974, The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago established a performance series dedicated to presenting contemporary dance of national and international significance, representing the highest-quality and most innovative work in the field and to providing Chicago audiences with opportunities to witness the diversity of contemporary dance in professional settings. Since it first opened its doors, The Dance Center has presented more than 230 professional companies and choreographers and has firmly established its central position in the vitality of Chicago dance, and the United States.

The Dance Center has also extended the reach of its public education and outreach initiatives over the past decade, and seeks to deepen appreciation and understanding of contemporary dance and contribute to the health of Chicago communities.