Photo by Rachel Neville for CBDLP ft. Ruby Levin from Joel Hall Dancers.

The Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project’s concert "Divination: The Dancing Souls of Black Folk" will celebrate the divine presence and inspiration in Black Dance—past, present, and future. Tickets are FREE; RSVP requested. 

Kicking off with a DJ set by Duane Powell, the engagement will highlight the spiritual and mystical practices of African-derived people in America and throughout the diaspora. Together with video transitions, the performance will seamlessly thread movement vignettes featuring legacy figures from each company's history. Additionally, there will be an In Memoriam segment honoring CBDLP family members who have joined the Ancestors and a special finale featuring dancers from the CBDLP companies and guest artists from the greater Chicago dance community, created by emerging choreographer Imani English. 

The full list of companies performing include: The Chicago Multicultural Dance Company and Hiplet Ballerinas, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, The Era Footwork Collective, Forward Momentum Chicago, Joel Hall Dancers & Center, M.A.D.D. Rhythms, Move Me Soul, Muntu Dance Theatre, NAJWA Dance Corps, and Praize Productions Inc. 

Gary Abbott and Kevin Iega Jeff, celebrated choreographers/directors and co-founders of Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, will act as curators for the performance, whose original artistic vision was set by Princess Mhoon, former Director, CBDLP.

The CBDLP is a project of the Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago, and this engagement is a part of DCASE’s Millennium Park Residency Program, which provides funding to create free dynamic programming as part of Millennium Park’s milestone 20th Anniversary Summer Season. "We are proud to provide residency support and a platform for the important work of the Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project," said DCASE Commissioner Clinée Hedspeth. "We expect this to be an extraordinary evening in Millennium Park.”