Speak-Easy: A One Billion Rising Event
Time: 7-9:30pm
Performances start at 8pm (40 minute)
8:45: Open mic: Sign up at check in
9:00: Raffle drawing
9:30: End of Event
Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble asked storytellers of all varieties to share what freedom means to them. As part of the 2023 One Billion Rising Campaign, CDE is kicking off the new year with a come-as-you-are variety show based on the theme of freedom. This one-night-only performance aims to give performing artist (writers, dancers, musicians, etc) a platform to ask “what if we were truly free?” Each performer has 5-7 minutes to perform their piece. The event will also feature pre and post show live music and a curated silent raffle. This commUNITY fundraiser will divide the proceeds between Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights and The Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund.
Special exhibition: Donated artworks from educators, teaching artists, and students working with our arts programs.
DJ set curated by Del Pueblo Records.
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DJ: John Guzman aka Jonny Fadez Jonny is a Dad, Poet, MC, and DJ! Not only has he been playing music around Chicago, but he makes time to help out the community. They cut hair for people experiencing homelessness when he is not being a parent, musician, or small business owner. They are the proud owner of Del Pueblo Records which is a record store and a barber shop in La Villita! IG: @jonnyrocksthefadez and @delpueblochicago |
Take our feedback survey after the performance!
All proceeds from this event will be split evenly between:
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Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights
https://riseup4abortionrights.org/ Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights is a nationwide non-violent political resistance movement organizing for legal abortion on demand & without apology, for everyone. Legal abortion in some states is not enough, not while millions of women and girls are denied that right and, along with it, their full humanity and potentially their very lives. A powerful Christian fascist movement is determined to ban abortion nationwide, along with the rights of LGBTQ people and many other rights as well, hitting Black, Brown and impoverished people especially hard. Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights recognizes that, to restore these rights nationwide, we need to be in the streets demanding them. We draw inspiration from the Green Wave in Latin America that has succeeded in winning abortion rights in several deeply Catholic countries through courageous mobilization, relentlessly demanding “¡Aborto legal ya!” |
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Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund
https://www.prlf.org/ We provide an educational opportunity for prisoners to engage with world events and key political, cultural, and philosophical questions from a unique perspective, including discussions of morality, religion, science, and the arts. By providing this literature, PRLF provides an educational opportunity for prisoners to engage with world events and key political, cultural, and philosophical questions of the day from a unique revolutionary perspective, including discussions of morality, religion, science, and the arts. Every week, prisoners are encouraged to delve into urgent and lively news and debate about unfolding political and social struggles, and to critically think about and dissect the current state of society, as well as search for an alternative. PRLF also strives to combat increasing censorship that seeks to deny prisoners. |
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Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble
https://www.danztheatre.org/ Mission The mission of Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble is to engage, inspire, and challenge the community, both onstage and in the classroom, through innovative and collaborative multidisciplinary storytelling to illuminate aspects of social issues. What do we mean by social issues and social justice? This is going beyond what all organizations should be doing with how they are run, diversity in casting and staff, pay transparency and equity. It is also about the work that we put up on stage and the curriculum we teach in the classroom. It is ever evolving and changing. Adopted January 2020 |
Ways to Donate
PayPal:
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=97MSPCGGTPGJ8
Venmo:
@danztheatre for fee-free giving.
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=97MSPCGGTPGJ8
Venmo:
@danztheatre for fee-free giving.
Producers
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Hannah Blau
Hannah Blau (She/Her) is a Chicago-based teaching and theater artist. She has taught at Chicago Danztheater Ensemble, Music House, and The Viola Project. She is a co-founder of Chicago Youth Shakespeare Alumni Players, a satellite organization of Chicago Youth Shakespeare, committed to CYS alumni outreach. Hannah has also worked with Redtwist Theatre, Oil Lamp Theatre, The Artistic Home, and Citadel Theatre. She is a graduate of the University of Manchester with a BA Hon in Drama, where she produced original research on theatre education’s role in the social and emotional development of high-school-aged young adults. This spring, she will direct Comedy of Errors at Mudlark Theatre and Numbers Game with the Whiskey Radio Hour. |
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Naomi Flores
Naomi Flores (She/They) originally from Rockford, IL, Naomi graduated with her bachelor’s in interactive and Industrial Design from Syracuse University. Although she loved her program, Naomi has always felt compelled to find ways to directly work with her community. When she first moved to Chicago, Naomi was involved with community groups like Pilsen Alliance. She also worked with smaller groups looking to fight gentrification in the predominantly Latino neighborhood of Pilsen. Now, she is dedicated to mentoring young adults experiencing homelessness at La Casa Norte, and teaching students with Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble. For Naomi, the most rewarding part of their role is interacting and creating community with students and educators. This is where she truly thrives! Naomi is a mandated reporter, certified in adult and pediatric first aid, as well as adult mental health first aid |
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Ellyzabeth Adler (CDE Executive Artistic Director)
Ellyzabeth Adler (She/Her) is a multidisciplinary artist working in the genre of "Tanztheatre," weaving together theatre, dance, film, spoken word, and music. As founder of Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble (CDE) she has dedicated herself to forming partnerships with artists of all genres and generations to create unique, dynamic, engaging, and meaningful ensemble performances. She also teaches and mentors the next generation of performers who, in turn, serve as visiting artists and teachers in schools and community centers through CDE’s Books Alive and Poetry Alive to enhance literacy, numeracy, and arts awareness for thousands of underserved children in the Chicago area, as well as teaching traditional dance, theatre and visual art in the schools. Ellyzabeth studied dance at William Reilly Academy of Ballet and danced with the Springfield Ballet Company before earning a BFA in Performing Arts, with a minor in Broadcast Journalism at Roosevelt University. In 2000 she earned a Masters of Arts in Directing and Movement; as her thesis she developed CDE’s techniques for creating multidisciplined, kinesthetic, and socially engaging theatre. She has created and/or collaboratively adapted, directed and choreographed 10 full-length works including: T.S Eliot’s The Wasteland; Ever Your Own; Edgar; The Yellow Wallpaper; This Is Not A Pipe; Bindis and Bruises; and Touch and Mirrors - one-act plays based on the work of the Persian poet, Rumi. She has also created and choreographed over a dozen concert-length works focused on women’s issues, the female body, the human condition, and pathways to enlightenment. Among these works include HOPE based off the letters of incarcerated men, Unraveling Bill about her friend Theresa Blake who's brother Bill committed suicide after returning from Iraq. While these topic might appear heavy, there is alway a ray of hope and healing in every work that Ellyzabeth created. In 2017, she teamed up with long time colleague, Lucy Vurusic Rhiner of RE Dance to create Ethereal Abandonment based on the photography of Chicagoan Candace Casey about a group of friends who explore an abandoned theater and item they find tells a story of long ago. Ellyzabeth is also a published author with her short stories Full Moon Soulmate and Last Chapter. As a domestic abuse survivor, she has spoken at several conferences and activism events including for Between Friends, Light Up The Lakefront, Muslim Women's Association and Columbia College. Ellyzabeth has one very simple goal in life: to change in the world for the better, one person at a time. |
Performing Artists
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Scarlett Sullivan: Clowning
Scarlett (She/Her) is a comedian, actress, professional clown, improviser, voice-over artist, dancer, and writer, who has recently relocated back to Chicago after touring! She is best known for her work while traveling with Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus as a world-famous Circus Clown & member of Clown Alley for nearly 5 years! At 16 years-old she was crowned New Jersey State Dance Champion, and attended Governor’s School of the Arts in NJ for Ballet. Scarlett has studied sketch & improv comedy with Upright Citizen’s Brigade, The Magnet Theater, People’s Improv Theater, The Second City, iO Theater, and The Annoyance. She attended Columbia College Chicago and holds a BFA in Theater with a concentration in Acting. She speaks fluent Spanish at home with her Paraguayan circus family, enjoys reading high-fantasy novels and riding her electric motorcycle around town. |
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Theo Wampuszyc: Poetry
Theo Wampuszyc (He/They) is a trans-masc actor, writer, and entertainer. He currently works as a clown for Vaudeville Chicago, a company that brings circus and variety comedy to senior living facilities with a focus on dementia and memory care. He has worked as a peer educator for the LA and Chicago branches of Sex. E Education, a program that uses comedy and performance to educate college Greek life about sexual wellness, consent, and resources for survivors of sexual violence. Last year he made his queer standup debut at Gender Fucked Production's Coalescence: a Queer, Trans Story Hour, followed closely by his role as the host of Phantom Moon Production's Bloodlesque. Offstage, Theo loves podcasting, voice acting, writing video essays for YouTube, and spending time with his rescue cat, Feta. |
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Zoe Garnett: Dance Group (Genesis)
Zoe Garnett (She/Her) is a choreographer and performing artist from Milwaukee, WI. She has trained at three dance schools across the country, including several years at a pre-professional ballet school. Zoe is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Fine Arts in contemporary performance and choreography, as well as Pilates certification from UW-Milwaukee. Driven by a passion to make dance more accessible, Zoe is currently exploring how dance and somatic practices can be applied in therapeutic settings through her work as a research and teaching assistant for Maria Gillespie in Parts of the Whole- The Body is Home. |
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Emma Meznarich: Dance Group (Genesis)
Emma Meznarich (They/She) is a dancer and choreographer living in Milwaukee. They are currently pursuing their BA in contemporary dance performance and choreography at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, paired with physical therapy training. Their work has been featured in UWM’s Dance Collective shows and at Camping Dance Festival in Paris, France. They have performed works by YNOT, Dawn Springer, and Maria Gillespie. |
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Rae Zimmereli: Dance Group (Genesis)
Rae Zimmerli (She/Her) is a dancer, choreographer, and photographer raised in Kansas City and living in Milwaukee. She is currently pursuing her BFA in contemporary performance and choreography at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is leader of UWM's Dance Student Organization and Dance Collective performance group, a choreographer and teacher at B. Inspired Dance Studio in Menomonee Falls, and a professional photographer in the competition dance circuit. Her choreography has been featured in Milwaukee Fringe Festival, Danceworks Milwaukee's Get It Out There show, UWM's Dance Collective shows, and at Camping Dance Festival in Paris, France. She has performed work by Katy Pyle of Ballez, Kia Smith of South Chicago Dance Theatre, YNOT, Simone Ferro, Maria Gillespie, Jaclyn Brown, and Amanda Lee. Her photography work has received an Honorable Mention from the Pas de Deux professional dance photography organization and competition and was selected for exhibition in the Tim Murphy Art Gallery in Merriam, Kansas. |
Visual Artists
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Sammi Ohlson - @sammis_paintings
My paintings never have a blueprint before I begin, I follow my intuition and feel out the piece over time. A common theme among my finished pieces is the combined use of surrealism and realism to create a dreamlike image. Surrealism of environment and color choice, realism of proportions and portraits- I create a dissociative and intimate piece. I anchor the image to reality with items of furniture or hands and bodies. I display mental anguish through physical tension in pulling skin and bodies. |
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Jon Hearon - @woonsak
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Paula Cofresi - @cofresiarts
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Naomi Flores - @mimimasmimi
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Student work from “This is not a Pipe”
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Student work from throughout the year
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Production Team
Lighting:
Cora Swise
Stage Manager:
Gabrielle Foreman
Photography:
Matthew Gregory Hollis
CDE Staff
Executive Artist Director:
Ellyzabeth Adler
Managing Director:
Carly Davis
Community Engagement Director:
Naomi Flores
Stage Manager,
Assistant Production Crew:
Gabrielle Foreman
Lighting:
Cora Swise
Stage Manager:
Gabrielle Foreman
Photography:
Matthew Gregory Hollis
CDE Staff
Executive Artist Director:
Ellyzabeth Adler
Managing Director:
Carly Davis
Community Engagement Director:
Naomi Flores
Stage Manager,
Assistant Production Crew:
Gabrielle Foreman
Up Next For CDE:
May 5-6, 12-13, 19-20
CDE will conclude their 20th anniversary with the production that began it all, an adaptation of T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland with a split bill of Daryo's All-American Diner by Conrad A. Panganiban presented by CIRCA-Pintig.
T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland, has a cast of four illuminating “the lost generation” of post-WWI European society and the human soul’s search for redemption using Ellyzabeth Adler’s unique style of danztheatre that blends together dance, theatre, music and video imagery into a visceral theatre experience. Written in a stream of consciousness, it seeks out what humans are looking for, a constant connection in life. Once we accept our future, there is an inner calming that happens to our soul.
The Chicago Tribune wrote, “Adler gently joins artistic forces, even to the point of making the exposed-brick walls of the space speak with a wizened sense of melancholy. When the shadows of the four ensemble members unobtrusively get superimposed on, say an image of a dead tree facing a treacherous sea…conveys in a tactile, aesthetically gorgeous way, the mystical power of fragmented moments weaving through our minds.”
Daryo's All-American Diner is about its struggling 40-something Asian-American co-owner, May Daryo, whose life is transformed after a violent attack on her family during the height of the pandemic. This Full-Length Drama set in the fictional midwestern city of Lakeside, IL., explores how something positive and hopeful can come out of a traumatic act of violence.
May 5-6, 12-13, 19-20
CDE will conclude their 20th anniversary with the production that began it all, an adaptation of T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland with a split bill of Daryo's All-American Diner by Conrad A. Panganiban presented by CIRCA-Pintig.
T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland, has a cast of four illuminating “the lost generation” of post-WWI European society and the human soul’s search for redemption using Ellyzabeth Adler’s unique style of danztheatre that blends together dance, theatre, music and video imagery into a visceral theatre experience. Written in a stream of consciousness, it seeks out what humans are looking for, a constant connection in life. Once we accept our future, there is an inner calming that happens to our soul.
The Chicago Tribune wrote, “Adler gently joins artistic forces, even to the point of making the exposed-brick walls of the space speak with a wizened sense of melancholy. When the shadows of the four ensemble members unobtrusively get superimposed on, say an image of a dead tree facing a treacherous sea…conveys in a tactile, aesthetically gorgeous way, the mystical power of fragmented moments weaving through our minds.”
Daryo's All-American Diner is about its struggling 40-something Asian-American co-owner, May Daryo, whose life is transformed after a violent attack on her family during the height of the pandemic. This Full-Length Drama set in the fictional midwestern city of Lakeside, IL., explores how something positive and hopeful can come out of a traumatic act of violence.
Mission:
Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble engages, inspires, and challenges audiences, both onstage and in the classroom, through innovative, multidisciplinary storytelling. We do this in the genre of Tanztheatre, "which unites all art media to achieve an all-embracing radical change in humankind."
Vision:
Residents of Chicagoland are inspired to make their world a better place by exploring important social issues in an artistic setting.
All students have access to arts education and can holistically develop their skills to be proactive, positive members of society.
Equity at CDE:
Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble strives to create an equitable and empowering space for our artists, administrators, teachers, and audiences. We aim to build a platform for the voices of the diverse communities we serve. All are welcome!
Artistic Identity in Performance:
Rooted in the tradition of Tanztheatre and in the collaborative process of devising, CDE creates contemporary multidisciplinary performances to address social issues, in a space that allows for community conversation and cultural change.
Artistic Identity in the Classroom:
CDE’s arts education programs create a space in Chicago schools for students to explore their own creativity. Our teaching artists support the holistic development of science, math, reading, and social skills through art and performance.
Land Acknowledgement:
CDE's permanent home, Ebenezer Lutheran Church Auditorium, sits on the traditional homelands of the Three Fires Confederacy: Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi nations, as well as the Fox, Ho-Chunk, Inoka, Miami, Sac, and their descendants. We recognize that Indigenous peoples are the traditional stewards of the land that we now occupy, living here long before Chicago was a city, and still thriving here today. We invite you to join us in offering them our respect and gratitude.
Funders:
Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble is supported by The Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; The Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation; The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation; The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; DCASE, Department of Cultural Affairs; and the annual support of individual donors.
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