Red Clay Dance Company debuted 16, a bold and deeply reflective performance exploring identity, hierarchy, and transformation, on Thursday, April 17th.
Chicago Southsider was on the ground for opening night at the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, where the company delivered a two-hour experience that moved beyond choreography and into the realm of communal storytelling.
The evening featured two provocative works that sparked reflection and dialogue: the premiere of Field: New Ground by legendary choreographer Bebe Miller, and the reimagining of Written on the Flesh, a landmark piece by Red Clay’s Founding Artistic Director and CEO, Vershawn Sanders-Ward.
The performance was followed by a post-show conversation featuring Sanders-Ward, Miller, and Associate Professor of Dance Lisa Gonzales, offering the audience a deeper look into the creative process, themes, and intentionality behind the works. “It’s not so much about sharing ideas—it’s about sharing a practice, a point of view, a way of being together,” Miller shared during the discussion.
Together, these pieces offered a visual meditation on power, tenderness, and the layered stories we carry in our bodies. Although the two works were crafted independently, they unfolded like chapters of one powerful narrative. “It felt like one long continuous journey… not just a performance, but a lived experience,” one dance team member reflected.
Themes of individual identity, collective struggle, and the possibility of transformation pulsed throughout the choreography. As Sanders-Ward asked, “How do we move through and take this moment as an opportunity? What needs to crumble, and where do we go from there?”
Red Clay Dance Company invited us to bear witness to the beauty of what can happen when truth, community, and creative freedom move together on stage. In that space, transformation wasn’t just performed. It was felt.
For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.
About On the Ground
On the Ground is a recurring series from Chicago Southsider that brings you into the heart of events, performances, and community moments as they happen. We show up, listen closely, and share stories rooted in the voices, visions, and vibrant experiences shaping our neighborhoods. Want us to be on the ground at your next event? Reach out to us at hello@chicagosouthsider.com and let’s build together.
