Greta Baker-Hodge
“It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done."
- Vincent van Gogh
Claire Binguit
“You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that fleeting moment when you feel alive. It is not for unsteady souls.”
- Merce Cunningham
Mikee Ellis
“The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions that have been concealed by the answers.”
- James Baldwin
Mikayla Heinrich-Wong
“To dance is to feel the resonance of your life, to feel delight in your existence. To be human is to be danced by experience, energy, and emotion.”
- Crystal Pite
Ella Kim
"We are never more truly and profoundly human than when we dance."
- José Limón
J Stephens
“The purpose of truly transcendent art is to express something you are not yet, but that you can become.”
- Ken Wilber






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About Us
Our commitment is to “Community” not “Company,” the Participatory, rather than the Proprietary. And having chosen this route, we are building a more robust dance community.
DanceWorks Chicago is committed to build a foundation for the individual artistic growth of dancers and choreographers, providing a laboratory from which early career artists propel themselves and the art form to a new level through training, collaboration, mentorship, and performance. Led with integrity by Co-founder and Artistic Director Julie Nakagawa, DanceWorks Chicago fills a niche in the dance ecosystem investing in and shining a spotlight on the individual artists. Dancers are encouraged to explore their technical capability as well as their artistic curiosity in an individualized and deeply personal approach with the goal of nurturing passionate, articulate artists able to make meaningful contributions to the art form. Choreographically, we look to uncover new voices while also embracing opportunities to connect with more established choreographers providing mentorship and perspective for all involved. Welcoming the public to engage with the DanceWorks family to build context around the work of art is both our pleasure and our duty as a good dance citizen.


