Emergence Dance Theatre presents the popular and romantic Dance Chicago program, Dances From the Heart, Saturday, Jan. 24 at 8 p.m. The program, curated by Artistic Director John Schmitz, takes place at the Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture, 2936 N. Southport Ave. Dance Chicago, now in its 31st year, has offered programming showcasing more than 250 performing groups and over 2,500 individual artists spanning a wide variety of genres. Tickets to Dances from the Heart are $19 - $49 and are on sale now at AthenaeumCenter.org or 312.820.6250.
Dances From the Heart showcases the hottest romantic and transformational works from Dance Chicago’s best performers, featuring an amazing array of dance styles including Flamenco, Ballet, Jazz, comedy dance, musical theatre, Tap, Urban Fusion, Irish, Classical Indian, Hip-Hop and others. The night is the most entertainingly beautiful way to celebrate Chicago’s finest dance creators.
The 2026 program, curated by John Schmitz, includes Beyond Words / Kate Jablonski, Christine Rich Dance Theatre, Elevations Studio Company, Footprints Tap Ensemble, Forum Dance Theatre, Gus Giordano (GG) Company, Gus Legacy Company, Hip Hop ConnXion, Hot Crowd, On Broadway Dancers, Ramya Ravi (Kalakriti School of Dance), Sophia de Leon Sanchez (Flamenco), Tre Dumas (Chicago Tap icon), Trinity Irish Dance Ensemble, Visceral Studio Company and Wheatland Dance Theater.
ABOUT DANCE CHICAGO
Founded by John Schmitz and the late Fred Solari, Dance Chicago burst onto the scene in 1995. Garnering vast support from the Chicago dance community, audience and funders, Dance Chicago has invested time, energy and creativity in building the Chicago Dance Community experienced today. The festival has created over 600 shows and showcased 15,000 acts with 150,000 artists to audiences of 250,000.
ABOUT JOHN SCHMITZ
John Schmitz is the co-founder of Dance Chicago and its artistic producer. He has been producing inventive dance events for 40 years, promoting alliances and collaborations between artists and dance organizations both nationally and internationally. Schmitz was one of 1995 Chicago Tribune's “Chicagoans of the Year,” a 1998 Ruth Page Award recipient for “Outstanding Contribution to the Dance Community” and the 2006 winner of Columbia College Arts “Entrepreneurship of the Year Award.” His programming focus is in the belief that dance can drive emotional transformation. Being non-verbal, its dramatic power is well suited to such a task. The goal is: feel better about life when you leave the theatre than you did before you entered.
Emergence Dance Theatre presents the popular and romantic Dance Chicago program, Dances From the Heart, Saturday, Jan. 24 at 8 p.m. The program, curated by Artistic Director John Schmitz, takes place at the Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture, 2936 N. Southport Ave. Dance Chicago, now in its 31st year, has offered programming showcasing more than 250 performing groups and over 2,500 individual artists spanning a wide variety of genres. Tickets to Dances from the Heart are $19 - $49 and are on sale now at AthenaeumCenter.org or 312.820.6250.