Red Clay Dance Company, Chicago’s premier Afro-contemporary dance company, proudly announces its exciting Season 17 programming, including a world premiere by Founding Artistic Director and CEO Vershawn Sanders-Ward at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago in September 2025 and the return of Red Clay Dance Company’s La Femme Dance Festival at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in March 2026. For more information and program updates, visit redclaydance.com/season17.
This is an exciting moment for Red Clay Dance Company as it expands its touring repertoire and national profile. Next month, the company makes its performance debut at both Jacob's Pillow and The Yard at Martha's Vineyard, presenting works by Vershawn Sanders-Ward at two of the most acclaimed performance festivals in the U.S. In August, Red Clay Dance Company will perform Sanders-Ward’s Rest.Rise.Move.Nourish.Heal at the Africatown Culture Festival hosted by the Africatown Heritage House museum in Mobile, Alabama.
(l-r) Founding Artistic Director and CEO Vershawn Sanders-Ward, credit Raymond Jerome; Red Clay Dance Company’s Chanelle Turnbull, Zipporah Wilson, Celeste Brace and Alexandira Kinard perform Written on the Flesh by Vershawn Sanders-Ward, credit MReid Photography.
Season 17 kicks off with the Paint the Town Red Fundraiser on Friday, Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. at the Red Clay Dance Company Center for Excellence, 808 East 63rd Street in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood. Advance tickets are now on sale starting at $150. This evening of entertainment, community engagement and philanthropy supports Red Clay Dance Company’s mission to awaken Glocal Artivism and empowerment through dance.
Also in September, Red Clay Dance Company presents the world premiere of Founding Artistic Director and CEO Vershawn Sanders-Ward’s Freedom Square: A Blackgirlhood Altar during the Chicago Performs festival at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 21 at 2 p.m. This annual MCA festival showcases groundbreaking works by Chicago artists pushing the boundaries of what live performance can do. Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar is an immersive interdisciplinary project designed to envision a utopia of freedom for Black women and girls, blending dance, song, digital media, and built environment to create a profound and resonant experience. Tickets will go on sale later this summer.
Red Clay Dance Company’s La Femme Dance Festival returns to the Harris Theater for Music and Dance on Saturday, March 28 at 7:30 p.m. The biennial festival celebrating women in dance brings choreographic works created by women of the Black/African diaspora to Chicago audiences. Programming kicks off with a master class at Red Clay Dance Company on March 27, followed by the Harris Theater performance on March 28 featuring the premiere of choreographer Rena Butler’s new work A SEAT for Red Clay Dance Company, along with a reprise of Founding Artistic Director and CEO Vershawn Sanders-Ward’s Written on the Flesh.
Season 17 concludes with a Summer Intensive from June 1–June 12, 2026, at the Red Clay Dance Company Center for Excellence, 808 East 63rd Street in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood.
About the choreographers
Vershawn Sanders-Ward is a visionary director, choreographer, educator and Artivist who is transforming the landscape of contemporary dance through her art and activism. As the Founding Artistic Director and CEO of Red Clay Dance Company, she blends African diasporic dance forms with modern techniques, creating performances that inspire social change and provoke thought. A lifelong advocate for community empowerment, Vershawn uses dance as a platform to explore themes of identity, race and justice. She has earned numerous accolades, including the inaugural Walder Platform Award, Dance/USA Artist Fellowship, Chicago Dancemakers Forum Award, and a 3Arts Award. Vershawn’s choreography has been featured at prestigious institutions like Northwestern University and Loyal University Chicago, with commissions extending across the U.S. and internationally. An accomplished educator, she holds an MFA in Dance from NYU and currently serves on the faculty at Loyola University Chicago. Her influence extends beyond the stage, serving as a Board Trustee for Dance/USA. A Community Impact Fellow for the Harvard Business School Club and a featured guest on PBS's The Expressway with Dule Hill, Vershawn’s commitment to equity and inclusion in the arts is shaping the future of dance and culture globally.
Rena Butler hails from Chicago and began her studies at The Chicago Academy for the Arts. She studied overseas at Taipei National University of the Arts in Taiwan, and received her BFA from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance. Rena performed with companies including Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, AIM by Kyle Abraham, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, David Dorfman Dance, The Kevin Wynn Collection, Pasos Con Sabor Salsa Dance Company, and Gibney Company. Rena is a recipient of the prestigious 2019 Princess Grace Foundation Award for Choreography and San Francisco’s 2024 Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography. She has created works for Het Nationale Ballet in The Netherlands, National Ballet of Canada, San Francisco Opera's Orpheus and Euridice, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Norrdans in Sweden, AIM By Kyle Abraham, Gauthier Dance in Stuttgart, Germany, The Lyric Opera of Chicago's Proximity, Cincinnati Ballet, Le Ballet de L’Opéra Grand Avignon and Arles Youth Ballet Company in France, The New Orleans Museum of Modern Art, SALT Dance, a film for Third Coast Percussion x Devonté Hynes/Blood Orange, Oregon Ballet Theater, The Juilliard School, Oklahoma City Ballet, Parsons Dance, TEDxChicago Virtual Salon 3.0: Design Your Life, Charlotte Ballet, BalletX, and more. She was the featured cover story for Dance Magazine’s November 2021 issue.
About Red Clay Dance Company
Red Clay Dance Company, Chicago’s premier Afro-contemporary dance company, was founded in 2008 by Artistic Director & CEO Vershawn Sanders-Ward. The touring company is an award-winning ensemble of versatile and dynamic dance Artivists that tour and perform locally, nationally, and internationally. In its 17-year history the company has toured and performed in venues such as the Harris Theater for Music & Dance, the Dance Center of Columbia College, the DuSable Museum Roundhouse, the Museum of Contemporary Art, ODC Theater, Dance Mission Theater, The Painted Bride, Joyce Soho, and the National Theater of Uganda. Through performances, training, and community engagement, Red Clay Dance Company seeks to elevate Black dance traditions and cultivate a diverse and inclusive arts community. Embracing Artivism, Red Clay Dance Company harnesses the transformative power of dance to address social issues and inspire change. By merging artistic excellence with a commitment to social justice, the company continues to make a profound impact on both the local and global stage. For more information, visit redclaydance.com.