The dance industry's nonprofit service organization, See Chicago Dance (SCD), held its 2024 Gala Community Celebration & Awards Presentation, on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at Venue West, 221 N. Paulina. The annual special event broke See Chicago Dance’s previous records for attendance with 270 people attending, and fundraising, raising $140,000, while commemorating its past, present and future. For more information on See Chicago Dance, go to SeeChicagoDance.com.
The 2024 Gala Community Celebration & Awards Presentation began with a cocktail hour where members of Chicago’s dance community and guests enjoyed an open bar and passed hors d'oeuvres and then continued at a seated dinner where the 2024 Legacy Award Recipient Jan Bartoszek’s company, Hedwig Dances, performed excerpts of company works “Futura” and “META | MOR | PHOS” which was created in partnership with the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation in Germany. Hedwig Dances performers included Olivia Gonzalez, Kaelen Gouveia, Kelly Kosiek, Kalli Loudan, Paula Sousa and Sophia Vangelatos.
After the performance, Executive Director Julia Mayer welcomed the attendees saying “Thank you to the array of fabulous people who have done so much to have an impact on the dance community.” She added that tonight’s honorees reflect the past, present and future of the organization as it reaches its 20th anniversary. She then introduced a video created by Chicago Dance History Project highlighting the origins of See Chicago Dance, featuring the organization's co-founders, Carol Fox and Niki Morrison.
See Chicago Dance Board President Jorge Perez took the stage to toast Fox and Morrison, who were the evening’s honorary co-chairs. An emotional Fox remarked that she was overwhelmed being in the room with so many people from the Chicago dance community whom she has known for many years. She said that the creation of first, the website, SeeChicagoDance.com and then the organization of Audience Architects which came to be See Chicago Dance was clearly a labor of love for her and Morrison and at first was met with uncertainty. Fortunately, she noted, the Chicago Community Trust showed interest and their idea of a website to be utilized by the dance community and supporters also found “vocal and strong supporters who were integral to its founding and further successes, including Gail Kalver, Scott Silberstein and Judie Green.”
Morrison reflected Fox’s sentiments and spoke about the history of the organization, saying, “ I cannot stress enough that this was all created because of you, the dance community. You were vulnerable enough to share your needs. You collaborated with us to devise solutions and you supported the site to ensure SeeChicagoDance’s success.” Morrison also shared how revolutionary SeeChicagoDance.com was when it was founded during the infancy of e-commerce as well as offering discounted tickets three years before Groupon and a platform for videos at the same time of YouTube’s founding.
After dinner was served, Ginger Farley, 2023 recipient of the Distinguished Service to the Dance Field Award, spoke about her own past during those early stages of the organization and introduced a video highlighting the career of this year’s recipient Patti Eylar. After the video, event co-chair Kevin McGirr shared about his 15 year friendship with Eylar. He had the crowd laughing when he mentioned that Eylar not only had danced and taught at Ballet Chicago, but she was also the accountant. McGirr noted that while everyone knows of Eylar as a dancer, she is also a champion for dance and dancers. He welcomed Eylar to the stage and mentioned that, in receiving the Award she joins past honorees Ginger Farley, Randy Duncan, Gail Kalver and Pam Crutchfield, all of whom were in attendance at the event.
Eylar thanked See Chicago Dance for the award and acknowledged her family and friends who have also been supportive. She concluded by saying “I wanted to give back to the community and this award is evidence that I found a way to be helpful.”
The 2023 Legacy Award Recipient Homer Bryant introduced a tribute video about the 2024 See Chicago Dance Legacy Award recipient Jan Bartoszek, founder and artistic director of Hedwig Dances saying, “See Chicago Dance defines the Legacy Award as ‘given to an artistic leader who has enriched their community and made a significant and sustained impact on dance in Chicago.’ As last year’s recipient, I am pleased to be passing the torch to this year’s very worthy honoree, Jan Bartoszek. I have admired Jan’s work for a long time. I know from experience that running a company or a school, or anything!, for 40 years requires great tenacity and love.”
After the video, Hedwig Dances Board Member Marla Philpot spoke to her personal experience with Bartoszek and the company, “When I first saw Hedwig, and every time I see Hedwig, that thing that is always constant and what I’ve come to expect is this connectedness.” She continued, “I am so proud that I get to dip my toes in a small part of Jan’s hemisphere and experience her artistry, uniqueness and boldness. I’ll have you know, it’s a pretty cool place to be.”
Bartoszek thanked Philpot for the touching introduction and said she’s honored to be a part of a night celebrating Eylar as well as thanking Fox and Morrison for all the years of promoting Chicago dance. She then thanked the many organizations and individuals who were a part of her story including her husband, the Hedwig Dances Board, multiple organizations and individuals and MoMing Dance and Arts Center. MoMing introduced Chicago to leading postmodern choreographers and performers, including Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs, David Gordon, Bill T. Jones, Eiko & Koma, Ping Chong, Meredith Monk, Mark Morris, and others. It was at MoMing where she began to develop her choreography, teaching practice, and offered performances. After the closing of MoMing in 1990, “with the help of Hedwig’s board, I created a proposal for a dance residency, modeled on MoMing, and sent it out to several Chicago institutions. To my surprise and delight, Hedwig was invited by Lois Weisberg [former Commissioner of the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs] to become the dance company in residence at the Chicago Cultural Center, where we stayed for 20 years.” She concluded saying, “Hedwig Dances as a platform has been a stable and effective vehicle to effect my vision for the Chicago arts community. And, in so doing, Hedwig has trained and mentored dance artists, provided regular ongoing employment and benefits to dancers, and participated in the building of an infrastructure for dance in Chicago. But most of all, our goal has been to delight and inspire audiences.”
After the award presentation, Roderick Hawkins hosted See Chicago Dance’s first-ever paddle raise and began by saying how Fox and Morrison created the original website 20 years ago and in 2025, See Chicago Dance will launch a new website for its 20th anniversary and funds raised will go toward the new website and other See Chicago Dance initiatives. This paddle raise surpassed its $30,000 goal from the donations made that night.
The record-breaking evening concluded with heartfelt thanks from Mayer to the evening’s honorees, guests, staff, and volunteers.
The event co-chairs are Kay Burnett, Pam Crutchfield, Winifred Haun, and Kevin McGirr. The 2024 Host Committee currently includes Robin Edwards (Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center), Honorary Chair Carol Fox+ (Carol Fox & Associates), Judie Moore Green+ (Auditorium Theater), Roderick Hawkins (Northwestern University), Meghan McNamara+ (Levitt Pavilion Denver), Michael McStraw+ (Chicago Dance History Project), Princess Mhoon (Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project), Honorary Chair Niki Morrison+ (Carol Fox & Associates), Brian Smith+ (Joffrey Ballet) and Linda Swayze (Joffrey Ballet).
+ Connotes past See Chicago Dance board presidents
ABOUT JAN BARTOSZEK, 2024 LEGACY AWARD RECIPIENT
Jan Bartoszek is an American choreographer and the founder and artistic director of Hedwig Dances. For decades, she has created powerful, visually compelling dances, established multiple international dance collaborations, mentored numerous dance artists, received an Emmy nomination for her dance film “Arch of Repose” and played a leading role in making dance a vital force at the Chicago Cultural Center. Ms. Bartoszek has choreographed more than 70 dances for Hedwig Dances that critics have described as “intelligent, accomplished, moving” (Chicago Tribune) and “poignantly human” (Chicago Reader). She has presented her works in Chicago’s vibrant theaters, national performance venues including the Aspen Institute and two exclusive performances at Joyce SoHo in New York City and internationally in Cuba, Germany, Honduras, Mexico, Brazil and Canada. Through her interdisciplinary dancework, she fosters a spirit of collaboration with other artists–merging choreography, objects, media, text and music–to create dances that resonate with complexity and depth.
ABOUT PATTI EYLAR, 2024 DISTINGUISHED SERVICE TO THE DANCE COMMUNITY RECIPIENT
Patti Eylar studied in California, Maryland, and on full scholarship at the American Ballet Theatre School in New York. In 1977 she moved to Chicago to join the Lyric Opera Ballet and was a founding member of the Chicago City Ballet, directed by Maria Tallchief and Paul Mejia. She then danced with Ballet Chicago, directed by Daniel Duell, from its inception in 1987 until 1993. She was also a soloist in Ruth Page’s The Nutcracker at the Arie Crown Theater. She was a faculty member and accountant at the School of Ballet Chicago from 1995 to 2001 and started teaching at Chicago Ballet Arts in 2002. From 2005 to 2020, she and Leslie Saunders were co-directors of CBA. Ms. Eylar was on the faculty of the Lou Conte Dance Studio from 2002 until its closure in 2020. She has served on the boards of the Chicago Dance Coalition, Chicago Dance and Music Alliance, the Civic Ballet of Chicago and See Chicago Dance. She is currently a board member and past president of the Joffrey Ballet Women's Board and is a board member of The Joffrey Ballet, Auditorium Theatre, Chicago Dance Health Fund, Chicago Dance History Project and Chicago Ballet Arts. In 2011 she received the Ruth Page Award for her contributions to the Chicago dance community. In 2014 she and her husband, Charles Gardner, received the JUBA award from the Chicago Human Rhythm Project and in 2019 they received the Adler & Sullivan Award for their lasting contributions to the arts and the National Historic Landmark Auditorium Theatre.
ABOUT CAROL FOX, 2024 HONORARY CHAIR
Carol Fox established Carol Fox & Associates, Inc. (CF&A) in 1994 to provide unparalleled marketing and public relations services for Chicago-based arts and entertainment organizations. As the firm celebrates its 30th anniversary, CF&A has grown to become the largest Chicago-based marketing and public relations firm dedicated to promoting arts, entertainment and lifestyle clientele locally and in more than 30 cities across North America. Ms. Fox has earned the Crain’s Chicago Business Notable Entrepreneur Award and, most recently, the company has been acknowledged by PR Net as one of the top 100 agencies in the U.S. in 2023.
Ms. Fox’s career includes five plus years as the director of communications for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Her passion for dance led her to spearhead the development of the non-profit website SeeChicagoDance.com, a project of The Chicago Community Trust’s Excellence in Dance Initiative. Following the success of the website, Ms. Fox and co-founder Niki Morrison founded See Chicago Dance (formerly Audience Architects) and considers it one of the highlights of her career. Carol served as the president of See Chicago Dance for 12 years.
ABOUT NIKI MORRISON, 2024 HONORARY CHAIR
As Carol Fox & Associates’ executive vice president, Niki Morrison plays a major role in the company’s general operations, overseeing both the marketing and special events departments and establishing the digital media department. A former dancer, Ms. Morrison feels fortunate to have worked with New York City Ballet, Giordano Dance Chicago, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Pilobolus and Savion Glover, among many others.
Continuing her lifelong dedication to dance, Ms. Morrison is proud to have co-founded nonprofit organization See Chicago Dance with Carol Fox for which the two were honored with the Ruth Page Award for dedication to the field. She has also served on committees for Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival and Dance/USA, where she was also a speaker.
ABOUT SEE CHICAGO DANCE
See Chicago Dance is a nonprofit service organization with the mission to advocate for the dance field and strengthen a diverse range of dance organizations and artists through services and programs that build and engage audiences. Its vision is to fearlessly inspire an ever-growing inclusive community to share in and spread the power of dance in Chicago.
See Chicago Dance is the source for all things dance with the city’s most comprehensive resource for dance information and one of the largest websites in the United States dedicated to the art form. Its two-pronged approach focuses on building audiences while developing a more cohesive dance community.
For audience members, See Chicago Dance offers a dynamic calendar of dance performances and experiences, Hot Deal ticket discounts, professionally written reviews and previews, and listings for more than 200 dance organizations.
For dance artists and organizations, See Chicago Dance provides a full range of Programs and Industry Resources to help build audiences, improve skills and foster appreciation of dance.
See Chicago Dance’s board of directors includes Amanda Banks (vice president), Debra Bernstein-Siegel, Michael Foster, Ladonna Freidheim, Erik Kaiko, Jorge Perez (president), Allyson Ratliff, Marisa C. Santiago (secretary), Kia Smith, Dawn Stanislaw (treasurer) and Sarah Venuti-Yates.
See Chicago Dance Board of Directors: (L to R) Amanda Banks, Debra Bernstein-Siegel, Sarah Venuti Yates, Jorge Perez, Ladonna Freidheim, Dawn Stanislaw, Marisa Santiago, Kia Smith, Michael Foster at the See Chicago Dance 2024 Gala Community Celebration & Awards Presentation, September 24 at Venue West. Not pictured are Erik Kaiko and Allyson Ratliff. Photo by Michelle Reid/MReid Photography
(L to R) Victor Alexander and Maray Gutierrez of Ruth Page Center for the Arts at the See Chicago Dance 2024 Gala Community Celebration & Awards Presentation, September 24 at Venue West. Photo by Michelle Reid/MReid Photograph
(L to R) Niki Morisson and Carol Fox, co-founders of See Chicago Dance and 2024 honorary co-chairs at the See Chicago Dance 2024 Gala Community Celebration & Awards Presentation, September 24 at Venue West. Photo by Michelle Reid/MReid Photography
(L to R) Andreas Böttcher, Gail Kalver, Marsha Dowd and Phil Dowd at the See Chicago Dance 2024 Gala Community Celebration & Awards Presentation, September 24 at Venue West.Photo by Michelle Reid/MReid Photography
Hedwig Dances performs an excerpt of “META | MOR | PHOS” at the See Chicago Dance 2024 Gala Community Celebration & Awards Presentation, September 24 at Venue West. Photo by Michelle Reid/MReid Photography
Hedwig Dances performs an excerpt of “META | MOR | PHOS” at the See Chicago Dance 2024 Gala Community Celebration & Awards Presentation, September 24 at Venue West.Photo by Michelle Reid/MReid Photography
Co-founder of See Chicago Dance and 2024 Honorary Co-chair Niki Morrison speaks with the audience at the See Chicago Dance 2024 Gala Community Celebration & Awards Presentation at the See Chicago Dance 2024 Gala Community Celebration & Awards Presentation, September 24 at Venue West. Photo by Michelle Reid/MReid Photography
2024 Distinguished Service to the Dance Field Award Honoree Patti Eylar at the See Chicago Dance 2024 Gala Community Celebration & Awards Presentation, September 24 at Venue West. Photo by Michelle Reid/MReid Photography
(L to R) Marla Philpot with 2024 Legacy Award Recipient Jan Bartoszek at the See Chicago Dance 2024 Gala Community Celebration & Awards Presentation, September 24 at Venue West. Photo by Michelle Reid/MReid Photography
(L to R) ASL interpreter Veramarie Baldoza and 2023 Distinguished Service to the Dance Field Recipient Ginger Farley at the See Chicago Dance 2024 Gala Community Celebration & Awards Presentation, September 24 at Venue West. Photo by Michelle Reid/MReid Photography
See Chicago Dance Staff: (L to R) Executive Director Julia Mayer, Membership & Operations Manager Kennedy Ward and Marketing Manager Solomon Bowser at the See Chicago Dance 2024 Gala Community Celebration & Awards Presentation, September 24 at Venue West. Photo by Michelle Reid/MReid Photography
(L to R) ASL interpreter Veramarie Baldoza and Kevin McGirr at the See Chicago Dance 2024 Gala Community Celebration & Awards Presentation, September 24 at Venue West. Photo by Michelle Reid/MReid Photography
(L to R) Vershawn Sanders-Ward of Red Clay Dance Company and T Ayo Alston of Ayodele Drum & Dance at the See Chicago Dance 2024 Gala Community Celebration & Awards Presentation, September 24 at Venue West. Photo by Michelle Reid/MReid Photography
(L to R) ASL interpreter Kristin Schmitz and Roderick Hawkins at the See Chicago Dance 2024 Gala Community Celebration & Awards Presentation, September 24 at Venue West. Photo by Michelle Reid/MReid Photography
(L to R) See Chicago Dance 2024 Gala Community Celebration & Awards Honorary Co-chair Carol Fox with 2023 Legacy Award Recipient Homer Hans Bryant at the See Chicago Dance 2024 Gala Community Celebration & Awards Presentation, September 24 at Venue West. Photo by Michelle Reid/MReid Photography