Chicago Dance Crash is an American physical theater and

street dance Street dance is an umbrella term for a large number of social dance styles such as: breakdancing, popping, Locking (dance), locking, house dance, waacking, voguing, etc. Social dance styles have many accompanying steps and foundations, created o ...

company based in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. The company tours year round while sustaining a calendar year ‘season’ of local premiers and commercial work as well as a spring/fall educational outreach program. The company has received widespread critical acclaim while being considered one of the most notable American dance companies to emerge during the first decade of the 2000s. Established in 2002, the organization has commissioned well over 100 original works from choreographers including Harrison McEldowney, James Morrow, Annie Franklin, Amirah Sackett and Nicholas Leichter. Crash is led by Artistic Director KC Bevis and Executive Director Jessica Maya Leyva and is a resident company of Visceral Dance Center in Chicago, IL.

History

Chicago Dance Crash was founded by

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public research university in Normal, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University and is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teachin ...

graduates Marissa Moritz, Charlie Cutler and Mark Hackman as a professional outlet for works the trio had created as students. Admittedly to satisfy the individual talents of the three (Cutler an actor, Hackman a martial artist and Moritz a modern dancer), early productions utilized dance and acrobatics while forwarding a linear, conflict-driven story. The company's first performances took place at the 60-seat, historical Mary-Arrchie Theater in Chicago's Northeast neighborhood of Buena Park. Crash's first production, titled ''The Mercutio Story'', soon after extended to several performances across the city including the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre at

Navy Pier Navy Pier is a pier on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side, Chicago, Near North Side community area in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Navy Pier encompasses over of shops, restaura ...

and ultimately performing at “The Space” storefront theater in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Crash incorporated on December 23, 2003, employed its first artistic director in 2003 and established its current local season structure in 2005. Adopting a company dancer formation in 2007, the organization began touring nationally and internationally in 2012.

Artistic Directors

* Christopher M. McCray (2003-2006) – Crash's first contracted artistic director, McCray's award-winning production ''Ghost Play'' cemented the company's local significance while establishing its consistent season of premieres. McCray has gone on to direct Corpo Dance Company and now choreographs and performs internationally. * Kyle Vincent Terry (2006-2010) – Terry had performed with Crash since 2003 and was promoted from a senior company position. Notably founding Crash's signature production, ''The Keeper of The Floor'', Terry established the organization's current eight-member formation with works including an interpretation of ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

'' and the

kung fu Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...

-inspired production ''Tiger Prawn: The Mountain Mover''. Terry has gone on to direct the arts organization TheMASSIVE and since 2013 has enjoyed a stage and film career in New York City. * Jessica Deahr (2012–2023) – Deahr had performed with Crash since 2007. Originally hired by Terry, Deahr's most poignant accomplishments include choreographing and directing the organization's 10th anniversary production of ''Gotham City'' as well as its 15-year anniversary production of ''The Bricklayers of Oz'', both of which have led to national notoriety and have aided in Deahr's restructuring Crash's business model to include a steady touring program. * KC Bevis (2023-present) – Katelyn Christine (KC) Bevis began her career with the organization as a performing apprentice then promoted to ensemble member, rehearsal director and ultimately appointed by Jessica Deahr herself as artistic director. Ms. Bevis' tenure with the organization most notably affirms a more tangible connection between

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

concert dance Concert dance (also known as performance dance or theatre dance in the United Kingdom) is dance performed for an audience. It is frequently performed in a theatre setting, though this is not a requirement, and it is usually choreographed and perf ...

industry with the city's

community. "Come see us, take class with us, create opportunities together and come collaborate because there's so much more connection to be had."

Style and notoriety

Fusion-style

The prevailing aesthetic of Chicago Dance Crash has been cited as "fusion-style," generally referred to as the blending of unalike dance forms but more culturally recognized as the specific combination of hip hop dance aspects (including

breakdancing Breakdancing or breaking, also called b-boying (when performed by men) or b-girling (women), is a style of street dance originated by African Americans and Nuyorican, Puerto Ricans in The Bronx borough of New York City. Breakdancing consist ...

popping Popping is a street dance adapted out of the earlier Boogaloo (funk dance), boogaloo cultural movement in Oakland, California. As boogaloo spread, it would be referred to as "robottin'" in Richmond, California; strutting movements in San Francis ...

, krump, among others) with the influence of "concert dance" vocabulary and direction (

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert dance, concert or theatrical dance which includes dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th ...

jazz dance Jazz Dance is a performance dance and style that arose in the United States in the early 20th century. Jazz Dance may allude to vernacular Jazz, Broadway or dramatic Jazz. The two types expand on African American vernacular styles of dance that ...

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

). The term "fusion-style" was originally coined by Chicago-raised dancer and choreographer James Morrow whose company "Instruments of Movement" championed the style regionally from 2001 to 2009. As two of Crash's founders (Moritz and Hackman) as well as all three of Crash's artistic directors had previously danced under Morrow, it's been publicly stated that Crash's aesthetic is attributed to his work.

Movement plays

Although not historically an unknown concept to live dance performance, Crash gained early support among critics and fans due largely to their creation of evening-length, linear plot-based works which they dubbed "movement plays"... a format less utilized in Chicago during the turn of the millennium. A device still used by the organization today, the shows often complement larger-spanning concepts with

popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art

f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

façades; commenting on morality, religion and politics with comic book settings, video game references and onstage spectacles.

KTF

Second to the Neo-Futurists show Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, Chicago Dance Crash locally operates the longest-running live show in the history of Chicago. Opening on March 9, 2007, at the Lakeshore Theater, the company premiered an interactive dance battle titled ''The Keeper of The Floor'' (KTF for short) with dancers of differing styles competing in comical rounds towards a single champion of the night. The show's original late-night host was

Reggie Watts Reginald Lucien Frank Roger Watts (born March 23, 1972) is an American comedian, musician, beatboxer, and actor. His improvised musical sets are created using only his voice, a keyboard, and a looping machine. He refers to himself as a "disinfo ...

and has been headlined by host Matthew Hollis, nicknamed "Mattrick Swayze," since 2008.

Critical reception and awards

Chicago Dance Crash was named “Best Dance Company” of 2009 by the

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. The ''Reader'' has been ...

, "Best in Dance" for 2012 from the

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

and was recognized by

Newcity Newcity is a media company based in Chicago, founded in 1986 by Brian and Jan Hieggelke." It started as the ''Newcity'' independent, free weekly newspaper in Chicago. Effective March 2017, the founders changed the newspaper into a glossy monthly ...

as the best new dance company to emerge between 2000 and 2010 in their “Decade of Dance” publication. *AT&T Onstage Award, 2005 *The

Katherine Dunham Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 – May 21, 2006) was an African American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers of the 20th century and directed her own dance compan ...

Award for Choreography, 2006 *The Alvin Ailey Award, 2006 * Black Theater Alliance Awards, 2008 *"Best Dance Company of the Year" Chicago Reader, 2009 *"Outstanding Choreographer" Dance Chicago 2010 *Chicago Dance New Voice Award, 2011 *"Best in Dance" Chicago Tribune 2012 *Show of the Year, Breakdance Chicago, 2013 *CTT Inspiration Award, 2016 *"Most Inventive New Work" in the United States,

Dance Magazine ''Dance Magazine'' is an American trade publication for dance. It was first published in June 1927 as ''The American Dancer''. ''Dance Magazine'' is currently part of Dance Media, led by longtime arts publisher Joanna Harp as president, and has mu ...

2017 *"Best of Chicago" Award - Dance Company Category *"Readers Choice Award 2022" for "Best in Dance" by Picture this Post *Dance/USA Emerging Leader Award, 2025https://www.danceusa.org/danceusanewsandpress/danceusa-honorees-2025 The company has received additional honors from Americans for the Arts, Dance for Life, the Illinois Arts Council, DCASE, The

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

, the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the ...

Uniqlo ( ; ) is a Japanese casual wear designer and retailer. The company is a subsidiary of Fast Retailing, Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. Clare Waight Keller is the creative director. History Men's Shop OS was founded in Ube, Yamaguchi. It was rebrand ...

and

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among others.

References

External links

Official WebsiteOfficial Youtube ChannelChicago Dance Crash on InstagramChicago Dance Crash on Twitter
{{authority control Contemporary dance Hip-hop dance Dance companies in Chicago Performing groups established in 2002 2002 establishments in Illinois