Margi Cole, Artistic Director, formed The Dance COLEctive (TDC) in March, 1996 to preserve, advance and strengthen the art of contemporary dance in Chicago and Illinois.  TDC aspires to challenge assumptions about how dance is presented, through the use of cutting-edge choreography, innovative collaborations, and inspired creative site-specific-works.  TDC’s vision is to become one of Chicago’s premier dance ensembles, recognized for its compelling, socially relevant, and inspiring choreography.  In fulfilling its mission and vision, TDC:

• Embraces collaboration as a core element of its creative process
• Values the athleticism, grace, power, and strength of its dancers
• Nurtures and promotes the creativity of emerging artists

Over the past 13 years TDC has contributed to the support of 15 choreographers, 53 dancers and 58 collaborating artists, many of them Illinois artists.

TDC produces its own concerts, and participates in multi-artist festivals such as The Other Dance Festival, Dance Chicago, Estrogen Fest, Stockyards Women’s Theatre Festival and the Next Dance Festival.  Self-produced concerts have been presented at the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, Harold Washington Library Theater, Northwestern University, Ruth Page Center, and Links Hall.

TDC features site-specific work as a part of its annual repertoire.  The company has performed site-specific pieces at the Illinois State Fair and in the City of Chicago’s Dancin’ in the Parks Project and Looptopia.  Other site-specific locations include: the John G. Blank Center for the Arts in Indiana, Chicago Symphony Center Day of Music, Mayor Daley’s April Neighborhood Assembly, the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago’s 1306 Project, Columbia College Chicago graduation ceremonies, various building lobbies in Chicago, Gorham’s Bluff, Alabama, and the Birmingham Museum of Art.

The company conducts one or two residencies annually.  These residencies include performances, workshops, master classes, lecture demonstrations and radio interviews.  They provide the company an opportunity to work with people from all walks of life - rural, urban, young, old, privileged, low-income, men and women.  Residencies can culminate with informal showings new work developed during the residency which engage participants in feedback sessions for the work or evening length repertory concerts.  In March 2008 TDC completed a 19 day tour of Alabama which included four residencies of three to five days in length.  Other past residency hosts include Beloit College, Knox College, Illinois Wesleyan University, Huntsville Community Ballet, and a variety of studios and schools in Alabama and Tennessee.

TDC maintains a strong presence in Chicago through classes and workshops at the community level.  The company conducts workshops, classes, and lecture demonstrations at area high schools and colleges.  Past hosts include Stevenson, Evanston Township, Riverside Brookfield, and Northside Prep High Schools and Chicago Semester.   Since 2001 the company has held an annual summer dance intensive in Chicago.  In 2008 the company instituted annual Chicago residencies built around themes presented in the annual concert.  Past residency activity hosts include a number of Chicago Park District sites, the Newberry Library, and the Chicago Cultural Center.

Artistic Director Margi Cole has received recognition for her contribution to the field of modern dance through awards such as the Illinois Arts Council’s Individual Artist Fellowship, a Chicago Dancemakers Forum grant and the American Marshall Memorial Fellowship, a program which selects leaders in their respective fields to represent the United States on a month-long tour of European countries.  TDC received its first grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for its Southeast Tour in March 2008.