The Process

09/09/2024

10/30/2023

with .repost
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On November 4th, .process.podcast and will host THE WRITER'S ROOM at .

This community conversation on the future of performance, dance, and writing in Chicago will be guided with the help of special guests:

Benji Hart () is an interdisciplinary artist, author, and educator whose work centers Black radicalism, q***r liberation, and prison abolition. Their words have been published or are forthcoming from Oxford University Press, Beacon Press, Motto Books, Pluto Press, Time, Teen Vogue, The Advocate, The Funambulist Magazine, and elsewhere.

Tara Aisha Willis, Ph.D. () is a dance artist, dramaturg, scholar, and curator. Currently a Lecturer in Theater and Performance Studies at the University of Chicago, she served as MCA Chicago’s performance curator for six years, and has written for Getty Research Institute, Danspace Project, Center for Book Arts, The Black Scholar, Wendy’s Subway, Brooklyn Rail, Movement Research Performance Journal, University of Illinois Press, and Soberscove Press.

Maggie Bridger (), she/her, is a sick and disabled dance artist, fiber artist, and scholar whose work focuses on reimagining pain through the creative process. Her writing has been published in the Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, the Journal of Literary and Cultural Disability Studies, and will be included in the upcoming volume Dancing on the Third Coast.

Gervais Marsh () is a writer, curator, and scholar from Kingston, Jamaica, whose work is deeply invested in Black life, concepts of relationality and care. They received a PhD in Performance Studies from Northwestern University, and recent curatorial projects include All of Living is Risk at the South Side Community Art Center and Contours of the Interior at VisArts Center. Their writing can be found in numerous art publications, and they have taught university courses focused on Black Feminist theory, praxis and performance, and Black q***r studies.

RSVP and learn more including accessibility details at the link in our bio.

08/18/2023

“I feel like my life slowly ballooned into this beautiful, beautiful world."

Alyssa Gregory, a dancer and arts administrator who works to showcase the richness of the South Side’s dance community while advocating for fellow artists' needs. Originally from northern Virginia, Gregory has found home in the city’s dance community and is a regular performer with . She’s also the communications manager at , and host of dance-based podcast “The Process,” which pulls back the curtain on the work that goes into a dance production.

Check out her segment of “This Is What Chicago Sounds Like” now at the link in our bio!

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03/27/2023

We got news coming your way this week!!! Get those ears ready for Season 2!

📸: Joel Maisonet

06/07/2022

🚨 🚨 🚨

Excited to share that The Process has been awarded a Performance Residency grant through !

We have some big exciting plans for Season 2 and cannot wait to share them with you.

-Alyssa Gregory*

10/29/2021

ITS PODCAST DAY!

Volume 3 is available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and more. Give it a listen while you’re driving, making dinner, in the shower or when you’re in the studio wiggling around.

This Volume is full of inspiration, laughter and those good good Chicago dance vibes.

Big THANK YOU to the squad at especially Jayson for his masterful work on making this volume happen. HIRE TIGHTROPE FOR ALL YOUR RECORDING NEEDS!!

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10/17/2021

Mitsu describes her process as⁠
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"I begin with an inquiry, idea or image often stemming from the personal or familial as connected to current issues in the world. I then dive into intense research such as reading, studio practice, interviews, traveling. Afterwards I go into the studio and explore the ideas through multiple forms such as movement, writings, voice and drawings. ⁠
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For example with Orchid: Dormancy, I was interested in orchids because my great-grandfather did botanical research on Orchid Island. I then met with botanists, read various books about orchids and attended conferences and workshops. I then investigated the ideas through my body, in writing and lots of walks and thinking. Through that I found orchids connected with so many things such as dormancy, sexuality, and environment. Along the way images come up as well as that I feel this urgency to execute, such as I saw this piece outside live at sunset. As well as questions such as how is an orchid growth pattern situated in the body? How do orchids speak to the current moment? ⁠
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However in order for the work to come to fruition I usually need the help of collaborators or work-in-progress audience. For example with Orchid I worked with Christine Shallengberg as a dramaturg and Natalie Murillo as a sound collaborator."⁠
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We are excited for you to learn more about Mitsu and her process. Volume 3 drops October 29th! ⁠
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10/15/2021

Steelo describes his process as:⁠
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"If I had to describe my creative process I would say it's me taking what I've learned along with I feel and translating that into motion and or garment. It's slightly different when creating with a team but similar as well."⁠
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Learn more about Steelo and The Era on October 29th when Volume 3 drops!

10/13/2021

Nora describes their process as:

Both my solo work and ensemble processes often have a central curiosity about the specific personhood of the individuals in the room, and how their histories and personalities play out in the ways they move and talk to each other. There is a lot of talking in my process and my work - stories, confessions, and ramblings that interweave with movement improvisation and offer a narrative counterweight to abstract movement - and that reflect the continual process of improvising and then debriefing our improvisations that makes up a lot of my rehearsal process. In movement improvisation, I think a lot about how to strip away the feeling of “not-enough-ness” and the internalized criticism of our own movement that a lot of folks carry, and how to instead encourage a feeling that the ways we move are already okay and valid as they are. I also focus a lot on what I see as the continual experience of coming out to oneself, and coming into oneself, that can be a forever process for a lot of q***r and trans people. In my solo work, I am generally seeking to understand that unfolding for myself and then find funny and vulnerable ways to share it with my audience. And in my ensemble work, I am really interested in how that unfolding process can be facilitated or refracted by our relationships with others. Finally, I’m currently obsessed with framing my work in the low-stakes, high investment language of entertainment forms like reality TV. The Real Dance is a project in which I’m doing all of the above: creating containers for dancers to take us down the rabbit holes of themselves and their movement improvisation, often centering q***r interrelationality and coming-out-coming-into-ness, and ultimately keeping it easy but super intimate in the ways audiences are invited into the final product.

Learn more about Nora and their process when Volume 3 drops on October 29th.

10/10/2021

VOLUME 3 of The Process drops on October 29th and we hope your hearts and ears are ready for a volume that is pretty perfect as we ease into the cozy season. ⁠⁠
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Episode 1 ⁠⁠
Guest- Mitsu Salmon⁠⁠
Co-Host- Sara Zalek⁠⁠
Mitsu takes us into her process of her latest work Orchid: Dormancy and Becoming. We talk about family and how the weight of history helped guide Mitsu to create this stunning work. ⁠⁠
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Episode 2⁠⁠
Guest- Sterling 'Steelo' Lofton ⁠⁠
Co-Host- Christopher 'Mad Dog' Thomas⁠⁠
Listen to Steelo talk about creating his latest work "Sterling Publishing Company” a new performance at the intersections of fashion and dance across Black history. Like many other artists Steelo creative process was affected by the Pandemic, but he's pushing through and making it happen. ⁠⁠
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Episode 3⁠⁠
Guest- Nora Sharp⁠⁠
Co-Host- Tia Greer⁠⁠
Nora Sharps dance film The Real Dance: A Micro Reality TV Show blends together reality tv, improv dance and the beauty of self reflection. Created for the Pivot Arts festival during the winter peak of the pandemic, Noras talks with us about the process and how their creative brain produced a 20minute joy bomb that is a must see. ⁠⁠
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Visit our website to learn more about all of our Host + Co-Hosts. ⁠⁠
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10/10/2021

VOLUME 3 of The Process drops on October 29th and we hope your hearts and ears are ready for a volume that is pretty perfect as we ease into the cozy season. ⁠
⁠
Episode 1 ⁠
Guest- Mitsu Salmon⁠
Co-Host- Sara Zalek⁠
Mitsu takes us into her process of her latest work Orchid: Dormancy and Becoming. We talk about family and how the weight of history helped guide Mitsu to create this stunning work. ⁠
⁠
Episode 2⁠
Guest- Sterling 'Steelo' Lofton ⁠
Co-Host- Christopher 'Mad Dog' Thomas⁠
Listen to Steelo talk about creating his latest work "Sterling Publishing Company” a new performance at the intersections of fashion and dance across Black history. Like many other artists Steelo creative process was affected by the Pandemic, but he's pushing through and making it happen. ⁠
⁠
Episode 3⁠
Guest- Nora Sharp⁠
Co-Host- Tia Greer⁠
Nora Sharps dance film The Real Dance: A Micro Reality TV Show blends together reality tv, improv dance and the beauty of self reflection. Created for the Pivot Arts festival during the winter peak of the pandemic, Noras talks with us about the process and how their creative brain produced a 20minute joy bomb that is a must see. ⁠
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Visit our website to learn more about all of our Host + Co-Hosts. ⁠
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