Dance Center

1306 S. Michigan Ave.

The Dance Center provides students with a superior contemporary dance education in the context of a world-class, nationally recognized dance performance season. Since its doors first opened in 1969, the Dance Center at Columbia College Chicago has presented hundreds of professional companies and choreographers.

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Home to one of the nation's finest college dance programs and one of Chicago’s premier presenters of contemporary dance, the Dance Center serves the greater Chicago dance community and audiences. The center is hailed as one of the most important presenters of contemporary dance in the United States, bringing world renowned companies to Chicago every year. Columbia students have the chance to work closely with the visiting companies through master classes and discussions.

“Some of the most memorable performances I’ve seen in my near twenty years of covering dance in Chicago have taken place on the Dance Center stage. Experimental work, student and faculty showcases, nationally and internationally revered artists have all rarified the Dance Center’s air for half a century.” - Sharon Hoyer, New City

The Dance Center is a 33,000-square-foot, four-story art deco facility that includes a 268-seat performance space, six dance studios with sprung wood floors, dressing rooms, and locker rooms with showers. The state-of-the-art building with its highly-trained staff provides students access to the technical aspects of dance performance from learning how to work with a lighting designer to understanding video projection and producing events. Through its community outreach and education initiatives, the Dance Center seeks to deepen appreciation and understanding of contemporary dance and contribute to the health of Chicago communities.

Upcoming Events:

  • WILDCARD EXPERIMENTS IN CIRCUS
    Science fiction is any idea that occurs in the head and doesn't exist yet, but soon will. And when it does, it will change everything for everybody, and nothing will ever be the same again. As soon as you have an idea that changes some small part of the world, you are writing science fiction....Get the details
  • SPRING FORWARD: Dance Student Performance Night
    The spring edition of original, brand new, short works by student choreographers selected by faculty from an open application process. Some chosen artists are sharing pieces on the Dance Center’s stage for the first time, others offer works informed by years’ immersed in the DC’s the pluralistic curriculum. Lit by Theatre’s rising lighting designers, these...Get the details
  • SPRING FORWARD: Dance Student Performance Night
    The spring edition of original, brand new, short works by student choreographers selected by faculty from an open application process. Some chosen artists are sharing pieces on the Dance Center’s stage for the first time, others offer works informed by years’ immersed in the DC’s the pluralistic curriculum. Lit by Theatre’s rising lighting designers, these...Get the details
  • Red Clay Dance Company: 16
    Red Clay Dance Company makes its highly anticipated return to the Dance Center in a program exploring emotional depth, technical prowess, and thought-provoking themes. The concert features a world premiere by legendary, award-winning choreographer Bebe Miller alongside Artistic Director and inaugural Walder Platform Awardee Vershawn Sanders-Ward's re-staging of Written on the Flesh. 16 is p......Get the details
  • Red Clay Dance Company: 16
    Red Clay Dance Company makes its highly anticipated return to the Dance Center in a program exploring emotional depth, technical prowess, and thought-provoking themes. The concert features a world premiere by legendary, award-winning choreographer Bebe Miller alongside Artistic Director and inaugural Walder Platform Awardee Vershawn Sanders-Ward's re-staging of Written on the Flesh. 16 is p......Get the details
  • Red Clay Dance Company: 16
    Red Clay Dance Company makes its highly anticipated return to the Dance Center in a program exploring emotional depth, technical prowess, and thought-provoking themes. The concert features a world premiere by legendary, award-winning choreographer Bebe Miller alongside Artistic Director and inaugural Walder Platform Awardee Vershawn Sanders-Ward's re-staging of Written on the Flesh. 16 is p......Get the details
  • DELVE: Dance Concert
    The Dance Center’s renowned professional dance faculty and alumni choreograph new works performed by students....Get the details
  • DELVE: DanceConcert
    The Dance Center’s renowned professional dance faculty and alumni choreograph new works performed by students....Get the details
  • WITH INCANDASCENCE: Dance BFA Capstone Concert
    Season 51 culminates with the graduating class of Dance BFA senior students Kayla Hansen, Konnie Kakridas, Aly Owens, and Rhianna Young’s original works drawing upon their years of study and practice....Get the details
  • WITH INCANDASCENCE: Dance BFA Capstone Concert
    Season 51 culminates with the graduating class of Dance BFA senior students Kayla Hansen, Konnie Kakridas, Aly Owens, and Rhianna Young’s original works drawing upon their years of study and practice....Get the details