OTC PROJECTS
Open the Circle (OTC) focuses on community organizing and racial justice through the arts. Our current projects are driven by Chicago footwork dancing and electronic music. OTC is working with footwork dancers and DJs in three areas: dance education, documentary film and performance.
Upcoming Events
What's New
Open the Circle Updates
In the face of overlapping crises, OTC and our partners are forging onward. We have several exciting updates:
- OTC's footwork summer camp, Circle Up (pictured to the right) concluded earlier this month for the year. We reached over 250 kids with dance and dance music education programming on the south and west sides of Chicago. This summer, OTC worked closely with three Chicago youth dance groups -- Bringing Out Talent and MBM on the south side, and Final Alert on the west side of Chicago. We employed over a dozen footwork instructors and DJs, who are enthusiastically passing on their craft to the next generation in Chicago.
- In 2022, OTC was fortunate to receive $100k+ in grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, including support from the dance department and the American Rescue Plan act. These grants support OTC's summer camp, youth performance series, and the creation of Body of the City, a feature-length documentary about footwork produced by OTC.
- Our partner Shkunna Stewart is a fourth-generation youth dance group leader at the annual Bud Billiken Parade on the south side of Chicago. In 2021-22, Shkunna collaborated with OTC co-director Wills Glasspiegel to create Billiken, a projection film that highlights the rich history of dance groups and marching bands at the parade. Their film has received substantial press coverage, including from PBS / ABC / WBEZ / Travel Noire / and The Chicago Reader, which published an extensive history of dance at the Bud Billiken Parade.
What's new
