Breathing Life Into Red Clay Dance: Building a Cultural Home in Woodlawn

Fall 2021 marks a pivotal moment for Red Clay Dance Company.

After more than a decade of creating, performing, and teaching dances of the African Diaspora across Chicago’s South Side, Red Clay is stepping into a new chapter: the development of a permanent home in Woodlawn, just steps from the 63rd Street Green Line.

This fall, Red Clay Dance Company is featured in the Chicago Reader’s Fall Arts Preview, highlighting Artistic Director and Founder Vershawn Sanders-Ward and the company’s vision for a space that goes beyond rehearsal and performance. The feature centers on Red Clay’s commitment to building a cultural hub rooted in Artivism, community access, and long-term sustainability.

For Sanders-Ward, the need for autonomy over space has always been central to the company’s mission. Red Clay’s work has long existed within partnerships, park district spaces, and shared facilities, each one shaped and improved through years of investment. But the uncertainty brought on by the pandemic accelerated a deeper question: what does it look like for a South Side dance company to truly own its timeline, its process, and its future?

The Woodlawn space offers that possibility.

The new facility includes two studios, one outfitted with marley and the other with hardwood floors, along with areas for meetings, administrative work, and creative development. More importantly, it creates room for artists to breathe, to take time, and to develop work without being rushed by external constraints.

The inspiration for this model traces back to Sanders-Ward’s studies at École des Sables in Senegal, where dance functions not only as an art form, but as an economic and cultural engine for community. That philosophy now finds a home in Woodlawn, where Red Clay envisions a space shaped by reciprocity rather than transaction.

Rather than replicating traditional rental or residency models, Red Clay is actively asking artists what they need and how the space can support them in meaningful ways. The goal is not volume, but depth. Not extraction, but relationship.

As the city continues to reopen and arts organizations navigate what recovery looks like, Red Clay Dnace is choosing to move intentionally. The focus this fall is not on rushing back to business as usual, but on building infrastructure that allows for thoughtful creation, community engagement, and long-term impact.

This moment represents more than a new address. It is a declaration of presence.

Red Clay Dance Company is not just returning to the stage this fall. It is laying the foundation for what it means to create, gather, and grow on Chicago’s South Side, on its own terms.