It's midnight on a school night & 5 of the fabulous ladies of IDC are still plunging through music choices for their new ballet, Gods, Monsters & Heroes. It's been hours since the process started, a lot of Diet Pepsi has been consumed and most ate their dinner during the process. On the floor are pieces that have been discarded and others that are held on the back burner just in case others don?t work out. (ok-this is metaphorical, but you get the idea.)

For the third time, we were whittling down the immense task of scoring this ballet. Unlike our past endeavor, Everyman, we didn't have a particular artist chosen that narrowed down our decisions. As a matter of fact, we intentionally stayed away from that. We've literally listened to 1000s of songs if you count each person's individual research before it was presented to the group. Now we are down to the final decisions. Is this the right one? Are we going to find something else that's better? Does this song tell the story better than another? Do the individual songs lend to the overall feel of the show? So many questions at midnight!

This is the perfect example of the cooperative nature of IDC. Sometimes we are all in agreement, other times not. We know each other so well that sometimes we don?t have to ask another's
opinion. We can see it on their face or by their body language. When we began the cooperative structure, this is what I wanted -- group so close that sometimes we don't need to speak to know what the others are thinking. Do we always agree? Of course not! But we love and respect each other enough to listen and consider each others? opinions. This is what makes us so great! (I could be humble, but why?)

In the end, we finalized the music choices for 5 Myths and have many more to go. Are you curious to what they are? Guess you're going to have to either check back or wait til October to see the show.

Did you think I was going to give it up that easy?

Amy Russell
Artistic Cooperative

So Much Exciting News!

Greetings friends!

Our apologies for our blogging hiatus- things have been busy in the IDC universe! 

After Everyman wrapped we immediately (like, the following Sunday!) held auditions for our fall concert. The turn out was incredible and we have since acquired FOUR fabulous new dancers, three of which are men which is something we have been missing for a long time! We are deep into rehearsals for the fall show which we are calling "Our Own Devices" and it will run November 12-15 at Links Hall. All the pieces are looking fabulous so far and we can't wait for you to see them!

We also found out yesterday that we have finally booked our very first Everyman tour date! This is an outreach project we have been working on for over a year so we are beyond ecstatic to finally get started. We think we can confidently speak for the entire cast of Everyman when we say that this production is very dear to our hearts and everyone is very much anticipating getting back into it! Things are a little hectic right now with having to squeeze in extra rehearsals and rearrange some casting all while we are already working on our fall show, but we're hoping this will be the first of many touring performances. 

Other than that, we've just had a last minute addition to our fundraising schedule with an open-bar event at Frank's (2503 N. Clark) next Thursday. We will be there from 8-11 p.m. and for $20 you'll get well drinks, Miller drafts and all of our smiling faces and praise. These small monthly  fundraisers really help us out with everything from studio rent to costumes, so if you're going to go out for a drink anyway, come spend your money at Frank's and help us keep making great art!

We're hoping very soon to have this blog linked to our website and our Facebook fanpage. Until then, keep checking up on us! 

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the official blog of Innervation Dance Cooperative! Please allow us to introduce ourselves: IDC is a non-profit contemporary dance company based in Chicago, IL that strives to create work that fosters a wide appreciation of contemporary movement.

IDC functions as a cooperative in the truest sense of the word. Our seven board members collaboratively conceptualize ballets and concerts, choreograph movement, market and publicize events, sew costumes and perform the daily tasks of running a company!

Currently we are comprised of seven board members, seven company members and five seasonal/contract dancers.

A lot of us have full-time jobs, husbands, wives, and children, but we are all here because we are passionate about movement. And we consider ourselves beyond fortunate to have so many diverse minds and bodies to manifest this passion; from tears over the latest So You Think You Can Dance piece, to one company member's stunning post-show revival of Tina Turner's Proud Mary.

But very seriously, we love dance and we love to talk about dance...and we can't wait to share our thoughts with you!

Please check back with us often! Much, much more to come!