History
Body of Work
Since 2001, The Seldoms have produced sixteen full-length evening programs, premiered twenty dances and created a short dance for camera piece. Our numerous collaborations include partnerships with international, national and Chicago artists including the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), choreographer Elena Slobodchikova, composer Richard Woodbury, architect Joel Huffman, visual artists Fraser Taylor and Jackie Kazarian, percussionist Tim Daisy and designers Lara Miller, Anke Loh and Abigail Glaum-Lathbury.
The company has appeared widely in the Chicago area, including at the Museum of Contemporary Art and The Dance Center of Columbia College, and has performed nationally. The company will make its international debut in Russia in spring 2010.
Site
The Seldoms has gained a reputation for bold performance in unconventional spaces such as a drained Olympic-sized outdoor swimming pool, an architectural artifacts warehouse, a historic Arts and Crafts mansion, the Lurie Gardens in Millennium Park, and a 17,000 sq.ft. vacant garage.
Recognition
The Seldoms has been critically acclaimed both as a group and for the work of its Artistic Director, Carrie Hanson, who has twice been awarded an Illinois Arts Council Choreographic Fellowship in 1999 and 2006, a Ruth Page Award for Performance, and was named a 2005 Chicago Dancemaker's Forum Lab Artist. Hanson was named one of "50 People Who Really Perform for Chicago" by New City in 2009.
GIANT FIX/dance in a pool was named by Time Out Chicago as one of the best dance moments of the last decade.
Education/Outreach
The Seldoms is comprised of artists and educators who introduce the work in a number of ways to engage audiences, students and communities. The Seldoms conduct an annual summer intensive and have appeared as guest teachers and presenters at educational and artistic forums across the Chicago area such as the Hyde Park Art Center, the Chicago Cultural Center, The Newberry Library and the Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA).
Company members are on the faculty of The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago and have led master classes at numerous college dance programs.
Funders
The Seldoms have been supported by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Trust for Mutual Understanding, The Boeing Company, The Chicago Community Trust, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Arts Work Fund, The Boeing Company Employee Community Fund, The Mayer and Morris Kaplan Family Foundation, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, The Weasel Fund, the Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women & Gender in the Arts and Media at Columbia College Chicago, and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.