Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble (CDE), founded in 2001, is proud to share news that the company is the recent recipient of grants from the Innovation 80, Illinois Arts Council and Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. Having diligently fundraised to expand opportunities for artists within the community housed at Ebenezer Lutheran Church, where CDE has been in partnership and in residency since 2014. Thanks to previous grants from the Bayless Family Foundation (2024) and The Saints Foundation 2024), CDE has remodeled the auditorium with state-of-the-art lighting and a new Marley floor and opened a small rehearsal studio.
Now, with a $12,000 grant from the Illinois Arts Council, Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble has the funding to remodel a space that will house five visual artists' studios with subsidized rentals, thereby supporting CDE’s visual arts residency program initiative. Additionally, CDE had received a $100,000, two-year program grant from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation to support shared space use programming and business support services for artists and arts groups. This grant will allow CDE to continue its “Body Passages” residency programming, providing artists with 40 hours of rehearsal space and subsidized performances, marketing and mentorships. It will help expand CDE’s “Playwrights Cohort” and “Next Stages” play-development programs. They also received an $8,000 grant from Innovation 80 to launch an intergenerational artist residency program.
Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble builds commUNITY through the arts - one story, one voice, one person at a time - onstage and in the classroom. Ellyzabeth Adler, founder and executive/artistic director of CDE said, “The Company is committed not only to creating new performances for the stage and through its arts education program, but also to being a welcoming place for all artists of all disciplines. We have proudly showcased our work for over 20 years, consistently building relationships with local organizations and artists to bring Chicago’s communities together. We are beyond thrilled to have been noticed in this way with these grants that will allow us to not only continue our mission, but expand it.”
The remaining programs of the 2025 - 2026 Artistic Season include:
New Plays Program
Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026 at 2 p.m.
Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble is excited to launch the second year of this program for playwrights. CDE will select four playwrights to write a new 10-minute play or 10 pages of a new play that will feature up to four actors around the theme and inspired by the "red string."
“An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, and circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle. But it will never break.” – Ancient Chinese Proverb
Drawing inspiration from the “Red String” theory, participants will explore what connects people, artists and communities in their creative endeavors. Going beyond the original “soulmate” concept, how people connect will also be explored.
Timothy Rey, artistic associate and playwright of the Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, will facilitate the cohort. CDE hopes to have one or two of the plays move to its Next Stage Play Development program.
Next Stage Play Development
DATE:TBD
Chosen from the first playwriting cohorts, Sara Hensley and Anthony Whitaker, have been selected for a new “Next Stage Play Development,” with its goal is to have a directed reading of a new work so they can move it to the next stage. This residency encourages the playwright to take ownership, collaborate with others and stay on a timeline to meet deadlines
Poetry In Beats
April 2026
In celebration of CDE's 25th anniversary, a one-night-only performance featuring poetry and music on stage is planned for the spring. Ellyzabeth Adler, at the age of 26, wanted to do a creative project. It was a physical theater adaptation of “The Wasteland” and a workshop version of it debuted on April 20, 2001. T.S. Eliot may inspire some new work.
Architecture Of Memory
May 8 - 23, 2026
Architecture of Memory is a new, original Danztheatre work by founder Ellyzabeth Adler, exploring perseverance, hope and self-discovery. Told through film, dance, theater and original music, this visceral and immersive performance experience aims to showcase the beauty of overcoming obstacles in life and creating a new sense of self. Adler is teaming up with Digital Tapestries to create new films that will be integrated into the performance. This will be her first full-length work since 2017.
ABOUT CHICAGO DANZTHEATRE ENSEMBLE
Founded in 2001, Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble (CDE) is Chicago’s only multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to social justice and socially conscious work that builds community through the arts “one voice, one story, one person at a time.” CDE’s mission is to engage, inspire, and challenge the community, both onstage and in the classroom, through innovative and collaborative multidisciplinary storytelling to illuminate aspects of social issues. We do this in the genre of Tanztheatre, "which unites all art media to achieve an all-embracing, radical change in humankind.” Through our school-based art and performance programs, CDE helps students in Chicago schools explore their own creativity, supporting their social and emotional learning. CDE provides a physical and emotional space where community conversation and cultural change can happen.
For our performance series, CDE is dedicated to creating performances that blend together dance, theatre and visual art to tell stories about the human condition. We give an artistic voice to those who are not always heard.
- Dedicated since our founding to diverse casting of age, body type and ethnicity
- Consistently listed as a “Top Theater and Dance Performance to See” by New City and Chicago Reader
- Unique collaborations with the Veterans Art Museum, Poetry Center Chicago, Cantigny Museum, Neighborhood Writing Alliance, Voice of the City and numerous dance and theater companies
- MacArthur Award Grantee for International Collaborations.
Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble is supported by The Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; Bayless Family Foundation, The Saints Foundation,The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation; Innovation 80; Farny Wurlitzer Foundation; Mardi Gras Fund and the annual support of individual donors.