One of the most significant works happening currently in Chicago that designs equity as a matter of rehearsal is the work that is Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project. In understanding the disproportionate funding of Black-owned and/or led dance companies in the city, the work of this initiative is to present and assist these practitioners with establishing infrastructure to become internationally recognized for their choreographic innovation and pedagogy(s). The idea of performances and/or practices with both The Era Footwork Crew and Joel Hall Dancers & Center was to allow the presentation, rehearsal and/or conception of movement to consider itself in union with the overall design of an install in a unique setting / event. The Era was presented within the WOJR installation, The Gray Veil, and Joel Hall performed “Flight” during the opening night speeches. Like many other considerations in This is a Rehearsal, both of these dance companies present the seasoned and new art practices in a city. The juke of The Era and the house of Joel Hall represent staples in Chicago dance culture that come from members of marginalized communities. The power of these performances inside the unique stages and circumstances maintains the importance of presenting intersectionality in an exhibit named after one of the city’s greatest attributes – its architecture.

-avery r. young