Join us at the first Footwork Youth Festival 2022! Bring all of your family and friends out to this interactive three-hour event curated by The Era Footwork Collective, showcasing the diverse range of art, culture, and expression that Footwork encompasses in Chicago. The Festival will be structured in three different "footwork stations" Youth will have the opportunity at the Festival to learn and interact with various forms of the culture, including battling, filming/video production, fashion design, education, and DJing. Family and friends alike who attend the event will also be able to enjoy the festivities while youth rotate freely between footwork stations for the first two hours of the Festival and then join together for a team four vs four battle for a trophey and cash prize and a youth performance to end the night, curated and choreographed by The Era Footwork Collective in partnership with Open The Circle .

Doors open at 5:30 PM

This is a FREE all-ages event

Early arrival is strongly suggested

Street parking available

Reserve your free ticket by clicking the link below

After sheltering-in place for a full year Physical Theater Festival Chicago is ready to come out and play.

In collaboration with the Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks series, Physical Theater Festival In the Park is a one-day family-friendly outdoor event featuring The Era Footwork Crew, 3AM Theater from NYC and pop-up acts from renowned Chicago artists with backgrounds in circus, puppetry, mask and music performance. Be there at 4 PM to catch The Era performing an exxagerated versino of their most recent single “She Pick The Speed”

"She Pick The Speed" is a representation of how masculine male energy can be supportive of the feminine presence that exists within dance and music, and recognizing that presence which allows them to be in control of the space, equal to their own. Through heavily improved body motions and short, but lyrical soliloquy, let The Era take you on a pathway to a space where men and women both meet and support one another equally.

Tickets/RSVP’s are available now, click the link below to reserve your seat for FREE!

The Era Footwork Crew co-founder, dancer, and activist Jamal “Litebulb” Oliver; writer, director, and editor Wills Glasspiegel; and dance group president Shkunna Stewart will discuss their work with the non-profit Open the Circle, whose programs have aimed to make space in the tightly-knit circles of power and resources in society for youth in divested communities on the South Side of Chicago since 2017, building relationships across segregated divides. Moderated by Assistant Professor of Dance Iddi Saaka.

Click the link below for information on reserving your tickets now!

"The Era has taken footwork back for Chicago."
--Chicago Tribune

Pioneers of the battle dance known as Chicago footwork since 2014, The Era Footwork Crew will teach the basics of the style to dancers of all backgrounds and experience levels. This virtual lab session includes introductions to the cultural history and meaning of the style with a focus on improvisation and teaching students to use the basics to find their own style within the form.

The dance workshop will be followed by a conversation with Hartford-based street dance collective 860MVMNT directed by Jolet Creary, an alumna of The School at Jacob’s Pillow, exploring differences in regional styles of dance and how a community’s culture gives rise to dance forms. Other panel participants will include Pete Boggie and Tyler Brown.

860MVMNT is the fall Dance Artist in Residence at the University of Saint Joseph, where they are developing a work in response to COVID-19/Black Lives Matter which will premiere in December 2020 at the Autorino Center for the Arts in West Hartford.

Click the link below to reserve your tickets now!

Our partners, Open the Circle is co-hosting a dance down as part of YAS! Fest: Youth Arts Showcase.

Exact details will be shared as soon as we have them.

Last year's inaugural event was capped off by headlining sets from Ravyn Lenae and Desiigner.

DANCE DOWNS IN THE PARK is a performance series. Each event brings youth dancers to center stage for dance and pom-pom performances, alongside legendary Chicago house DJs, local celebrities and esteemed musician guests.

Stay tuned for final confirmation of timing and participants.

DANCE DOWNS IN THE PARK is a performance series. Each event brings youth dancers to center stage for dance and pom-pom performances, alongside legendary Chicago house DJs, local celebrities and esteemed musician guests hosted by The Era Footwork Crew

Stay tuned for final confirmation of timing and participants.

Our partners, Open the Circle is teaming up with Navy Pier to present a youth-focused Dance Down featuring some of the top youth dance companies in Chicago. Join us for this special event.

The event is part of Fresh Fest!, a two-day, Pier-wide performance program featuring young performers of Chicago. This free festival is open to the public, and includes multiple performances on July 11th and 12th at various stages and spaces at Navy Pier (Crystal Garden, Fifth Third Bank Family Pavilion, Polk Bros Park and Performance Lawns, Wave Wall platform, and Pier Park).  

Our partners OTC and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs are teaming up again to bring two hours of footwork dance and music back to Millennium Park as part of the 4th Annual Chicago House Music Festival.

5:00-6:00pm features a footwork workshop hosted by The Era Footwork Crew featuring live sets from Teklife DJs.

6:00-7:00pm features a footwork/house music “Dance Down” featuring leading black youth dance troupes such as Bringing Out Talent and Empiire Dance Company as well as music by DJ Corey and DJ Clent, godfather of footwork. This hour is hosted by women footwork originator De’One Johnson.

Join The Era Footwork Crew for a film screening from 7-8pm as part of Cinema 53. The screenings will be followed by a footwork battle with music from fthe originator RP Boo and performances by The Era Footwork Crew supported by Open The Cirlce.

The event is oriented towards students and community residents. It's free for all ages.

Cinema 53 is a partnership between the historic Harper Theater in downtown Hyde Park and UChicago’s Gray Center for Arts & Inquiry. The winter series is presented with support from The Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture.