Chances Dances

Congratulations to the Winter 2011 Critical Fierceness Grant Winners!

chances — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 04:30:04 +0000

Chances Dances is thrilled to announce the results of the Winter 2011 Critical Fierceness Grant cycle! Congratulations to all the winners! We had SO MANY worthy applications and it was truly a grueling decision. Thanks also to our lovely Winter 2011 Critical Fierceness Board: Davey Ball, Jackie Boyd, Bryce Dwyer, Alicia Eler, Jeanine O’Toole, and Katie Zien. And sincere thanks to all who applied!

$500 GRANTS

DOUBLE DJ & DANIELLE PAZ

Stiletto wearin’ queer dance trio Double DJ will be collaborating with artist and videomaker Danielle Paz to create a video that will “capture the energy and charisma of DoubleDJ, but tailor the choreography and narrative arc of our performance specifically for the camera.” The piece will depict a “fantasy version of how DoubleDJ was created,” inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia and “the idea of another world existing just on the other side of the wardrobe.” The collaborators hope their effort will cross-pollinate interest between their respective communities of experimental filmgoers and queer bar patrons as well as make DoubleDJ’s choreography available on the internet for queers everywhere to enjoy.

KAN SEIDEL & PRECIOUS DAVIS

Kan and Precious will be using Critical Fierceness funds to involve a group of 10 homeless MtF trans youth in a glamourous, self-affirming photography project, culminating in the production of printed, bound portfolios as well as a gallery opening displaying their photographs and documentary about the process. The duo will be serving as mentors, assisting the girls in styling and preparing their shoots. “It is essential that struggling trans youth have an opportunity to feel that their chosen gender performance is respected and appreciated,” they write; furthermore the project will serve as vocational training, useful not only for modeling but developing “skills necessary for creating a resume or preparing for an interview in any field.”

$250 GRANTS

MEG LEARY

With the assistance of a $250 Critical Fierceness Grant, Meg Leary will create a performance piece that “establishes a conceptual and aesthetic connection” between the closing and current disuse of Thalia Hall in Pilsen and the loss of queer artists due to AIDS. Specifically, she seeks to resurrect the work of Michael Peters, the now-forgotten choreographer of such iconic works as Michael Jackson’s Thriller music video; Peters died of AIDS at 46 years old. Leary’s silent performance will take place in now-abandoned Thalia Hall, attempting to “create a sensual and evocative re-envisioning” of Peters’ Thriller choreography, thus addressing the invisibility of queer cultural contributions and connecting to the Hall itself as a deserted and unseen interior space.

THE LAND LINE

The Land Line is a new, Chicago-based, collaborative quarterly journal “for work that is raunchy, flamboyant, interdisciplinary, and intellectually rigorous.” Critical Fierceness money will help with the printing and dissemination of future issues, which will prominently feature work by Chicago queers and allies. The Land Line prints “research-based essays, cultural criticism, engaging interviews, nonlinear comics, radical art, and experimental poetry side-by-side in a free publication under the banner of staunch amateurism.” A list of locations where you can find their first issue is on their website, as well as a call for submissions for issue number two!

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We’re looking forward to seeing these projects come to fruition over the coming months, and to our next cycle this summer! Mark your calendars–June 30th is the deadline!

Love and admiration,

Team C/D

Chances Dances Responds to Violence at Queer Social Club

chances — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 18:51:03 +0000

Early morning on December 8th, 2011, at Archie’s Bar on Iowa and Rockwell Streets in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood, several queer community members and a bar employee were physically assaulted during an event organized for and by LGBTQ people. As it has been reported that hate speech was used during this incident, we believe that these folks were targeted because of their queerness. To the best of our knowledge, no significant action was taken by the proprietors of Archie’s until a statement was released on Facebook two weeks later — after queer community members, mostly under the name of the Pink Panther Justice Bureau, began raising awareness.

We condemn violence. We condemn violence against queer people because they are queer. We also condemn the dismissal and silencing of survivors of violence – and as such, we write this letter in solidarity with the survivors of the aforementioned assault. We stand in solidarity as they pursue a course of action to reinstate a sense of safety and well-being for themselves and their fellow queer people. We also stand in solidarity with their decision to make the account public by coming forward to local police.

We acknowledge that many members of our community have contentious relationships with the police, who have often antagonized and actively persecuted queers, people of color, trans and gender non-conforming people, activists, people with disabilities, sex workers and other members of our community. Whatever our personal relationships with the police may be, it is still necessary to support our community members when they seek help or protection from violence via police or the state. By maintaining a vocal, supportive, and watchful presence, we can increase awareness of hate crimes, and work towards ensuring that survivors of violence are not re-victimized or further antagonized by coming forward to the authorities.

We also acknowledge that there are many survivors of anti-queer violence who decide not to pursue legal action or otherwise make incidences of violence public. This means that as a community of queer people, we need to demand the full and unconditional support of the establishments and venues we frequent. As organizers and participants in local queer events, we must support each other when our larger social, economic, or legal systems fail to do so. If harassment or violence occurs at any of the parties listed below, we hope that you feel comfortable bringing these situations to us, in a private or public fashion. We promise to respect and abide by your decision on whether or not to make the incident, your identity, or any other information public as long as it does not pose a potential risk for others. We will work with you to hold those responsible accountable and to begin the process of healing.

We firmly believe in creating safe spaces for our community and allies to live, socialize, and work. We know that this is a promise we cannot fulfill without the participation of everyone involved, especially the owners, managers and staff of venues which host queer events. We also know that regardless of our collective good intentions, the world can still creep in and become disruptive and that even the safest space can become unsafe. This is why we must stand together, support each other, and continue to have conversations amongst one another that look toward a future that is both more inclusive and free from bigotry and abuse. We must be willing to call out those individuals and establishments that silence and deny support to survivors of violence, while also turning well-intended mistakes into an opportunity to grow together, discuss solutions, and rebuild safe and loving spaces together.

Written with love by the organizers of Chances Dances:
Rita Bacon, Allison Burque, Aay Preston-Myint, Erik Roldan, Ethan White and Latham Zearfoss

WINTER 2011 CRITICAL FIERCENESS GRANT!

chances — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 06:01:34 +0000

THE NEXT CYCLE OF THE CRITICAL FIERCENESS GRANT IS UPON US!

The Critical Fierceness Grant is a microgrant for queer arts in Chicago presented by Chances Dances! Up to $500 in financial assistance is available for Chicago-based artists or artistic initiatives who identify themselves or their work as queer.

*Deadline = December 31st, 2011*

DOWNLOAD AN APPLICATION, CHECK OUT PREVIOUS WINNERS, AND LEARN MORE HERE: http://www.chancesdances.org/fierceness

Questions? Email us at chancesdances@gmail.com

Chances presents: CRANBERRY SAUCE!

chances — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:52:31 +0000

A pre-holiday celebration of our queer Chicago dance party family featuring DJs from Chances Dances, Queerer Park, CULT, Heavy Rotation, and Slo ‘Mo, all in one place!

Your host for the evening will be the one and only Trannika Rex, and Northern Lights’ Go-Go Gothic Dancers will be shaking it all night long!

Admission is just $5 all night long and as always, benefits the Critical Fierceness Grant (http://www.chancesdances.org/fierceness)

The first 20 people through the door get a FREE PAIR OF CHANCES PANTSES!

DJs:
John Twatters & Erik Roldan (Chances)
Black Gold (Queerer Park)
Baby Bamboo (CULT)
Owen Dmc (Heavy Rotation)
and a special slow jams set from Tess (Slo ‘Mo)

ALL GENDER EXPRESSIONS ARE WELCOME!

Chances presents: CRANBERRY SAUCE

9pm – 2am // $5

The Hideout

1354 W Wabansia

Chicago IL

*The Hideout is accessible for people with disabilities*

SUMMER 2011 CRITICAL FIERCENESS GRANT RECIPIENTS!

chances — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 21:18:13 +0000

The Critical Fierceness Grant
The Critical Fierceness Grant
The Critical Fierceness Grant
******************************************A micro-grant for queer art in Chicago

Chances Dances is excited to announce the recipients of the Summer 2011 Critical Fierceness Grants: Renegade Lingerie, Youth Empowerment Performance Project, Nikki Patin, and Xina Xurner! Thanks to a ton fabulous community support, buckets of dancefloor sweat, and a whole lot of hard work, we were able to award $1500 in grant money to four amazing projects this cycle.

Many of the artists will be present at Chances at the Subterranean on August 15th, so come hang out with us and these fabulous queer cultural workers!

Thanks go out to all our amazing and talented applicants–your work was thoroughly interesting and deeply appreciated and we encourage you to apply again and tell your friends!

PROJECT INFO:

RENEGADE LINGERIE / MUGSIE PIKE ($500)

Mugsie Pike is a “lingerie and underwear designer, radical seamstress, and activist” who founded Renegade Lingerie as “a way to support people traditionally excluded from the market – transgender and genderqueer folks, plus size and petite people, dis/differently-abled people, etc.” Critical Fierceness funds will help Pike to with prototyping costs for the affordable and ethical production of Tool Belts–stand-to-pee packing harnesses for trans men.

www.renegadelingerie.com

YOUTH EMPOWERMENT PERFORMANCE PROJECT ($500)

YEPP offers street-based LGBTQA young people “the opportunity to explore themselves and their stories through performance with the long term goal of establishing a youth-led theatre initiative.” Operating as a safe space for “artistic creativity and emotional support,” five YEPP ensemble members have rehearsing weekly since March of this year, working toward a three-night stint at Links Hall on August 19-21. “This premiere performance will encapsulate the aforementioned values by portraying the unique stories of each ensemble member, investigating any feelings of hurt, times of struggle, and methods of survival with the intention of allowing the ensemble members to celebrate their strengths.” Funding from their grant will go toward providing stipends to the performers, ensuring they are compensated for their efforts.

Check out this footage of YEPP in action on Facebook!

NIKKI PATIN ($250)

Writer and performer Nikki Patin will be using Critical Fierceness funds to assist in the early stages of her Vitruvian Woman project. From her application: “Vitruvius stated that a good structure is solid, useful and beautiful. He also said that the human body is the greatest design in the known Universe. I want to transform my body, according to this theory. My hypothesis is if my body is strong (solid), then it can become useful as a tool of expression and performance (beauty). [...] My body takes up most of my focus through trying to live through chronic pain, not to mention surviving the stigmatizing energy that accompanies living in a fat, female, queer body of color. Without denying or ignoring the marginalization that accompanies each of these labels, I want to examine my own internalized isms while loving myself more consciously and thoroughly than I ever have.”

www.nikkipatin.com
www.thevitruvianwoman.com

XINA XURNER ($250)

Xina Xurner is artist Concha LaBoo (Marvin Astorga) and drag diva Lil Elote (Young Joon Kwak), making “cunty noise-influenced house music that oozes sex, death, and decay.” With their CF Grant funding, they plan to print “Xines” (books containing lyrics, images, contributions from other artists, and an audio CD) for distribution at shops and record stores as well as “mini-Xines,” smaller versions of the larger Xine that can be handed out at shows and performances.

Give them a big LIKE on Facebook right here.

Chances does Pride at Berlin! All six DJs and drag all day!

chances — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 02:46:24 +0000

Hello Chances Dancers, if you’ve been scratching your beautiful heads about what to do after the parade on Sunday, look no further: Show ‘em why we were voted BEST DANCE PARTY of 2011 in the Chicago Reader’s reader poll and come hang at Berlin from 3pm-10pm on June 26th. All six Chances DJs will spin, and stunning performances by Xina Xurner, Ishtar Bukkake and the House of An, Miztress Vana, Trannika Rex, D’Juana Cyber and Trandroid will be peppered throughout.

COME ALL OUR CHILDREN – WORK AND BE SICKENING!

at BERLIN
954 W. Belmont Ave.
Chicago, IL. 60657-4438
(773) 348-4975
www.berlinchicago.com

rsvp on Facebook: here

CRITICAL FIERCENESS SUMMER 2011!

chances — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 00:37:06 +0000

It’s that time again, queers of Chicago! Applications for the Summer 2011 cycle of the Critical Fierceness Grant are available for download. Click here or on the link to the left to be taken to the CF Grant page. You and/or your collective could receive up to $500 to make your big gay project a reality! WERK!

CHANCES + SISTER SPIT!

chances — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 06:11:38 +0000

Come out early to SubT this month and catch the Chicago stop of Sister Spit’s 2011 tour! (RSVP on Facebook) Chances will get started after the show, at 10pm, with your DJs Nina Ramone, Baby Sloth, and DJackattack! The show is $10 but as always, Chances is FREE.

More info on Sister Spit:

The legendary, raucous, rowdy performance gang, Sister Spit, lands in CHICAGO with a vanload of multimedia, queer-centric brilliance! Don’t miss this multimedia explosion of taste-makers, novelists, fashion plates, painters, performance artists, poets and fancy scribblers.

Featuring queer luminary Michelle Tea (Best Music Writing 2010, Chelsea Whistle, Valencia, Rent Girl), writer and provocative performance artist Kirk Read (How I Learned To Snap), graphic novelist and visual artist MariNaomi (Kiss & Tell), award-winning poet laureate of the obsessed and tormented Ali Liebegott (The IHOP Papers, The Beautifully Worthless), novelist and film fodder Blake Nelson (Girl, Paranoid Park, Recovery Road), photographer and Original Plumbing transmale quarterly publisher Amos Mac and award-winning transmitter-writer of brilliantly terrifying fairy tales Myriam Gurba (Dahlia Season)!

http://radarproductions.org/whosinthevanspring2011.html

http://www.facebook.com/SisterSpit

CHANCES DANCES + SISTER SPIT
April 18th
Show: 7pm, $10 / Chances: 10pm, FREE
Subterranean
2011 W North Ave, First Fl.
21+

FREE TIX TO JESSICA SIX

chances — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 07:06:32 +0000

Chances Dancers! We’re hosting Jessica Six’s show at the Double Door on Thursday and we’re SUPER EXCITED. Jessica 6 is the new project of THREE former members of Hercules & Love Affair, including the fabulous Nomi Ruiz, who joined us at Berlin for Pride last summer. This is gonna be AMAZE and we want you to come!

HERE’S THE DEAL:

Just post a status update on Facebook and make sure to tag the event page–EASY! Then we’ll put all your names in a hat and each one we draw will win a PAIR of tickets so you can bring your lover/BFF/freak of the week.

CLICK IT FOR TICKETS Y’ALL: RSVP on Facebook.

Oh yeah and check out their new jam “White Horse” while yer at it: http://jessica6.bandcamp.com/

<3<3<3

TEAM CD

CHANCES MARCHES ON!

chances — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 03:03:01 +0000

We’ve got a BUSY month coming up, y’all. And this is just the first two weeks–there’s more to come! Check it out!

Saturday March 5
CHANCES AT THE HIDEOUT w/ PEOPLE’S DJ’s COLLECTIVE (RSVP)

The Chances crew is heading to Columbia MO for the True/False Film Festival, so we’ve invited our pals the People’s DJs Collective to take over our night at the Hideout this month! It’s gonna be AMAZING–same Chances vibe, fun queer allies!

You can put a big “LIKE” on them here: http://www.facebook.com/peoplesdjs

DJ sets by People’s DJs Black Gold, La Perla, and Ang.G.!

$5 admission benefits the Critical Fierceness Grant!

Tuesday March 8
OFF CHANCES! (RSVP)

with DJs Lady Speedstick + Nina Ramone!

Pick up a HOT new mix from Lady Miss Navy Pier and snacky treats baked fresh by John Twatters!

Thursday March 10
CHANCES PRESENTS: JESSICA 6! (RSVP)

Jessica 6 is coming to Chicago! Chances had a blast DJing with Nomi (formerly of Hercules & Love Affair) at Pride this past summer and the J6 songs we’ve heard so far are great, so we can only imagine how awesome the full live band experience is gonna be. GET READY!

Chances DJs John Twatters + Nina Ramone will spreading good vibes and throwing glitter on the dancefloor.

Tickets + more info here: http://www.doubledoor.com/event/30059/

Jessica 6 links:
http://www.myspace.com/jessicasix
http://www.jessicasixmusic.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jessica-6/119088561082

And as always, our share of the proceeds will benefit the Critical Fierceness Grant: http://www.chancesdances.org/fierceness