See Chicago Dance Summer 2024

The Chicago Dance History Project digitizes and preserves oral dance histories across the city. And after a decade of operation, they’re restructuring, rebranding and realigning that vision. Under Executive Director Michael McStraw’s leadership, CDHP is in the middle of two concrete changes. First, the archives will migrate to the city’s Midwest Dance Collection at the Newberry Library—making them free to the public. Second, a new “digitization station” launching in June at CDHP’s downtown offices allows artists and companies to record and digitize materials for contribution to the collection. Drawing on 40 years of experience in Chicago’s dance community, including 13 as executive director of Giordano Dance Chicago, McStraw plans to incorporate a redefinition of the organization as not simply research-based, but service-based. “Our support will be to help do the research, then encapsulate that work in such a way that it becomes meaningful and useful,” he says. “The really wonderful thing is that it represents all forms of dance in the city and a diversity of people, dance styles and neighborhoods.” While the initial archival work is focusing on professional companies and venues, McStraw emphasizes a vision to eventually include independent artists and educational organizations, as well as coordinate panels that invite more voices to discuss the broader art forms and spaces within the community. To learn more, visit chicagodancehistory.org . SEECHICAGODANCE.COM | 5 Living History: Chicago Dance History Project Hubbard Street