Lake Studios Berlin

Class | Open Showing | Community Dinner & Sauna

South Chicago Dance Theatre has arrived at LAKE Studios Berlin for a nine-day creative residency. We welcome founder and choreographer Kia S. Smith—named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch”—alongside eight company dancers.

During their time here, Kia will be developing a brand-new work. To celebrate this collaboration, we invite the local Berlin community to join us for a full “LAKE Day” of movement, performance, and community dining.

Event Schedule: Tuesday, January 20th
Join us in the studio — all studio events are free of charge.

10:00 – 11:30 | Shared Practice with Kia S. Smith (FREE) A Contemporary Horton-based warm-up and an inside look at the company’s creative process.
11:30 – 14:30 | Open Studio (FREE) The small studio will be available for guests and quiet reflection.
14:30 – 15:30 | Work-in-Progress Showing (FREE) An intimate showing of the new work developed by South Chicago Dance Theatre during their residency.
16:00 – 17:30 | Community Dinner (€7) A shared meal with the company prepared by our on-site chef, Wiam.(RSVP required by January 18th).
17:30 – 19:00 | Open Studio (FREE) The studio remains open for community use and connection.
18:00 – 20:00 | Sauna Session (€8) Relax and unwind; beverages available on a donation basis.

TICKETS and RESERVATIONS
Please reserve tickets for any of the events via Pretix, or by sending an email to:

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About Kia S. Smith:

Artist Statement: I am a performance-maker whose work spans contemporary dance, theater, jazz, opera and artistic diplomacy. My work is linked to the specific, idiosyncratic soundscapes, colors, peoples and ephemera of my childhood on Chicago’s south side as the daughter of a well known jazz saxophonist and visual artist. I have a penchant for narrative-based works guided in process by a commitment to musicality, gesture and finely-honed form. In addition to founding my dance company, South Chicago Dance Theatre, I am the founder of an international project entitled Choreographic Diplomacy™ that began in 2018 and presently spans the creation and presentation of new work with collaborators in Seoul, Korea; Arnhem, Netherlands; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Bogota, Colombia and Medellin, Colombia. Here, art-making is a tool to engage with diverse people by building collective experience, developing empathy in cross-cultural relations, and reinforcing the importance of global citizenship. Though my work stems out of my own experience of living in this Black, female body, I am ultimately interested in the deconstruction and transcendence of race, and in community-building through movement and shared artistic experience.

Learn more about South Chicago Dance Theater: southchicagodancetheatre.com