By Judy Carmack Bross
Hedwig Dances perform at the See Chicago Dance benefit
Their moving goal to spreading the power of Chicago dance was definitely the vibe throughout the recent See Chicago Dance
benefit at Venue West which broke attendance and fundraising records with 270 members of the our City’s dance community and
guests on hand for the gala and awards presentation. Honored that evening were Jan Bartoszek, Patti Eylar and the 2024 honorary chairs and founders of See Chicago Dance Carol Fox and Niki Morrison.
Marla Philpot with Legacy Award Recipient Jan Bartoszek
Distinguished Service to the Dance Field Award Honoree Patti Eylar
See Chicago Dance is a nonprofit service organization with the mission to advocate for the dance field and strengthen a diverse
range of dance organizations and artists through services and programs that build and engage audiences. Its vision is to fearlessly inspire an ever-growing inclusive community to share in and spread the power of dance in Chicago.
See Chicago Dance Staff: (L to R) Executive Director Julia Mayer, Membership & Operations Manager Kennedy Ward and Marketing Manager Solomon Bowser
See Chicago Dance is the source of the city’s most comprehensive resource for dance information and one of the largest websites in the United States dedicated to the art form. Its two-pronged approach focuses on building audiences while developing a more
cohesive dance community.
The recent gala raised over $140,000 for its efforts with Kay Burnett, Pam Crutchfield, Winifred Haun and Kevin McGirt serving as co-chairs. During dinner the 2024 Legacy Award Recipient Jan Bartoszek’s company, Hedwig Dances, performed excerpts of company works.
Andreas Böttcher, Gail Kalver, Marsha Dowd and Phil Dowd
ASL interpreter Veramarie Baldoza and Kevin McGirr
Executive Director Julia Mayer told the audience that the evening’s honorees reflect the past, present and future of the organization as it reaches its 20th anniversary. She then introduced a video created by Chicago Dance History Project highlighting the origins of See Chicago Dance, featuring the organization’s co- founders, Carol Fox and Niki Morrison who also served as honorary co-chairs and told of the organization’s earliest days.
See Chicago Dance Board of Directors: Amanda Banks, Debra Bernstein-Siegel, Sarah Venuti Yates, Jorge Perez, Ladonna Freidheim, Dawn Stanislaw, Marisa Santiago, Kia Smith and Michael Foster
Ginger Farley, 2023 recipient of the Distinguished Service to the Dance Field Award, spoke about her own past during those early stages of the organization and introduced a video highlighting the career of this year’s recipient Patti Eylar. After the video, event co-chair Kevin McGirr shared of his 15-year friendship with Eylar. He had the crowd laughing when he mentioned that Eylar not only had danced and taught at Ballet Chicago, but she was also the accountant. McGirr noted that while everyone knows of Eylar as a dancer, she is also a champion for dance and dancers. He welcomed Eylar to the stage and mentioned that, in receiving the
Award she joins past honorees Ginger Farley, Randy Duncan, Gail Kalver and Pam Crutchfield, all of whom were in attendance at the event.
ASL interpreter Veramarie Baldoza and 2023 Distinguished Service to the Dance Field Recipient Ginger Farley
ASL interpreter Kristin Schmitz and Roderick Hawkins
The 2023 Legacy Award Recipient Homer Bryant introduced a tribute video about the 2024 Legacy Award recipient Jan Bartoszek, founder and artistic director of Hedwig Dances saying, “See Chicago Dance defines the Legacy Award as ‘given to an
artistic leader who has enriched their community and made a significant and sustained impact on dance in Chicago.’ I have admired Jan’s work for a long time. I know from experience that running a company or a school, or anything for 40 years requires
great tenacity and love.”
Honorary Co-chair Carol Fox with 2023 Legacy Award Recipient Homer Hans Bryant
After the award presentation, Roderick Hawkins hosted See Chicago Dance’s first-ever paddle raise and began by saying how Fox and Morrison created the original website 20 years ago and in 2025, See Chicago Dance will launch a new website for its 20th anniversary and funds raised will go toward the new website and other See Chicago Dance initiatives. This paddle raise surpassed its $30,000 goal from the donations made that night.
Niki Morisson and Carol Fox, co-founders of See Chicago Dance
Victor Alexander and Maray Gutierrez of Ruth Page Center for the Arts
For audience members, See Chicago Dance offers a dynamic calendar of dance performances and experiences, Hot Deal ticket discounts, professionally written reviews and previews, and listings for more than 200 dance organizations.
For dance artists and organizations, See Chicago Dance provides a full range of Programs and Industry Resources to help build audiences, improve skills and foster appreciation of dance.
Vershawn Sanders-Ward of Red Clay Dance Company and T Ayo Alston of Ayodele Drum & Dance
For more information on See Chicago Dance, go to SeeChicagoDance.com.
