Embedded Writers 2020

The Embedded Writers Program is the brainchild of Ginger Farley, former executive director of the Chicago Dancemakers Forum. As a decades-long member of the Chicago dance / performance communities, Ginger has recognized a need for deep engagement between dance makers and writers in Chicago. This program is an initiative towards that goal whereby we pair a writer—who is also a practicing artist, curator, cultural producer, and/or all of the above—with a dance maker while they are in the process of making a new work. Together they share space, process, dialogue, reflection, and creation.

The 2020 embedded writers were chosen by dance / performance makers—Nejla Yatkin, Jumaane Taylor, and Jenn “Po’Chop” Freeman— in collaboration with the Performance Response Journal and the Chicago Dancemaker’s Forum. Their time together was made possible by CDF’s production residencies in partnership with the Dance Center of Columbia College and the Rebuild Foundation. Additional financial support for the EWP was provided by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) and individual donations.