ConteXture Dance Detroit was founded by Artistic Director Tracy Halloran in 2014, after receiving a Kresge Arts Fellowship. ConteXture is a contemporary modern dance company that explores cultural identity and the relationship between artistic expression and the human condition.
ConteXture’s first performances were in 2014, and its first full concert, Illumination of Process, was performed in 2015 at Marygrove College, which served as our home base for 4 years. In 2016 we were incorporated as a non-profit organization and received our 501(c) 3 status from the IRS. We also began holding open classes at our rehearsals as a source of income. In the following year we developed a full donor campaign and sold ads in our concert program. Success in fundraising enabled us over the years to perform at multiple dance festivals in SE Michigan, at the Detroit Institute of Arts, and at the Dumbo Dance Festival in Brooklyn, New York.
In 2018, we moved our concert to the Jam Handy in Detroit, and for the first time, with the support of a major donor, we commissioned music from a local techno artist and debuted inner:Detroit:visions, our first full length work. That year we also held our first Winter Workshop, attracting local high school and college dance students to take class from professional level teachers in the Metro area. We have continued to offer these workshops, and now offer them twice a year, bringing in guest teachers from New York, Chicago, Wayne State, Western Michigan, University of Michigan, Oakland University, as well as dance wellness professionals.
By 2020 we had established a foothold in Northwest Detroit, scheduling our annual concert at the historic Redford Theatre, but we had to cancel the performance due to COVID. We took this as an opportunity to bring dance into the community by holding outdoor/open air performances in two parks in Northwest Detroit. We worked with the community leadership, and developed a documentary which included interviews with these leaders about the impact of COVID on their neighborhoods. This information led to us titling the project Solace. We also used the community eblast system to gather information from residents regarding their experiences with COVID. Both the interviews and the collected data were shared with the choreographers and dancers as motivation for choreography and performance. We gave $600 donations to 2 community organizations involved. Photos of Solace can be found at https://contexturedancedetroit.com/photo-gallery.
In 2022, we expanded community outreach by initiating, with grant support from the Michigan Arts & Culture Commission, our Senior Night Out Project which brings 75-100 Detroit senior citizens living in 5 different Senior Housing Apartments as guests to our concert, including tickets, free bus transportation and concessions. The response from the seniors was so positive that we repeated it in 2023, and have already received a grant from MACC to help fund this project in 2024. In 2022, we also established, thanks to another generous donor, the Darling Endowment, which enables us to provide choreographic experience for one of the Company dancers by creating, rehearsing, and directing a dance for Contexture’s interns to be performed at the annual concert.
Most recently, ConteXture held its first Pre-professional Summer Intensive for students, aged 12-18. Several Company dancers were the teachers at this intensive, providing another opportunity for professional growth, as well as reaching out to a younger group of dancers.
We have worked diligently over the last 10 years to accomplish our goals by providing professional opportunities for local dancers and reaching out to the community through our various projects. We look forward to continuing to fulfill our mission in 2024. We are already planning to establish a Youth Company and are beginning discussions about an artist in residency program.
