Deeply Rooted Dance Theater Receives $2M Grant for South Side Studio …

One of Chicago’s dance companies is receiving a big financial boost.

The Deeply Rooted Dance Theater recently received a $2 million grant from the Mellon Foundation. The money is going toward a new dance center on the city’s South Side.

The company currently operates out of Ballet Chicago’s downtown studios.

Nicole Clarke-Springer, artistic director of Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, said the Deeply Rooted Center for Black Dance and Creative Communities will be a state-of-the-art facility on the Washington Park State Street Corridor.

“First and foremost,” Clarke-Springer said, “it’s a permanent home for Deeply Rooted Dance Theater and our other arts partners who have not had a space with we can see ourselves and recognize our art, our artistry, and have it in a space that is state-of-the-art. … Six performance spaces, six studios, a black box theater, we will have a rooftop garden so you can go there and meditate, a library and more. So we’re quite excited about that…