We Tell Stories

In the 2025 In.Grained series, TDC company member Anna Wetoska shared a deeply personal piece about losing her mother to breast cancer. Through her choreography, she explored grief, healing, and the enduring power of love—using movement to open conversation around loss and remind audiences of the strength found in connection and resilience.

TDC company veteran Andi Fitzgerald presented a deeply personal work in the 2025 In.Grained series centered on mental health. Inspired by her own journey, the piece used dance as a way to explore struggle, healing, and the power of creative expression while helping open conversation around mental health. “Take Care” also featured an original collaboration with composer Saurab Bhargava, whose music and Andi’s choreography came together through a shared creative process.

We were deeply inspired by Amanda Beedle and the strength of her family after her daughters, Annabelle and Abigail, were diagnosed with Batten disease, a rare genetic disorder. To help share their story and raise awareness, we partnered with Kathy Romanski at Lurie Children’s Hospital on a special artistic project. TDC choreographer Ava Wichser-Foerster translated Amanda’s journey into a powerful dance piece that captured the emotions, challenges, and resilience of the Beedle family. TDC company members also joined the “Beedles Braving Batten” event—walking alongside the family and performing excerpts from the piece to help bring their story and message of support to the community.

n 2023, we partnered with The Grace Network, an organization supporting Chicago Public School students experiencing hygiene insecurity. Through a special performance, TDC used choreography to help share students’ stories, and audience donations from ticket sales funded thousands of dollars in hygiene supplies and hundreds of care kits. The performance also included a collaboration with Lo Atelier. TDC choreographers and visual artist Lauren Lichtenstein blended dance and visual art in a unique way—Lauren hand-painted the costumes, and the music was inspired by the sounds of her painting process.

TDC partnered with Park Ridge Community Church on a project exploring the complex relationship between faith and the LGBTQ+ community. The church created a pamphlet sharing real stories from members navigating their sexual identity within a religious setting, which became the inspiration for the work. TDC translated these personal narratives into a powerful dance performance focused on empathy, understanding, and inclusion. The collaboration was performed in three locations, helping share these stories and expand the conversation with a wider audience.

This performance was created in partnership with Emerald Place Memory Care Facility, where TDC led a special dance residency for residents living with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Weekly classes brought residents and their spouses together, creating meaningful moments of connection through music and movement. For many couples, these sessions offered a rare chance to reconnect, as familiar songs often sparked memories and recognition. Sharing those moments of joy and togetherness was a powerful experience for everyone involved.

This performance was part of a year-long collaboration with Erasing the Distance, a Chicago-based nonprofit that uses performance to spark honest conversations about mental health. Drawing from real interviews, TDC translated personal stories connected to adoption and identity into powerful dance pieces that explored emotional experiences often left unspoken. The project aimed to help audiences better understand the mental health journeys connected to adoption while creating space for empathy, awareness, and dialogue through the arts.

In partnership with Sign Off, an organization that encourages people to disconnect from their phones and reconnect with each other, audiences were invited into a unique phone-free performance experience. Guests checked their devices at the door, removing digital distractions and creating space to be fully present. Set inside an artifact-filled mansion, the evening allowed the audience to engage more deeply with the dancers, the art, and each other. Without screens or recording devices, conversations flowed more naturally and the shared experience became the focus—highlighting the power of genuine, in-the-moment human connection.

Takeda Pharmaceuticals commissioned TDC to create a performance honoring the company’s veteran employees. TDC members interviewed several veterans, gathering their personal stories and experiences, which were then transformed into an original dance piece. Performed for hundreds of Takeda employees, the work brought these stories to life through movement—showing how dance can powerfully communicate real experiences and connect audiences to the people behind them.

TDC partnered with DePaul University’s Dax Program to create a performance that brought attention to the reality of student homelessness. By working directly with students in the program, TDC transformed their stories into a powerful dance piece that helped audiences connect with the human experiences behind the statistics. The collaboration culminated in a performance at the World’s Big Sleep Out, a global event where more than 60,000 people slept outside in solidarity with those experiencing homelessness and displacement. Through movement and storytelling, the piece helped deepen understanding of housing insecurity while raising awareness and donations to support the Dax Program.

TDC partnered with the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Widowed Support Group to transform the women’s personal stories into a moving dance performance. The participants shared memories from across their lives—from childhood and marriage to the profound experience of losing a spouse—which became the emotional foundation for the work. Through choreography, TDC brought these stories to life on stage, honoring the women’s resilience, their strong sense of community, and the power of art to create connection, healing, and understanding.

Artfully Crafted Narratives

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