Culture Shock Chicago

“We are a Troupe of Individuals who through the Power of Music and Dance, Cultivate Self-Worth, Dignity

and Respect for All People”

Culture Shock® Dance Troupe, a professional hip hop dance company and youth outreach organization, was founded by Angie Bunch in 1993.  Since creating this world-renowned dance phenomenon, she has seen the troupe expand into Los Angeles; Las Vegas; Oakland; Chicago; Atlanta; New York; Washington D.C.; Ottawa; Toronto; Montreal; and London.  The Chicago branch was established in 1998 and is under the direction of Executive Director Dawn Ansay, Artistic Director Christopher Courtney and Board President Eilleen Mallary.

Culture Shock® provides a healthy, positive environment for dancers to experience personal growth, teamwork, confidence building and leadership.  The troupe also offers a springboard for dancers who would like to move into the professional industry and pursue recognition in films, commercials and music videos. 

Culture Shock® Chicago performs approximately 30 times per year, throughout the Chicago area, as well as touring to Washington D.C.; San Diego; and Atlanta.  Performance highlights have included Dance Chicago, the city's largest annual dance festival; the KISS FM pre-show for the Justin Timberlake concert; the Chicago Bulls Pre-Game Shows; and the city’s Millennium Park Workouts and Summer Family Fun Stage.  Our performances allow us to share our art form with the public through dance and music and expose audience members to the history of hip-hop and its cultural influences.

Our Hip Hop Workshops/Classes are supplementary to our performances.  We provide weekly company classes that are open to the general public.  Weekly classes are taught by our Artistic Staff, as well as other company members.  We also host workshops and master classes, taught by company members and guest instructors.  Guest instructors may be fellow local Chicago artists, as well as instructors from throughout the country, e.g. Los Angeles, New York.  These workshops and master classes are open to the public, but also bring together many Chicago dancers and allow them to take classes in different styles and from different instructors.  Our workshops and classes allow people the opportunity to experience hip hop dance and its many different styles and forms while expressing their own style of movement

Our outreach programs are designed to offer youth the opportunity to experience hip hop dance as a positive activity and an outlet for personal expression.  We strive to create opportunities where youth can feel confident, empowered and successful by learning and performing hip hop dance.  Our youth programs include lectures/school assemblies, demos, panels and discussion forums about various aspects of hip hop culture as it relates to dance.  We also offer youth instruction and end-of-workshop performance opportunities at these events.  In addition, we perform at local not-for-profit events to help raise funds for charitable organizations.  All company members are required to participate in our outreach programs and serve as instructors and lecturers. 

We host and perform at outreach events approximately one to two times per month, as well as instructing ongoing programs such as D.A.R.E. (drug abuse resistance education). 

Events are held throughout Chicago, as well as neighboring suburbs.  In the past few years, Culture Shock® Chicago's outreach programs have included performances and workshops for DARE, WYSE (Women and Youth Supporting Each Other), Shake It Sign It (hearing impaired youth dance group), Stompfest (Kid's Club), Camp Mosaic (summer camp for youth of the Muslim faith) and Dance for Life at Chicago’s prestigious Harris Theater (annual AIDS fundraising benefit).

Culture Shock® Chicago continues to strive for excellence through community outreach programming and by raising the bar for hip hop dance performance in Chicago and beyond. 

Please contact us by telephone at 312-409-5347, by email at cultureshockchicago@gmail.com, on the web at www.cultureshockdance.org/csc or on our facebook and myspace. 

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PO Box 512090 Los Angeles, CA 90051

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