events
spring break dance camp (ages 2-17)
Keep your kids active and busy this Spring Break with Joel Hall Dancers & Center! Our Spring Break Dance Camp offers three days of classes, friendship, and FUN for ages 2 - 17!
woman's WERKQ
Nina Simone - with Joel Hall flair! Rehearsal Director & First Company Dancer Heather Zimny leads a one-hour FREE Community Class.
youth classes - spring 2025
YOUTH CLASSES ARE BACK! Get your kids involved and moving this Spring as Joel Hall Dancers & Center brings back its beloved Youth Dance Classes.
Ages 3 - 17 can get on their leg with us!
masterclass: belly dancing
Ashorina Safire, co-founder of the Safire Belly Dancers, leads a two-hour masterclass in this iconic Middle Eastern idiom.
masterclass: bharatanatyam
Kiran Rajagopalan leads a two-hour masterclass in the Classical Indian Bharatanatyam technique
masterclass with tracey franklin
Chicagoan Tracey Franklin comes to Joel Hall Dancers & Center on March 15 to lead a masterclass in Modern (Horton-based) technique!
flavors 2025
Flavors is BACK! On Sunday, March 9 at 3 PM we are thrilled to present Chicago’s outstanding young dancers from Chicago Public School and Chicago Park District programs, neighborhood schools, and Chicago’s beloved professioanl companies.
mindfulness yoga - a free community event
Celebrate Black History Month and the 51st Anniversary of Joel Hall Dancers & Center with a community-building moment of reflection and meditation.
A $15 suggested donation supports the class and mission of Joel Hall Dancers & Center to “awaken the dancer in everyone’s soul!”
winter 2025 schedule
Start off the new year with a NEW CLASS! Brand new classes begin January 6. Use code JINGLE25 for 30% in-person classes!
jingle january - 30% off
NEW YEAR, NEW EXPERIENCES! Do something you haven’t done before and get into the dance studio. Save 30% on our in-person classes with code JINGLE25 when you register. Lots of options are available - check ‘em out now! - and get on your leg with us!
new class alert: in-person ballet with joan
Join Joan every Saturday from 4 PM - 5:15 for an open-level Ballet class that will keep your skills sharp and powerful!
HIGH FIVE for HIGH IMPACT
It’s Giving Tuesday! From now until Wednesday, November 4, give us a High Five to keep the WERKQ werkqing and the joy moving!
new class alert: in-person ballet with joan
Join Joan every Saturday from 4 PM - 5:15 for an open-level Ballet class that will keep your skills sharp and powerful!
william gill jazz masterclass
Celebrate Will’s birthday with him on the dance floor! You’ve asked for it, so we’re making it happen: a celebratory Jazz Masterclass with Will Gill!
joel hall day
Celebrate the man and the WERKQ that distinguishes Joel Hall Dancers & Center from other studios and companies in Chicago!
embrace the joy
We have had an amazing 2024 - filled with new leadership, a new home, our REFOCUS celebration of 50 years - and now we need our community to help us make 2025 even stronger!
Embrace the joy this season of giving brings and support JHDC. Take a class, donate, volunteer. Visit our giving page to see the ways you can help us awaken the dancer in everyone’s soul!
new class alert: in-person ballet with joan
Join Joan every Saturday from 4 PM - 5:15 for an open-level Ballet class that will keep your skills sharp and powerful!
new class alert: in-person ballet with joan
Join Joan every Saturday from 4 PM - 5:15 for an open-level Ballet class that will keep your skills sharp and powerful!
mindfulness yoga
Focus on your calm and inner peace, unplugged from the news and November bustle with us. This FREE one-hour community event will be a great way to meet and relax with the JHDC community.
50% off for our NEWHOME
It’s a special! 50% off all in-person classes from November 4 - 10 so you can awaken the dancer in your soul as the holiday season approaches!
new class alert: in-person ballet with joan
Join Joan every Saturday from 4 PM - 5:15 for an open-level Ballet class that will keep your skills sharp and powerful!
joel hall masterclass @ dance africa chicago
The Joel Hall Dancers proudly join the companies of Dance Africa Chicago for the performance of Rebirth on October 26 at Kennedy King College, and classes at Sizemore Academy on October 27.
joel hall dancers @ dance africa chicago
The Joel Hall Dancers proudly join the companies of Dance Africa Chicago for the performance of Rebirth on October 26 at Kennedy King College, and classes at Sizemore Academy on October 27.
community thriller flash mob
It's baa-aaaack: our Thriller Halloween Class & Flash Mob! Join Melissa Metro for an hour of classic Thriller moves - and then make your neighbor's night!
new fall schedule
We have NEW CLASSES lanching October 15! We’re adding SEVEN new classes to our Fall Schedule to keep you on your leg this holiday season.
joel hall dancers @ chicago live!
Joel Hall Dancers bring the iconic El Gato Negro to Navy Pier! Join us and some of the brightest and best of the city at Chicago Live!
community urban jazz
First Company member Melissa Metro leads a FREE class in our new home, part of the activities around Chicago Live! at Navy Pier - and our 50th anniversary!
refocus: 50 years of the joel hall dancers
Join the Joel Hall Dancers as we celebrate FIFTY years of WERKQ. Refocus celebrates the inspiring and genre-defining Urban Jazz dance that is the legacy - and future - of Joel Hall Dancers & Center.
our new home
We're home! Thanks to a new partnership with Black Ensemble Theater, we're thrilled to announce our new home at 4511 N. Clark! Join us in the coming weeks for opening events, dedications, and more -- and then stay with us as we bring you more classes, more opportunities to "awaken the dancer in your soul!"
joel hall dancers @ divination
The Joel Hall Dancers join fellow members of the Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project in Divination on August 24. Come see the world premiere of Usher, created by Artistic Director William Gill.
chicago legacies: dance leaders and their perspectives
Sarita Smith Childs, assistant professor of dance at Northern Illinois University, moderates a conversation between Joel Hall Dancers Co-Founder Joel Hall, Red Clay Dance Company Founder Vershawn Sanders-Ward, and Winifred Haun, founding artistic director of Winifred Haun & Dancers, on their goals for founding a dance company - and how the concept of legacy informs their work.
50th Anniversary events are sponsored in part by the Helen Brach Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Donate today to make a difference and support the work of JHDC - or email give@joelhall.org to learn how you could support the various events and programs of JHDC.
community floor WERKQ - a barre technique
Join our pioneering founder, Joel Hall, in 90 minutes of his Barre technique, “Breathing Jazz Floor WERKQ.” Bring a yoga mat and foam roller and get on the floor and condition your body with Chicago’s legendary father of Urban Jazz Dance. This free open-level class is a great way for everyone to experience the iconic style that has inspired Chicagoans for fifty years.
50th Anniversary events are sponsored in part by the Helen Brach Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Donate today to make a difference and support the work of JHDC - or email give@joelhall.org to learn how you could support the various events and programs of JHDC.
community urban jazz
Join Melissa for 90-minutes of the iconic dance style pioneered by the Joel Hall Dancers
new barre class: joel hall breathing jazz floor WERKQ
First Company Member Melissa Metro leads a weekly class in our iconic Barre technique: Joel Hall Breathing Jazz Floor WERKQ
new barre class: joel hall breathing jazz floor WERKQ
First Company Member Melissa Metro leads a weekly class in our iconic Barre technique: Joel Hall Breathing Jazz Floor WERKQ