Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble Debuts 2-Day Music Fest This Weekend

ANDERSONVILLE — Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble is opening its season this weekend with its first-ever music festival, Copasetic Vibrations, to platform artists from Chicago and the Midwest. The two-day fest kicks off 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, 1650 W. Foster Ave. Alongside music and dance performances by local artists, there will be light refreshments, artist merchandise, caricature drawings by Kennedy Free and potentially food trucks, the ensemble’s artistic director Davon Suttles told Block Club. Fourteen musicians are in the lineup, including hip-hop artist GO79MAN, Brazilian-born indie-pop artist Bonatto, South Asian beatboxer Shamik, Wisconsin-based jazz-fusion band Lakewaves Trio, a “video game jazz fusion group” known as Andy’s Critical Hits!, and Afrofuturist psych rock band Electric Mothership. Tickets are $30 for one-day passes or $50 for the weekend. This is an 18-and-up event, and students can get $20 off using the code “goodvibez.” Learn more, see the full schedule and buy tickets here . View this post on Instagram While Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble primarily practices dance theater — which includes creating devised works and youth arts education programs — it also hosts visual artists in its space and serves as a subsidized venue for Chicago artists and performers. The festival is one way the ensemble can build community with musicians, too, Suttles said. “I was like, it’d be really cool if we gave space for musicians to come in and showcase their work in front of our audience space … because venues are so expensive, and finding opportunities here, especially in Chicago, I know it’s really hard for musicians,” said Suttles, who comes from a family of musicians. Chicago Danztheatre started brainstorming back in January and by the beginning of summer, the ensemble had an open application for musicians to apply for the fest, Suttles said. “It’s going to be a party feel,” he said. “We’re going to be celebrating these musicians. … The musicians are also helping run the festival, as well as performing, which is so cool because they really get to work with each other and build a community with each other.” The fest’s name, Copasetic, is a slang term believed to be coined by renowned tap dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson in the 1930s, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary . The word means, “It’s cool. It’s chill. That’s what it was coined as,” said Suttles, a professional tap dancer. “So tap dancers are like, ‘Hey, are you copasetic? Are you chill?’” Giving a nod to the art form, one of the bands, Jamie Demeny’s 4-Player Game, will feature tap dancing as percussion, Suttles said. He hopes the fest can become an annual event, showcasing new artists each year. “If you’re a local musician or an artist that is looking to find a community and build a community, you gotta support your other local artists,” he said. “We’re always open ears to new opportunities. So come pull up, come have a conversation with me, come meet other artists, and let’s continue to expand this.” Learn more about Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble on its website . ______________________________________________________________________ Support Local News! Subscribe to Block Club Chicago , an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Already subscribe? Click here to gift a subscription , or you can support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation. Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast: Are Illinois Republicans An Endangered Species After The Blue Tsunami? Episode play icon Are Illinois Republicans An Endangered Species After The Blue Tsunami? Episode play icon From Stoves To Overhead Heat: The History Of The CTA’s Warming Lamps Episode play icon Should Chicago Have Public Festival Grounds? It’s On The Ballot. Load More Search Results placeholder Previous Episode Show Episodes List Next Episode