COVID-19 couldn’t stop the 2020 Dance for Life. But it did turn the annual benefit performance, produced by Chicago Dancers United to raise money for its Dancers’ Fund and other charities, into a Zoom event.
Pate’s position, as the organization’s only staff member, was abruptly eliminated May 19. On June 9 she posted a “Dear Chicago dance community” letter on Facebook, suggesting that the entire CDU board of directors resign, to be replaced by a smaller board with financial and operations expertise, plus an advisory board of dance professionals.
Board members, however, note that, since 2015, when CDU, which had been part of the AIDS Foundation, became an independent nonprofit, it has given out $378,527 in grants to individuals and to the AIDS Foundation, while producing a much-loved event that unifies and celebrates the Chicago dance community. So far this year, in response to COVID-19, they say they’ve given $23,000 to individuals, and have temporarily expanded what they’ll cover to include not only critical illness costs, but routine medical expenses like health insurance and co-payments for dance professionals financially impacted by the pandemic.
