Ben Wardell, in white

The Chicago Dancemakers Forum has selected four emerging choreographers as its 2015 Lab Artists. Each artist will receive $15,000 toward research and creation of a new dance, plus a year’s worth of mentorship.

Barak ade Soleil’s CDF project, what the body knows, will explore the intersection of race and disability.

Jamal Oliver, a dancer in Chicago’s footwork (hyperspeed break dance) scene, will use dance and visual projections to depict Chicago in his 160.

Benjamin Holliday Wardell’s Origami will use many performers and a complex collaborative process.

Sara Zalek, whose work is rooted in butoh, will create a series of short films in Formidable Dreams.

Barak ade Soleil’s tabula rasa

Photos from top: by Katie Graves, courtesy of CDF; courtesy of Bodies of Work