As you may have heard, Links Hall, our beloved and dear home for 47 years, will close June 30th, 2025.
This devastating news not only for our community, but all Chicago artists, who have found deep connection and support from Links over the years. Since 1978, hundreds of contact improvisers have rolled, flown, and fallen on the floors of Links Hall. Its' floors have been our first partner.
Check out upcoming performances at Links Hall and continue to donate to their Lifeline for Links campaign to support their efforts in this final season.
The Chicago Sunday Jam at Links Hall will pause in July and continue to provide a weekly-ish jam on Sundays in August, location TBD. If you have any resources or suggestions for alternative spaces, please email us.
To celebrate our longtime home and honor the dances we've had there, we invite you to join us for all upcoming jams at Links Hall 11:45am - 2:30pm. Dates are below
Apr 20 Tim mask optional
May 4 TBD mask required
May 25 TBD mask optional
June 8 TBD mask required
June 15 TBD mask required
June 22 TBD mask required
June 29 TBD mask optional
May 3, 10, 17, 31 @ 11:30 - 2pm
Explore fundamental skills, learn contact improv histories, and deepen connection to dance
All Levels Welcome, geared toward engagement with Contact Improvisation space but no contact is necessary to engage with the class. This series is mask optional. The community agreements that operate in the Sunday Jam are applicable for this class series
Payment
All sessions: $45 - $60
Daily drop in: $15 no one turned away for lack of funds
Fill out the Registration Form once or anytime your basic info changes, then show up to dance!
Sign Up before the jam is no-longer required.
Dancers will be asked to sign in upon arriving at the jam
Waitlist and 30-person capacity is no longer in effect
Newcomers and those who have not attended the space in 6 months are required to attend class before the jam.
Are masks required? It depends
One jam every month is mask-optional. All others require high quality masks to be worn at all times within the studio at Links Hall, lowered only briefly for food or drink if necessary
Whenever Illinois Wastewater Viral Activity Level (as reported by the CDC) goes above 8, masks are required
If there is only one jam in a month, it will be a masked jam
How will I know if a jam is masked or mask-optional?
Typically, the last jam of each month will be mask-optional
The Sunday jam opens with a structured class with a teacher, followed by a minimally structured “Open Jam” typically without music, facilitated by members of Jam Support.
Brand new folks are encouraged to attend!
Links Hall: 3111 N Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60618
Most Sundays, see dates above
11:30 -11:55 Arrive
11:55 -1:00 Opening Circle and Class
1:00 - 2:15 Open Jam
2:15 - 2:30 Closing Circle
Fill out the Registration Form once or anytime your basic info changes
Newcomers and those who have not attended the space in 6 months are required to attend class before the jam.
Actively observing from off the dance floor is a valid way to participate in class!
The Opening Circle is a place to state your name, your pronouns, your access needs for the day (conditions that will allow you to fully participate), any wishes you might have for future dances, and other useful information for people to know, such as recent injuries you’d like others to be mindful of. One might offer “My left ankle is injured, please be gentle when sharing weight with me” or “I do not want to be lifted today.” This is a place to practice saying what you might say again during a dance.
The Closing Circle is a place to reflect, connect, and make announcements before parting.
The purpose of the jam is to practice contact improvisation (CI), an evolving movement practice in which we communicate spontaneously “through touch, weight, balance, impulse and movement, in partnership with the physical forces” often by following the rolling point where two bodies connect (From Caught Falling, p. 77).
This jam is run by a collective of volunteers who work within committees and make decisions by consensus. To learn more about how we are organized, see Collective Governance. To contact us, please see Contact the Jam.
The Opening Circle will begin at 11:55 am with a 45 min to 1-hr warm-up class, led by rotating teachers.
Bring a KF94, KN95, or N95 mask or $2 to purchase one (limited supply, please bring your own if you can).
See latest COVID-19 protocol - We now have one jam per month that is mask optional! read the updated doc for info about unmasking for those jams!
Bring cash if you're able to make a donation ($10-20 suggested, no one turned away for lack of funds)
If you come down with any COVID, monkeypox (rash, fever, swollen lymph nodes, aches), or other cold/flu symptoms, please stay home (if you're able, delete your name from the sign up sheet)
Choose clothing that will help you dance with ease. See What should I wear?