Evanston's New Performing Arts Venue Studio5 Celebrates Grand Opening September 30-October 1 With Live Music & Dance

The Evanston community has a new performing arts venue and directors Bèa and Steve Rashid are throwing the doors open to the community the end of September for the grand opening celebration of Studio5 (1934-38 Dempster Street). The weekend schedule includes dance, music, and a children’s concert with tickets priced at $5 for each show. Tickets are available at the door.

On Friday, September 30^th at 7 p.m., Evanston Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl kicks off the festivities with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, followed by a performance from Dance Center Evanston’s (DCE) resident dance companies – Evanston Dance Ensemble, enidsmithdance, Be the Groove, Elements Contemporary Ballet, Glenn Leslie Classic Tap, and Cartier Collective – with special guest appearances by Christina Ernst, and Jump Rhythm Jazz Project founder Billy Siegenfeld. Saturday night Studio5 welcomes The Fat Babies, a 7-piece classic jazz band for an 8 p.m. performance with a 7:30 p.m. swing dance lesson before the music starts. On Sunday, October 2 at 3 p.m., award-winning children’s performer Jim Gill performs a concert for kids and their families.

The Rashids envision Studio5 as a performing arts space open to the community at large and available for master classes, music and dance series, theatre productions, and small festivals. They feel the possibilities are endless. With its state-of-the-art retractable seating system, Studio5 functions as both a 104-seat performance space and as additional dance studio space for Dance Center Evanston (DCE), which is located directly next door and is now connected to Studio5. Located in Evanston’s Dempster/Dodge Plaza, the Rashids describe Studio5 as an “unconventional use of a retail shopping center … which has the added benefit of lots of parking.”

“Dance is a performing art form, and you need a place to perform,” states Bèa Rashid, who opened Dance Center Evanston (DCE) 22 years ago and founded the Evanston Dance Ensemble two years later. “Evanston has been missing a performing arts space of this size and caliber. Studio5 is a natural extension of Dance Center Evanston and provides a close, intimate performing space where an audience can feel and see the dance.”

“Not to mention the music,” adds Emmy award winning composer/musician Steve Rashid. “Live performance is a direct relationship between the artists and the audience. We’ve worked hard to create excellent sound and sight lines for everyone. There isn’t a bad seat in the house. Our audiences will feel closely connected to the performers on the stage.”

The City of Evanston has thrown its support behind Studio5 with an Economic Development Grant to cover part of the cost of the retractable seating system, which allows Dance Center Evanston to convert the performance space into two additional dance studios for its student and adult classes. The conversion process takes only an hour and the five rows of cushioned seats retract to a depth of 4.5 feet. Studio5 features theatrical lighting, sound, curtains and a state-of-the-art audio and video system that allows for broadcast-quality recording and live streaming of performances.