About

Our Mission

The Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center (CMDC) exists to transform lives through exceptional Dance education, Artistic excellence, and innovation. We provide world-class training in a welcoming environment where every student is valued, challenged, and inspired to reach their fullest potential. Through Dance, we cultivate discipline, confidence, creativity, leadership, and a lifelong appreciation for the Arts while celebrating the richness of the communities we serve.

For more than 35 years, founder and internationally acclaimed choreographer Homer Hans Bryant has empowered generations of young people through Dance. Under his Artistic leadership, CMDC has become "THE PLACE" where students of all backgrounds, abilities, and financial circumstances can access rigorous, professional-level training in an environment built on excellence, opportunity, and belonging.

At CMDC, diversity is not simply something we embrace, it is the foundation of who we are. Our students, families, faculty, Artists, board members, and audiences represent a broad range of cultures, experiences, perspectives, and identities that strengthen our organization and enrich our artistic community. CMDC is committed to maintaining an inclusive, respectful, and welcoming environment for everyone. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, veteran or military status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

This commitment extends to every aspect of our organization, including:

Student admissions, enrollment, and participation in classes, training programs, performances, and scholarships.
Employment, recruitment, professional development, and advancement of faculty and staff.
Selection of board members, volunteers, artists, vendors, and contractors.
Access to all programs, partnerships, performances, and community engagement initiatives.

We believe that the Arts are a powerful force for personal growth, cultural understanding, and community transformation. By removing barriers to participation and creating pathways to professional excellence, CMDC ensures that every aspiring Dancer has the opportunity to thrive, regardless of their background or circumstances.

As an equal opportunity organization, CMDC proudly upholds these principles as essential to our mission, our culture, and our legacy. We remain dedicated to building a future where Artistic excellence and equitable access go hand in hand, empowering the next generation of Artists, leaders, and change makers through the transformative power of Dance.

CMDC is a not for profit organization which has served Chicago’s communities for 35 years. Homer Bryant founded the Bryant Ballet School and Company in 1990 to create a neoclassical ballet technique which integrates a diversity of dance styles and honors the richness of our varied multicultural heritage. The name of the school was officially changed to Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center in 1997. In 2008 he merged ballet and street dance to create Hiplet™, a new technique featuring hip hop dance in pointe shoes.

Instruction with Intention
PURPOSE FOR LIFE

At the Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center, instruction is never simply about technique, it is about transformation. We challenge every student to pursue excellence with integrity, discipline with passion, and Artistry with purpose. By nurturing both technical mastery and personal growth, we prepare young Artists to become leaders in their communities and wherever life takes them.

Our Mission

The Homer Bryant Story

On growing up in St. Thomas and discovering dance

I grew up in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. It is a very small island in the Caribbean, owned by the United States since 1917. My grandfather Edgar Steel was a carpenter. He was the only coffin maker on the island. So every day after school, all the young men would have to go to my grandfather’s shop to learn the trade. And every time that we wanted to take a nap, my brother and I, we would go in the coffin and lay back and say, “This is perfect, Grandpa! This one fits!”

My grandparents had 18 kids. So it was truly a village, not only my immediate family but with all the neighbors. My grandparents lived on top of a hill, so when we would visit, every little old lady along that path would know who you were and who your grandparents were, and you could not misbehave. I have a brother and two sisters, and my mom was a single mom. She was a cook at a school facility, and she would work in the afternoon at three or four different restaurants. She was a very hardworking mom.

We had a black-and-white TV in St. Thomas, and when I would see Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and Gene Kelly in different movies, I would start dancing around the house. I had this passion for movement. When I got to the eighth grade, my friend and I would stop at a dance school on the way to basketball practice and watch the girls through the window. After a couple of months of doing that, the teacher came outside and said she was going to call the police. I said, “But I really want to dance!”