For more than 45 years Gloria Chatman has used her passion for dance to teach, inspire and mentor.

She is credited with having built one of the most exceptional high school dance programs in the state as coordinator of the award-winning dance program at Richton Park-based Southland College Prep Charter High School and chairperson of the fine arts department.

Her impact reaches far beyond choreography, said Blondean Davis, superintendent of Matteson Elementary District 162 and founder and CEO of Southland College Prep.

“She has poured her heart into our students, using dance as a language of hope, healing and empowerment,” Davis said. “Her leadership has shaped confident, expressive young people who understand the power of discipline, artistry and excellence.”

Chatman was honored Sunday at Chicago-based Timeless Gifts Performing Arts Program for Youth and Young Adults 16th Annual Christmas Duets Concert & Fundraising Gala. Timeless Gifts was created to fill the gap left as performing arts programs were removed from many public schools. It was founded by producer, songwriter and Emmy Award-winning vocalist Joan Collaso and provides instruction, exposure and professional performance opportunities for young, aspiring artists.

Chatman received the organization’s Juanita Passmore Legacy Award, named in honor of the late Passmore, a longtime Chicago community activist who worked in Mayor Harold Washington’s administration and helped found the Chicago Gospel Music Festival.

“My mission is to inspire through the gift of dance,” said Chatman.

She uses her skills and expertise to teach students to develop their technical, choreographic and performance skills, “but also as a tool for self-expression, to develop social emotional skills,” Chatman said.

“Some of our students have such a difficult time expressing themselves verbally, articulating what they really feel. But they can through music, through dance, through movement.”

Chatman was brought on board by Davis to launch the dance program at Southland College Prep when the school opened in 2010. Although Southland is not a performing arts school, more than half of its students participate in the performing arts program. School leaders credit dance and other arts programs as major reasons for the school’s strong academic performance.

Southland College Prep is the only charter high school in Illinois to earn the state’s highest rating of “exemplary” this year, placing it in the top 10% of high schools statewide. It has earned the designation six of the past seven years and ranks 11th out of 712 schools, according to school representatives.

Students in the dance program range from beginning to intermediate level. They graduate from the program with four years of technique and performance experience in ballet, tap, modern, contemporary, jazz and ballroom dance, said Chatman. The program produces annual productions including in the winter and spring.

Gloria Chatman, Southland College Prep coordinator of dance, instructs students during a rehearsal Dec. 3, 2025, for the upcoming winter concert. Chatman is the recipient of the Timeless Gifts Youth Performing Arts Program’s Juanita Passmore Legacy Award. (Southland College Prep)

Chatman has a bachelor’s degree in dance and art education, a master’s degree in dance/movement therapy and is a registered dance/movement therapist.

Prior to shifting her career path to education, she treated patients with learning, behavioral, physical, emotional and cognitive disorders through the use of dance/movement therapy at Chicago area medical facilities, she said. She is a former middle school art teacher and founder and former director of the liturgical dance ministry at Apostolic Church of God in Chicago.

Her dance experience includes producing, directing and choreographing dance productions over the past 45 years and performing, she shared. Among her choreographic works are theatrical renditions of “The Wiz,” “The Lion King” and “Raisin in the Sun,” she said.

Chatman previously operated her own private dance studio site, the Danspiration Center, where she taught children and adults, among them students with special needs. Classes included dance education, therapeutic dance and liturgical dance tailored to the needs of the individual.

The studio helped students build confidence, self-esteem and body image. It is where Timeless Gifts board member Pam Oliver, who nominated Chatman for the legacy award, first met her. Oliver has long attended Southland College Prep’s dance productions.

“I was just in awe of the professional productions, the music, the choreography, the themes,” she said. “I was amazed. What Gloria does, the mentor that she is to these young people, I have true admiration for her. I thought we should honor Gloria because of her commitment to the arts, to mentoring and to education.”

“It all comes from her heart for these kids,” said Fred Nelson, artistic director at the school, who is musical director for various artists and owns his own production company. “It’s not just about dance. She cares about them and makes them want to give their best. It’s an amazing program she’s built.”

Gloria Chatman and members of the Southland College Prep Charter High School dance program practice for the upcoming winter concert Dec. 3, 2025, at the Richton Park school. (Southland College Prep)

Chatman’s love of dance began at age 6, when her mother enrolled her in a Park District ballet class.

She estimates she has taught dance to roughly 1,200 students over the years at Southland College Prep. Some have gone on to pursue careers in dance education and performing, she said. Among them is Stephanie Charles, who graduated from Southland College Prep in 2017.

“She pushes you,” Charles said. “She knows who you are, and she expects a lot of you. She’s very concerned and interested in the things happening in her students’ lives and interested in figuring out how to nurture, help assist and encourage growth.”

Charles earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and dance from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She worked with Chatman at summer performing arts camps, she said. Charles is now in her fourth year of teaching dance at Park Forest-based Michelle Obama School of Technology and the Arts.

“I’m still using a lot of the techniques that I learned from Mrs. Chatman in my classes,” said Charles.

She said she was the first student at Southland College Prep to choreograph a dance and have it presented at a show. Charles is teaching that dance to her students.

She tells her students there are opportunities available to them in the arts if they choose to pursue them, work hard, pay attention and focus. She lets them know she’s an example of what can be accomplished.

Some of Charles’ students went on to become Chatman’s students, Charles said.

“Seeing the full circle of it all is a blessing,” she said. “I wanted to be able to provide quality dance teaching to people who can’t afford going to traditional dance studios because that’s how I was. I’m doing what I said I wanted to do.”

She gives Chatman much credit for that.

Chatman says she is humbled and honored to have been recognized for pursuing her passion.

Francine Knowles at Fknowles.writer@gmail.com is a freelance columnist for the Daily Southtown.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/08/column-southland-college-preps-gloria-chatman/