In the world of Chicago contemporary dance, The Seldoms are outliers. Carrie Hanson, their artistic director, likes to challenge typical thinking about what dance is, so she will stage a concert in an empty swimming pool (Giant Fix) or craft an entire piece about a landfill (Monument). But the deviation from the norm that is generating the most buzz for her dancers: Hanson’s willingness to share the spotlight with other indie artists. Contributors to the group’s engagement at the Dance Center of Columbia College February 19th to 21st run the gamut, from choreographers Darrell Jones and Liz Burritt and composers Richard Woodbury and Erik Ian Walker to painter Jackie Kazarian, architect Joel Huffman, and local designers Anke Loh and Lara Miller. The Seldoms will also stage an elaborate fashion show featuring work by Loh, Miller, and other local up-and-comers at The Underground (for info, theseldoms.org). “We’re consistently a strand of individ-uality,” says Hanson, who is working on a piece called Thrift, which will attempt to embody the seismic shift in the economy. Unconventional, yes. Unforgettable, we predict so.

For tickets, colum.edu/dancecenter or call 312-369-6600.

Photograph: Saverio Truglia