At the time of its inception, there was a growing need for diversity within the University of Chicago dance scene. The co-founders based the company on three key ideas: diversity of dance genre/style, diversity of skill level, and cultural diversity amongst the company participants. With these three ideas at the forefront, the co-founders aimed to put together a unified production that would give dancers of all genres the opportunity to work together to express themselves through dance.

RBIM made its debut in the Spring of 2004. The company was made up of 34 members at the time, and the show turned out to be quite a success. RBIM had finally made its mark as a distinguished dance company on the University campus. Dance genres ranged from Bellydancing, Modern and Lyrical to African and Hip-Hop. The signature of our show was a ballet pointe piece followed by a hip-hop piece!

The following year, the size of the company more than doubled! RBIM performed Brushstrokes in front of a nearly packed first floor audience (Mandel Hall) in the Spring of 2005. That year, choreographers selected visual art pieces that held particular meaning for them and the choreography for each piece was designed as an interpretation of the visual artwork selected for that piece. The artwork was displayed on a large projector to the audience at the start of each piece. An innovative and unique venture, RBIM?'s show Brushstrokes was quite a success, and the popularity of the company grew even larger.

Today, RBIM is nearly 100 members strong, and represents one of the largest and most ethnically diverse registered student organizations on the entire University campus. The company offers classes on campus in the autumn, and prepares for the large annual spring production during the Winter and Spring quarters. It continues to feature dancers and choreographers from the local and University community.

We are proud of our tradition of diversity and our commitment to giving dancers of all technical backgrounds the opportunity to learn, explore, and improve their dance technique. The current directors have worked hard to continually improve the company and adapt it to its expanding membership. Dance at the U of C has become an increasingly active and exciting part of campus life, and RBIM is proud to be at the forefront of this change.

The co-founders and directors would like to thank each of you for your continued support, and we hope that you will remain affiliates of the company in any capacity that you can.