Same Planet Different World Dance Theatre founded by Jason Ohlberg in 1997 and now co-directed by Jeffery Hancock, Joanna Rosenthal and Katie Saifuku, began as a one week venue to showcase four choreographers, and has grown into one of Chicago's most exciting, contemporary repertory dance companies. SPDW's varied repertory ranges in styles from classical modern dance, contemporary vocabulary, grounded physicality to the improvisational experiment.

The repertory includes works by Jan Erkert,former artistic director of Jan Erkert and Dancers, Ron DeJesus, formerly of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Sherry Zunker, former artistic director of River North Chicago Dance Company.SPDW self-produces two Chicago seasons a year, and has participated in major Chicago dance festivals. Festival credits include The Ruth Page Dance Series, Dance Chicago, Duets For My Valentine, Chicago's Next Dance Festival, DNADM, Focus on the Arts, Choreography Now, as well as it's own self-produced festival, Dreaming the Divine. SPDW has also performed as a featured guest for Indianapolis based dance company Dance Kaleidoscope.