DJ, dancer, and percussionist Perry Donta’e was fresh off of a spell at Southern Illinois University when his manager at the nonprofit he was working for asked him to develop an after-school program to appeal to at-risk youth.
“The program I came up with was called Street Beat, and I was finding kids who weren’t into sports, the kids who were outcasts, the kids who were introverts, and started teaching them the basics of drumming,” 31-year-old Donta’e said. “As the years went past, we just got better and better until we were able to turn this into a company.”
In 2015, following budget cuts at his employer, which he didn’t feel comfortable naming, Donta’e gathered his youth Street Beat team and founded his own touring entertainment group, turning Street Beat into a new traveling troupe called The Pack.
After a few years of touring schools, parties and private events around Chicagoland, The Pack got a look in 2017 that would take them to the next level: an opportunity to showcase their talent on local television show Windy City Live.
“That was amazing. Then we got an email from the [WNBA basketball team] Chicago Sky staff,” Donta’e said. “They were like ‘Hey, we’re looking for a drumline. Would you guys be down to be our new official drumline?’ We were super pumped, so of course we said yes.”
Since 2017, The Pack has been the official drumline of the Chicago Sky, delivering a spirited performance that answers the question “What if you taught an HBCU drum major how to actually play the drums?” at every home game at the Wintrust Arena. It’s a marvel of physical endurance as much as it is a display of immense talent.
This Friday, The Pack will take the stage as special guests at Thalia Hall in Pilsen at the Red Bull Dance Your Style Chicago, a street dance competition that holds qualifiers worldwide. The winner of the Chicago stop will compete in the national finals in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 22-23. And the winners of the national finals will compete to represent the U.S. at Red Bull Dance Your Style World Finals in Johannesburg, South African on Dec. 4-5.