Preview

Waking up to a blanket of white reminds me of those years growing up in McHenry County, when more than one Halloween was spent going door to door and explaining the costumes under our hats, puffy coats and boots. The realization that fall is fleeting is one we face every year, but in the arts scene, November means fall—whatever the weather.

This year has probably been my most favorite year for dance in Chicago, mainly because a lot of it was happening down the street from my former South Shore neighborhood. The new Green Line Performing Arts Center, Sweetwater Foundation’s Thought Barn, Washington Park, Stony Island Arts Bank, Blanc Gallery, and so many other spaces were enlivened with dancers, musicians and artists based on the South and West sides of the city.

The weather was heavenly, the crisp fall day of sunshine and clear blue skies beaming its benevolence through the floor-to-ceiling windows into the studio on South Archer Avenue. It was as if the day had anointed Giordano Dance Chicago’s rehearsal run-through of its 57th season opener with the blessings of grace, harmony and an abiding faith in the power of dance to touch the essence of where we live within ourselves.

In “Between Gestures,” a festival that aims to cultivate a stronger connection between the Chicago dance community and European contemporary dance, eight French and German dancers and choreographers bring their work in styles ranging from voguing to butoh to venues across the city. The Dance Center at Columbia College Chicago presents Pol Pi on Oct 24 and Noé Soulier on Oct 25, two choreographers who transform the philosophies of 20th century postmodern and contemporary dancers through academic research and the adaptation of historical dance to present-day performance. 

In a whirlwind of rehearsals happening over a few weeks, Banks Performance Project (BPP) prepares to bring Chicago’s Englewood and other South and West Side communities together in a celebration of dance and the neighborhoods they call home. 

“Sometimes there’s this idea that interdisciplinarity is this commune of peace and love, a kind of hippie ideal that’s being promulgated,” said David Sundry, a design/build architect with three decades of experience in residential, commercial and mixed-use spaces. Dance audiences might better recognize him as a frequent collaborator with Zephyr. 

As the fall dance season kicks into high gear, we at See Chicago Dance are feeling a sense of renewal and planning for the year ahead. I’m enormously proud of our writing team, which has worked tirelessly, and for not enough pay, to visit as many performances as possible, in all corners of the city. We are committed to continuing this forward momentum as we strive for ways to be on the forefront of the evolving dance journalism field.

Nothing is more charged in the American consciousness today than immigration policy and racial and cultural divides. Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre (CRDT) winds up its 20th anniversary season with a powerhouse repertory of emotionally-driven works that address these issues in “America/Americans,” running from Sept. 27-Oct. 26 in two alternating concert programs.

“It’s a family.” This is what kept coming up in my conversation with Nicole Gifford, co-producer of Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival (HCCDF)—one of the longest-running contemporary dance festivals in Chicago—which will celebrate its tenth anniversary starting this weekend. Since 2010, Gifford and Melissa Mallinson have gathered dance artists from around the world at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts to “share and celebrate the work of practicing contemporary dance artists and companies,” said Gifford in an interview.