Preview

If you’re looking to tap into the flavors of South Asian dance and music, Mandala South Asian Performing Arts delivers, and then some, by pushing beyond tradition to explore fusion forms of folk, contemporary and popular dance and music.

The Mandala Makers Festival was originally conceived as a way to promote the live interaction of South Asian arts practitioners through interdisciplinary collaboration. Forced by the COVID-19 pandemic to re-invent itself digitally, the festival adapted to a live-streaming format, called “Streamyard,” which will air June 13 and 14.

A day or two after the 2016 election, See Chicago Dance held its quarterly convening. Rather than focusing on what was supposed to be the topic of the day—how to be better at social media, or something to that effect—a faction of Chicago’s dance community sat together in a circle to talk about their feelings.

Pivot Arts—an organization focused on creating and presenting bold, multidisciplinary performance in unusual spaces—keeps their mission at heart as they move forward with the 2020 Pivot Arts Festival online. The annual festival, this year titled “This Is How We Pivot,” exhibits programming artfully curated to exist on a virtual platform, both in how the works are created and documented and in how they address the circumstances of this time. 

Although it first appeared that we’d all be “resting” more than usual, many of us seem to be feeling even more tired and tense after weeks of couch-sitting and phone-gazing. Somatic exercises can add a bit of balance to our often outward-focused dance practice, and provide structure when we feel we need it.

Looking to give ourselves a challenge regarding all the strange non-perishables hiding on your shelves and in your pantries, we asked you, “What mysterious ingredients do you have hiding in your kitchen?” Thanks to everyone who submitted responses on Facebook and Instagram! Here are some great savory and sweet recipes to try in an effort to use some of those less-familiar ingredients you may have acquired—a useful skill to have whether under a shelter in place order not. Have something a little strange or unfamiliar that you’d like to turn into something satisfying and delicious?

The past few seasons revealed cracks at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, an extraordinary dance company that, until recently, seemed untouchable. One could perhaps start the narrative in 2016, when a flood damaged the company’s studios at 1147 W. Jackson—hallowed grounds for generations of Chicago dancers. 

Author’s note: The story I wanted to share was one of personal loss, and how dance helped me move through a period of grieving. Now, with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are sadly in a time where we are collectively and personally faced with losses of many kinds. I share my story, though, with a feeling of hope for our collective ability to move through this to another place. Grief is universal.  And healing is as well. 

Many Chicagoans have been sheltering in place for the last two months. Maybe you’re used to working out and rehearsing every day, or maybe staying at home provides welcome reprieve from a jam-packed schedule. Either way, you’re likely growing tired of sitting still. Maybe you even feel that traditional workouts aren’t really your “thing.” Now what? While you may be tempted to do some online shopping, you don’t need any expensive equipment to get the most out of training in the comfort of your living space!

Each month, I preview upcoming dance events for See Chicago Dance, highlighting the productions that excite me the most. My job is to entice dance audiences to circle a date in their calendars, to make room for dance and to experience something they might otherwise not have tried.