There’s lots to dance about this summer in Chicago. Whether you’re a first time fox-trotter or a seasoned funkster, you can kick up your heels, get down, swing to the beat, or sit back and watch the pro’s show you how it’s done, and it’s all outdoors, free, and open to the public, courtesy of The Chicago Park District and a few other enterprising dance innovators.
The Park District’s “Night Out in the Parks” series, with the support of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, presents Surabhi: A Melting Pot of Music bringing together musicians and dancers from the city’s flamenco and Indian classical scenes.
Surabhi has been delighting audiences with its lush, rustic soundscapes of flamenco, beautifully woven into the rich classical sounds of Indian Classical ragas and spiced up with a dash of blues and folk. The band features dual leads Saraswathi Ranganathan on the South Indian Veena and Carlo Basile on flamenco guitar. Surabhi's repertoire includes interpretations of traditional flamenco and classical Indian music with dance improvisations by Bharathanatyam dancer Priya Narayan and flamenco dancer Wendy Clinard. Dhananjay Kunte on Tabla and Joel Martinez on drums round out the musical line-up.
"One of my primary goals is to get people from diverse backgrounds under one roof and share a sense of 'one stage, one music, one community' that embraces differences,” states Ranganathan. My secondary goal is to showcase ancient acoustic instruments from different parts of the world, including the South Indian Veena. We also wish to share this joyful music with the residents of districts that may have restricted access to such artistic music.”
Now in its second year, the 2014 “Night Out in the Parks” series will bring 1,000 events and programs to more than 250 neighborhood parks throughout the city, making community parks safe havens and hubs of activity. Projects will vary from traditional performances and concerts, to peace rallies, movies, magic shows, community workshops, nature based programs, dance pieces, festivals, and more. The Chicago Park District has partnered with more than 50 arts and community organizations to expand and produce this successful initiative.
Surabhi: A Melting Pot of Music takes place on Wednesday July 9 at The Bluestone Terrace Outdoor Park, Garfield Conservatory, Chicago from 6.30PM to 7:45PM. Admission is free and the event is open to all ages.
“Night Out In The Parks” also presents Najwa Dance Corps in a program of African Dance Friday, July 11th at Fuller Park, and Monday, July 21st at Moore Park. “Lov Rocks,” a hip/hop-funk-jazz-street dance extravaganza will be performed by Ladies of Virtue at LeClaire-Hearst Park on Friday, July 11th.
“Dance In The Parks,” another program sponsored in part by the Park District, sets up outdoor stages at ten neighborhood venues for performances of new works by established Chicago choreographers throughout the summer. The pick-up ensemble of nine professional dancers hails from Chicago companies whose performing seasons are on hiatus for the summer, including Nexus, Thodos Dance Chicago, Hedwig Dances, Chicago Repertory Ballet, and Extensions Dance Company, among others. Choreographers include Peter Carpenter, Lizzie MacKenzie, Angela Dice Nguyen, Michel Rodriguez, Liv Schaffer, Joshua Manculich, and Ahmed Simmons. The pros are joined by young performers from neighborhood studios at each of the venues. Performances begin at 6:30 PM, and include ticket give-aways at the end of each show for professional dance events throughout the coming season.
Audience development is a prime goal for Dance In The Parks director Katie McCann, whose aim is to provide professional quality dance entertainment within walking distance for audiences of all ages. “Audiences relate to dance differently outside,” McCann says. “A lot of our audiences aren’t necessarily dance audiences, but if they like what they see, they keep going to see dance during the rest of the year.” When she moved to Chicago in 2004, no dance was happening in the parks. The overwhelming success of free outdoor dance she experienced while performing as a soloist with Kentucky Ballet Theater led her to pursue establishing a similar program in Chicago. The Park District Department of Culture, Arts, and Nature found a home for her initiative, and the rest is history. “So many Chicago dancers are unemployed during the summer,” she said. “We looked for dancers who learn quickly, and we schedule around choreographers’ other jobs.” Most of the choreography is contemporary dance with roots in Jazz, Ballet, and Modern. Dancers love “Dance In The Parks,” now in its sixth year. “I really believe in ‘Dance In The Parks’,” says dancer Craig Miller. “It’s very important for young people to experience the arts.”
“Chicago gets dance,” says New York-based choreographer Lar Lubovitch, who co-founded The Chicago Dancing Festival with dancer Jay Franke, both native Chicagoans. “If it weren’t for the enthralled audiences, we couldn’t do what we do,” which is putting a spotlight on dance in a way that makes people pay attention. He sees Chicago as a dance boom-town, ripe for audience development, and the way to do that is give people free access to the best dancing there is. “Art belongs to everyone,” he says. When he and co-producer Franke founded the organization as a not-for-profit corporation in 2007, they were hoping to take dance in Chicago to the next step by offering free performances of world-class dance companies, both local and national, in accessible venues like Millennium Park.
The Festival that ensued is a series of performances by esteemed dance companies that takes place the last week of August each summer. Now in its eighth season, the Chicago Dancing Festival reaches over 18,000 audience members annually and is completely free to the public.
“If someone is seeing dance for the first time, you have to show them excellence. That’s crucial,” Lubovitch emphasizes. This summer, the performing roster includes Chicago’s own Joffrey Ballet and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, The Martha Graham Dance Company, Rennie Harris Puremovement, Kyle Abraham, Stars of American Ballet Theater, Pam Tanowitz Dance, Stars of the Washington Ballet, Adam Baruch, and The Juilliard Dance Ensemble, among others. This summer, performances will take place at The Harris Theater (Wednesday, August 20), The Museum of Contemporary Art (Friday, August 22), and The Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park (Saturday, August 23).
And If you’re just itching to jump and jive on the dance floor yourself, you can dance your heart out from June 27-September 14th with SummerDance In The Parks. Each weekend, pros teach an hour dance lesson, followed by two hours of dancing to live music, each week a different dance style, from Salsa and Mambo to Swing, Reggae, Steppin’, Barn Dance, Honkey Tonk, or Flamenco Rumba, and everything in between. SummerDance takes place in Grant Park at the Spirit of Music Garden, between Harrison and Balboa. Fridays and Saturdays, dance lessons from 6-7 PM, Live Music and Dancing 7:30-9:30; Sundays, Dance Lessons 4-5 PM, Live Music and Dancing 5-7 PM. Don’t miss the fun!
Lynn Colburn Shapiro, editor