FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER
2010-01-27 11:42:15 AM
By Sid Smith:
Talk about valentines. The weather may stay frightful, but February offers more than 15 dance attractions, and that's just a warm-up before the spring onslaught arrives in March and April.
The shortest month will prove to be a tall order for anyone trying to see it all, including bigtime classics (the Joffrey Ballet's "Cinderella"), important returns (the Akram Khan Company at the Museum of Contemporary Art), alluring experiments (Koosil-ja/danceKUMIKO at the Dance Center of Columbia College) and the highly original (DanceWorks Chicago's "Dance Bytes.")
The Dance Center hosts Koosil-ja Feb. 4-6, launching a brief series on science, technology and dance--about as timely as a series can get, when you consider all the rapid techno changes of our time. Koosil-ja, despite its exotic name, is actually New York City-based, brainchild of dancer-choreographer Koosil-ja Hwang, whose "Blocks of Continuality/Body, Image, and Algorithm"--a high-tech mouthful in its title alone--uses dance and live camera work to tell three stories "simulating the coexistence of the digital and flesh worlds."
Links Hall, the dance venue that never sleeps, offers its first engagement of the month, "Triptych Tongues," with work by Lisa Biggs, Misty DeBerry and Ni'Ja Whitson Feb. 5-7, with "Rates of Reaction," a collision_theory improvisation, led by Lisa Gonzales, Feb. 8.
Less than a week later, River North Chicago Dance Company returns Feb. 12 and 13 to the Harris Theater for its annual Valentine's Day-timed visit, unveiling new works by two terrific American choreographers. Robert Battle, who gave the troupe its runaway hit, "Train," is creating "Three," a trio, while Lauri Stallings, former Hubbard Street Dance Chicago dancer and now fulltime choreographer and creator of River North's "ahimsa," will provide a new work entitled "Suppose." 50% off through SeeChicagoDance&Save!
A lot of guys out there would be wise to surprise their partners with dance tickets, and River North's not the only weekend treat. Touting the promise of "less culture, more romance," the feisty Chicago Dance Crash takes over "Duets for My Valentine" Feb. 13 at the Park West. $22 Tickets with code MYLOVE through SeeChicagoDance&Save!
And for the more participatory inclined, Ballroom Dance Chicago is offering lessons in Latin and other romantic ballroom dances, along with food and drink, Feb. 13 at 4043 N. Ravenswood Av., Suite 105.
That takes us midway through the month, but through less than a third of the offerings. The second half of February sizzles. Spectacularly, the Joffrey revives "Cinderella," its masterful mounting of Frederick Ashton's scrumptious, loving and utterly delightful classic, replete with fine ballet and two stepsisters hilariously en travesti. The work plays Feb. 17-28 at the Auditorium Theatre and is not to be missed.
DanceWorks Chicago plans two outings this month. Its "Dance Bytes," designed to provide behind-the-scenes insights and reveal aspects of the artistic journey, arrives Feb. 17 at the Harold Washington Library, a free event, while the "Eat to the Beat" venture returns Feb. 23 to the Harris, a program that has invited a variety of sound artists and musicians to work up an accompaniment for Alex Ketley's "If Ever (an Ocean) Relinquished," available for viewing on line beforehand, for a score to be unveiled at the lunchtime performance.
The sparkling and one-of-a-kind ensemble, Jump Rhythm Jazz Project, performers unique for their scat-like onstage accompaniment and jazzy sound effects, is celebrating its 20th-anniversary season and playing a gig Feb. 18-20 at the Dance Center. Founder/artistic head Billy Siegenfeld will provide two premieres, "You Do Not Have to Be Good" and "Why Gershwin?" The latter inimitably includes not just words and music from the great Gershwin brothers, but James Brown strains as well. Why not Gershwin and Brown?
The Dance Crash is back Feb. 19 with its Keeper of the Floor Championship improvisational showdown, entering its fourth year and on view at the Lakeshore Theatre. This "KTF XVIII" installment is slugged "Bootleg Battle Royale."
The acclaimed Kalapriya Dance troupe of classical Indian work presents "Rasa: Heart and Soul" Feb. 19 and 26 at the Hamlin Park Fieldhouse Theatre at 3035 N. Hoyne St. In what's shaping up to be a busy and fruitful weekend, Winifred Haun revives her well-received full-length, "Promise," inspired by John Steinbeck's "East of Eden," Feb. 20 and 21 at the Cheney Mansion in Oak Park, performed by her Winifred Haun & Dancers.
The Najwa Dance Corps, devoted to the many eras and styles of African-American dance, presents a concert including "Dance-A-Licious" and the popular "Fire Dance Ritual" Feb. 20 at the Bruce K. Hayden Center for the Performing Arts of Malcolm X College, 1900 W. Van Buren St.
Meanwhile, the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, which wowed so many of us awhile back at the Harris, returns to our area for a concert Feb. 21 at the McAninch Arts Center of the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn. 25% off through SeeChicagoDance&Save!
That same night, Ailey II, the second company of the renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, makes a stop at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora. 25% off with code CHIDANCE through SeeChicagoDance&Save!
February fades with one of the most anticipated events of the year, the return of the phenomenal Akram Khan and company Feb. 26-28 to the MCA. This time, the troupe presents "bahok," named for the Bengali word for carrier, a piece about the way "the body carries national identity and a sense of belonging." If they have any of the fire of their last visit, this one's required viewing.
Also, celebrating its 70th anniversary, the South Side Community Art Center presents the Columbia City Ballet in William Starrett's "Off the Wall & Onto the Stage: Dancing the Art of Jonathan Green," a work that translates 22 paintings by Green to the concert world of dance, music and fine art, all the while telling a story of the Gullah culture of African-Americans hailing from the low country of South Carolina, Georgia and the Sea Islands. The production plays Feb. 27 at the Harris.
