Moving Portraits

Choreographers Catherine Eng and Karen Reppy will present “Moving 

Portraits: Collected Choreography,” on May 25th at 2pm at the Reva and David Logan 

Center for the Arts Performance Hall (915 E. 60th St.) The one hour show of original 

work will explore topics ranging from religious ambiguity to the process of crying and 

the struggles of putting on skinny jeans.

 

Sponsored by the Hyde Park School of Dance (HPSD), University of Chicago Laboratory 

High School juniors Eng and Reppy have studied dance primarily at the HPSD, while, 

most recently, Eng has attended the Summer Intensive at Alvin Ailey School of Dance in 

New York and Reppy at Deeply Rooted Dance Theater in Chicago. Throughout their 

dance careers they have been developing their choreographic skills through HPSD’s 

Student Choreography Workshops and other opportunities. Their works have been 

featured at HPSD’s Annual Spring Concert, the 57th Street Book Fair and in Dance 

Chicago’s New Moves Series.

 

With “Moving Portraits,” Eng and Reppy take their choreographic passion to the next 

level. Rehearsing since September, they have worked with eight dancers from HPSD’s 

training companies, Tyego Next Generation and Tyego Next Generation Trainees, to 

prepare for the upcoming performance. The show is the first of its kind for HPSD, which 

recently celebrated its 20th anniversary.

 

According to August Tye, Artistic Director of HPSD, “Karen and Cat have been creating 

dances at HPSD since they were little girls. It has been such a pleasure watching them 

develop into talented young choreographers. Their drive to produce their own 

performance, Moving Portraits, shows independence, maturity and passion beyond their 

years. As artists, they strive with great success to say something meaningful with dance 

and to promote feeling and emotion. Additionally their works are very different from 

each other, which will provide for a very interesting and eclectic evening of work. I 

personally can't wait to see the show!”

 

“The process of working on this show,” say Eng and Reppy, “has reminded us of the 

incredible opportunity we have to create and interact as artists. As a result all profits 

from the show will go to Hyde Park School of Dance’s STEPS Outreach program, 

bringing dance to underserved communities in the Chicago area.”

 

Diana Campos, director of the STEPS program, says, “STEPS stands for ‘Serve, Train, 

Educate, Promote, Succeed,’ and has three components. “A Community Partnership 

Program provides in-school and after-school instruction and performance opportunities through partnerships with schools and community organizations. Community Workshops 

provide dance exposure to youth through exploration. Community Performance 

Programs provide free and low-cost community performances.”

 

For more information about HPSD and the STEPS program please visit the school 

website at http://hydeparkdance.org.

 

For more information and updates about the performance, visit https://

 

Tickets for “Moving Portraits: Collected Choreography by Catherine Eng and Karen 

Reppy” are available through the University of Chicago Arts Box Office: visit http://

ticketsweb.uchicago.edu, call 773-702-2787 or visit their location at the Logan Center