The Chicago-based contemporary ballet company PARA.MAR Dance Theatre, returns for their third annual Spring Season Series “PIVOTAL” with three performances at the Epiphany Arts Center, 201 S. Ashland, 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 14 and 2 and 7:30 pm. April 15.
For these performances featuring new work PARA.MAR, chose the vast and spacious cathedral of the recently renovated Epiphany Hall which has been preserved and adapted into an iconic cultural hub. Here, one large stage will be installed within the venue with seating placed in the round but guests will be invited to roam around to experience the performance from alternative vantage points. Inspired in part by the city's 2023 "Year of Chicago Healing'' initiative and struck by the poetry and vulnerability of shedding one’s own leaves in a season’s change, PARA.MAR founder and director Stephanie Martinez commissioned two of the most sought-after choreographers in contemporary dance: Hélène Simoneau (2021 Guggenheim Fellow, NYCC Choreography Fellow) and Yin Yue (YYDC, Martha Graham, 2021 Harkness Promise Award) to join the company in delving into a process that confronts the bewilderment, tenderness, and strength that comes from loss.
