Preview

Most working dance artists in Chicago have a connection to The Space Movement Project (TSMP), even if you’ve never heard of them. For seven years, TSMP managed Outer Space Studios, a staple rehearsal venue at 1474 N. Milwaukee Ave. now operated by Jessica Marasa and The Watering Can. Outer Space has its quirks, with its super steep stairs, narrow configuration adorned with open concept kitchens, and, at the time TSMP ran it, a hilarious black and teal door that never quite closed right.

With over 40 films submitted by artists from around the globe, Mana Contemporary brings a unique body and movement-centered film festival to Chicago, highlighting artists who take risks and push the boundaries of the medium.

April has long been an abundant month for local dance in Chicago, and it’s now seven years ago that See Chicago Dance (then called Audience Architects) formally established Chicago Dance Month as a way to acknowledge the many companies and independent artists showing work in April. Dance Month is strategically nestled between March, a time when many of the large touring companies make their stops at big venues, and National Dance Week, which typically straddles April and May. 

When you think of Giordano Dance Chicago (GDC), you think: passion, intensity, emotion, power, energy, and unflinching positivity. Not bad for a 56-year-old company. Led by their indefatigable artistic director Nan Giordano, the 10-dancers troupe always delivers strong performances that takes audiences on a journey, leaving joy in their hearts and smiles on their faces.

GDC's spring program will be presented in two performances Friday and Saturday at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. “This program is an extra special stringing of pieces,” Giordano said in a phone interview.

Mayumana, the Israeli percussive arts extravaganza, kicks off The Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s 5th Annual Stomping Grounds Festival with “Currents,” an electrifying take on the history of harnessed energy, Wednesday at the Harris Theater.

Inspired by the historic “battle of the currents” between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla, “Currents” integrates percussive movement and music, theater, acrobatics, and visual art. 

March 9 and 10, The Joffrey Ballet steps away from their typical performance venue to present innovative works and elevate both emerging choreographers of color and emerging professional dancers. After an open call specifically for choreographers of color, the annual Winning Works Choreographic Competition pairs four up-and-coming dancemakers with the Joffrey Academy of Dance’s pre-professional students for three performances at the Museum of Contemporary Art that highlight a range of styles and voices.

Robyn Mineko Williams grew up in the suburbs. She comes from a mixed-race family – half Japanese and half “Caucasian mutt,” as she describes it. She’s a woman, an American and a Chicagoan. But traveling to Cuba to create a work on Malpaso Dance Company, she was, first and foremost, a choreographer.

You may think the ballet “Giselle” is about love, betrayal and redemption, but in Akram Khan’s modern reimagining of the classic tale for the English National Ballet (ENB), economic strife fuels the story.

You can catch a performance of ENB’s exclusive North American premiere of “Giselle” Feb. 28 through Mar. 2 at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance.

“Chicago is no longer a second city,” said Greg Cameron, the president and CEO of the Joffrey Ballet, on stage at the premiere of the company’s highly anticipated “Anna Karenina.”

We never were, Greg, but your point is well taken, and February was, indeed, an indelible month for dance in Chicago, with exciting premieres and historic accomplishments from more than one of our large and long-standing dance institutions.

Five dancers form a clump on the floor of the rehearsal space, their bodies woven together, breathing together. An external voice cuts through the air: “Whose story is told and who tells it?” it asks. One at a time, the dancers find their way out of the clump, moving through athletic solos and embodying characters from old Mexican legends. Their stories are told through an original spoken word poem and contemporary choreography, mapping out a history and culture that is just as relevant in Chicago today as it was in Mexico when it first took place.