February may be the shortest month of the year, but it’s jam-packed with holidays, like Ground Hog Day, Valentines Day, and Mardi Gras, Presidents’ Day, the Chinese New Year, and Superbowl Sunday. And what better way to celebrate than by seeing a dance concert! Chicago dance is kicking up its heels in every way imaginable this month, from jazz to ballet, tap, Mexican, Spanish, Indian, and African American traditions, modern, contemporary and avant-garde.
HIGHLIGHTS begin with Giordano Dance Chicago returning to The Dance Center of Columbia College (February 4-6) for the first time in 37 years, celebrating its 53rd season. America’s first jazz dance company performs the intimate “Closer Than Ever” program on The Dance Center stage, including the aggressive “Exit4” choreographed by internationally renowned Roni Koresh (born and raised in Israel, now based in Philadelphia), and the whirlwind “Shirt Off My Back” from Broadway performer Ray Mercer. The company also offers a FamilyDance Matinee, featuring a free workshop with the artists for parents and children followed by a family-oriented performance.
Giordano Dance Chicago, photo by Gorman Cook
The Joffrey Ballet launches “Bold Moves,” (February 10-21) with a world premiere choreographed by Ashley Page. A winner of many prestigious dance awards, Page is known for his daring collaborations with visual artists and contemporary composers. For The Joffrey Ballet, he is creating a work for 12 dancers which responds directly to the elemental and organic forces he finds in British composer Thomas Adès' violin concerto Concentric Paths. The music contains constantly shifting tensions, evocative atmospheres and a seam of wayward sensuality. Also on the program are Jiri Kylian’s “Forgotten Land, set to music by Benjamin Britten and inspired by a painting of women on a beach by Edvard Much, and Yuri Possokhov’s “RAkU.” Possokhov uses the burning of the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, Japan, as the point of departure for a story of love, treachery, separation and tragedy. Set in Japan's past, a warrior and his beloved princess are pulled apart by the schemes of a jealousy-crazed monk.
Christine Rocas and Miguel Angel Blanco in "RAkU"
The Chicago Moving Company sponsors “Spontaneous Combustion” at the Hamlin Park Fieldhouse Theater (Feb. 18-19). Two lovely, winter nights of dance work based in improvisation and anchored by celebrated masters of the form: Chris Aiken and Angie Hauser, celebrated nationally and internationally for their solo and duet practice and performance making their sole Chicago performance appearance this year. Joining them are stand-out Chicago dance artists, Sarah Gottlieb and JulieAnn Graham, who will each present new, inventive improvised works of their own (developed during a 6- month mentorship with Angie). Project mentor and performer, Angie Hauser is a dance-artist and teacher . Her work and research is grounded by the questions of improvisation, performance and collaboration. Since 2000, Angie has been a member of the Bebe Miller Company (USA). In 2006 Angie was awarded a BESSIE (N.Y. Dance and Performance Award) for Creation and Choreography for her work with Bebe Miller Company. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Smith College in the Department of Dance where she teaches choreography, creative process, improvisation and dance technique. Chris Aiken is a leading international teacher and performer of dance improvisation and contact improvisation. His work has been significantly influenced through the somatic practice of the Alexander Technique, ideokinesis, yoga and the work of Ida Rolf. Chris has performed and collaborated with many renowned dance artists including Steve Paxton, Kirstie Simson, Nancy Stark Smith, Peter Bingham, Andrew Harwood, Patrick Scully and Angie Hauser. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Smith College in the Department of Dance.
Spontaneous Combustion
Striding Lion Performance Corps transforms the historic Athenaeum Theatre with “The Great and Terrible Dr. Faustus,” (February 19-28). The hour draws nigh for the Great and Terrible Doctor Faustus to attempt his most mind-bending magic act yet: The Vanishing Cabinet. In this immersive dance-theatre soiree, you will follow Faustus and the seven deadly sins through the darkest corners of the Athenaeum Theatre, a century-old landmark full of ghosts from the past. Pursue revenge and fortune in a theatrical purgatory run by the Devil himself. Meet glamorous characters from yesteryear with scores to settle and secrets to tell. See backstage like you never have before.
Note: This performance requires constant audience movement, including up and down stairs, but there is an accessible route for those who require it. Additionally, you will be split up from your group unless you notify the box office that you need to stick together.
The Hamburg Ballet returns to the Harris Theater with two full-length ballets created by company Artistic Director and Chief Choreographer John Neumeier. “Othello,” (February 23-24), is the company’s interpretation of Shakespeare’s seminal tragedy, performed with live accompaniment from the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra with music by Arvo Pärt, Alfred Schnittke, and Naná Vasconcelos. “Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler” (February 26-27) has become one of Neumeier’s most important and defining works. Inspired by his great love of Mahler’s music, he created a timeless ballet to express all the emotions and feelings that the Third Symphony’s score evokes in its listeners. “I have translated the feelings experienced and images suggested while hearing his Third Symphony into movement, into pure dance situations, and into human relationships,” said Neumeier, who also designed the costumes and lighting concept for the ballet.
Hamburg Ballet's "Othello"
NAJWA Dance Corps honors Black History Month with “Goin’ North: A Story from ‘The Great Migration’ at DuSable Museum of African American History (February 27). Through dance, NDC will take you on an epic journey from the cotton fields of the south to the theaters and nightclubs of Chicago. This event will showcase exhilarating African American dance styles (via Africa) of the 20's, 30's and 40's -Charleston, Jitterbug, and traditional jazz (Swing), etc., that will educate, entertain and enlighten you about the “Great Migration.”
A Story from "The Great Migration"
ADDITIONAL EXCITING EVENTS:
Peep Show: The Instant Choreography Series (Feb. 1, Links Hall) Collaboratively produced by Striding Lion Performance Group and Links Hall and Constellation, created by Annie Arnault and curated by Amanda Lower. Peep Show gives audiences a behind the scenes peek into the unique dance making processes of innovative Chicago choreographers as they develop world premiere dance works live, in the moment, based on suggestions from audience members.
Buffer Overrun (Feb. 4-7, Storefront Theater) is a multi-media dance performance by Ginger Krebs, with Sabrina Baranda, Elise Cowin, Joanna Furnans, Joseph Kramer and Christine Shallenberg. The choreography and sound incorporate phase shifting, slow motion, structures based on code, and spiral patterns derived from optical illusions. Sponsored by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.
Cosmic Body (Feb. 4-7, Museum of Contemporary Art) Simple yet powerfully affecting, Ingri Fiksdal opens up a new performance plane with Cosmic Body, an interactive event that resists classification and channels writer-artist William Burroughs’s Dreamachine.
Fiksdal is naturally inquisitive, constructing Cosmic Body as something joyously hypnotic and mischievously spacious. Cosmic Bodyis Fiksdal’s updated pillowy expanse of choreographed lights, illusions, sounds, and bodies. She invites audience members to be seated or stand close to the performers—to experience a transformative visual and cultural complexity.This performance is designed for a small audience: capacity is limited.
Ballet 5:8 presents “Mirrors of the Mind” highlights three works that bring the mysterious inner workings of the mind to life. (Feb. 5-6, Madison Street Theater, Oak Park) In addition, the company’s Spring Season Chicago presents “Out of the Dust” (Feb. 27, Beverly Arts Center), a compilation of Ballet 5:8's contemporary works, including Preston Miller's And Mercy; Artistic Director Julianna Slager's Interplay ; and Eden. Slager’s full-length ballet, “Belteshazzar: A Perilous Tale,” plays Februay 28th.
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Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater presents A Night of Spanish Dance featuring "Bolero" and Ron de Jesus’s "Mil Clavos." Go on an epic journey through Spain with Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater's celebration of Flamenco, classical, folkloric, and contemporary dance, set to traditional Spanish rhythms. 
Ensemble Español
Faye Driscoll brings her “Thank You For Coming: Attendance” to the Museum of Contemporary Art (Feb. 11-14). As the dance begins, five performers gradually become tangled together into one ever-morphing body—building new formations and revealing fleeting feelings and states of being. Staged in the round, the audience is gradually invited into an expansive song, an urban folk dance, and a beautiful chaos that crescendos in joyful transformation. This performance is designed for a small audience: capacity is limited.
Joel Hall Dancers and Center presents “Flavors 2016 Youth Festival” (Feb. 12, Senn Auditorium), a diverse evening of dance by some of the most established youth companies in Chicago.
Shen Yun Performing Arts comes to the Rosemont Theater (Feb. 13-14) with heavenly maidens, brave warriors, mischievous monks, and, yes, even a flying pig! China's 5,000 years of uninterrupted history has yielded an endless treasure trove of legends, myths, and literary classics.
Urban Bush Women returns to the Dance Center of Columbia College (Feb. 18-20) Under the direction of Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Urban Bush Women brings the untold and under-told histories and stories of disenfranchised people to light through dance from a woman-centered perspective and as members of the African Diaspora. The company returns following its spring 2015 30th season performances at The Dance Center with Walking with ’Trane, a suite of works, co-commissioned by The Dance Center, based on the life and artistic imprint of jazz pioneer John Coltrane. 
Urban Bush Women in "Trane7" photo by Julieta Cervantes
Natya Dance Theatre’s “The King Elephant and the Mice” (Feb. 20, Chicago Symphony Center) is a story, handed down from a collection of Indian fables passed down through centuries, teaching us that we will find friends—and courage—in unexpected places.
Thodos Dance Chicago presents “Chicago Revealed” (Feb. 20, North Shore enter for the Performing Arts) The first half reprises it’s new, “Sono’s Journey,” a full company dance story, created and choreographed by TDC Founder and Artistic Director, Melissa Thodos, that artistically reflects the life and incredible journey of acclaimed dancer, Sono Osato. The second act will feature three world premieres: RedLines/BlueHorizon by guest choreographer Kevin Iega Jeff, Artistic Director of Chicago's Deeply Rooted Dance Theater; Robyn Mineko Williams’, At The Apex; and TDC Company Founder and Artistic Director, Melissa Thodos’ Thio Kosmos, or "Two Worlds" in Greek, shedding light on the Greek-American perspective of life in our city and will include text based on interviews with members of Chicago's Greek community.
Sono's Journey
The Adventures of Tapman (Feb. 21, Stage 773). Follow Chicago's premiere tap dancing superhero as he battles his arch nemesis, The MADD Tapper. Along the way, Tapman joins forces with The Modern Marvel, a crime-fighting modern dancer, in his quest to defeat The MADD Tapper. The Adventures of Tapman features light-hearted, 60s-era comic book humor, elaborate projected special effects, and phenomenal tap dancing including the unique tap dance fighting style, Tap-Fu!
Ballet Folklorico Mexicano and Los Lobos bring “Fiesta Mexico-Americana” to the McAninch Arts Center, College of DuPage (Feb. 21) for a spectacular display of song, dance, music and film celebrating the notable achievements of successful Mexican-Americans throughout time.
DanceWorks Chicago’s monthly “Dance Chance” (Feb. 26, Lou Conte Studio), a one-hour event designed to offer opportunities for choreographers to show their work informally, create a forum for dialogue among artists, and build audience for dance. Inspired by the concept of open-mic night, Dance Chance is held once a month and features 3 choreographers chosen by chance, each of whom has a 15-minute time slot to share their work.
First Draft: New Dances By Chicago Artists (Feb. 26-27, Ruth Page Center for the Arts). For its inaugural season, First Draft will present the following artists and companies:
Michael Estanich of RE|Dance will premiere new sections of "The Lonely Visitors;" James Gregg of Elements Contemporary Ballet will premiere a trio, "The Misfortunate Beauty of Joe Danek;" Winifred Haun of Winifred Haun & Dancers will premiere an abstract group work, "Your nearest exit may be behind you;" Vershawn Ward of Red Clay Dance will premiere a new version of her acclaimed solo, #SAYHERNAME; Alyssa Gregory and Sarah Gonsiorowski of the Leopold Group will premiere a duet, currently untitled, choreographed and danced by the artists themselves.
For details and Tickets, go to seechicagodance.com/events