Adding to the flurry of recent season announcements is Giordano Dance Chicago, who returns to the stage with a full docket of performances. The 2021-22 season, announced Wednesday, includes two mixed rep concerts at the Harris Theater on Oct. 22-23, 2021 and April 1-2, 2022. Additional engagements, with all programming yet to be determined, will take place at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts Feb. 5, 2022 and June 11, 2022 at the Auditorium Theatre.
GDC presented limited public programming during the pandemic, but perhaps the biggest blow was the postponement of a multi-million dollar capital campaign aimed at the development of a new dance center at the former Hermon Baptist Church in Old Town, which currently houses their offices. In lieu of the new studios, GDC has formed a partnership with near by Ruth Page Center for the Arts, where the company will rehearse for the season.
A new project called "The Show" is in the works, combining the efforts of choreographers Peter Chu and Ray Leeper with South African composer/musician Bongi Duma to create an evening-legnth narrative work—the first of its kind in the company's 59 year history. Scheduled to premiere in June, "The Show" tells the history of American jazz dance from its roots in West Africa and journeying across the Atlantic via the Middle Passage to become a uniquely American artform.
“My job as a composer is, through music, to bring the spirit of togetherness regardless of where you come from and also to represent that African continent, that African culture, that African heartbeat. And I want to translate that to the music itself. It leaves the mark in the hearts of the dancers themselves, the company and the people who will see the piece,” Duma said in a statement.
The company consists of several returning members, including veteran performers Zachary Heller, who begins his 13th season with Giordano this fall, Katie Rafferty, Adam Houston and Ashley Downs. Amanda Hicky and Skyler Newcom also return, plus new and newly promoted dancers filling out the roster: Tanner Boyer, Brittany Brown, Rosario Guillen, Sasha Lazarus, Onjélee Phomthirath, Fernando Rodriguez and Erina Ueda.
--
Tickets for the 2021-22 season are not yet on sale. For more information, visit giordanodance.org or click the organization page below.
