Chicago Tap Theatre - “Synesthete"
Chicago Tap Theatre Concludes its 20th Anniversary with The World Premiere of “Synesthete”, By Artistic Associate Sterling Harris at The Den Theatre, June 8 - 11
Hubbard Street Artistic Director Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell has come full circle in a whirlwind career that began as a dancer in Lou Conte’s original Hubbard Street Dance Company. She went on to an illustrious thirteen years in Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre as heiress apparent to all of the roles that international star Judith Jamison had danced, and which Ailey had created for her.
Representing the truths of Chicago while carrying forth the manifold stories of the African Diaspora, The Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project returns this weekend March 25th and 26th with “Sans Pareil” at the Logan Center for the Arts.
Winifred Haun & Dancers’ began their 2023 season with “First Draft: new works by Chicago dancemakers,” which ran March 3-5 at Links Hall. Company members Julia Schaeffer, Amanda “Mandy” Milligan and Assistant Artistic Director Summer Smith presented work alongside guest choreographers Lonny Joseph Gordon, Mariah Eastman, Sarita Smith Childs, and Silvita Diaz Brown.
Celebrating its 20th Anniversary Season, The Seldoms is joined by Chicago’s popular music duo, Finom, for the premiere of Superbloom, a multi-media dance work about radical beauty, wildness and wildflowers. Featuring the company’s bold, athletic physicality with spectacular costuming and animation, this hyper-visual work stages the fantastic color of this rare wildflower phenomenon. Superbloom aims for splendor as a mirror of the sublime beauty of the natural world and posits awe as a mode of reconnecting to nature, and to one another.
The Joffrey Ballet will once again present the “Winning Works” choreography competition and performance beginning March 16 at the Museum of Contemporary Arts. The competition is a call for ALAANA artists— African, Latinx, Asian, Arab and Native America—to submit work to be performed by the Joffrey Academy Trainees and Studio Company, set to a commissioned score by a composer/collaborator.
German/American duo FLOCK (Alice Klock and Florian Lochner) continue to impress audiences around the world with their brand of dance, fluid and interconnected partnering, superb technique and introspective storytelling. This Spring, Flock returns to Chicago to present new work with an expanded roster of dancers.
From March 8-12, the historic Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre presents three programs at the Auditorium Theatre, featuring the Chicago debuts of “Are You in Your Feelings” by Kyle Abraham and “In A Sentimental Mood” by Jamar Roberts, fan favorites like Paul Taylor’s “Duet” and Twyla Tharp’s “Roy’s Joys,” and classic company repertory by Alvin Ailey, including “The River” (1970), “Cry” (1971), “Night Creatures (1974) and “Survivors” (1986), a collaborative work with Mary Barnett and Ailey’s signature work, “Revelations” (1960).
I could come up with about a hundred stories for Project Bound Dance’s abstract piece “If It’s Stuck, Shake It Loose, performed on Feb. 17 at the Northside event space, Color Club. PBD’s directors, Ashley Deran and Emily Loar, led their company of six dancers—Stacy DeMorrow, Kathryn Hetrick, Isabella Limosnero, Ali Lorenz, Sarah Morimoto and Loar—in a display of solid technique, acute attention to rhythm and set to an ambient acoustic and electronic rock soundtrack, with lighting design by Smooch Medina.
Join See Chicago Dance virtually for the next installment of Screendance Club on Wednesday, March 15th at 5:00 PM CST. Screendance Club is a radically casual virtual watch party and discussion of short dance films. Unlike a typical talk-back, Screendance Club aims to set the atmosphere for an open conversation and exploration; with artists, filmmakers, and viewers on an equal footing. Screendance Club is a FREE event open to all ages.