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.

On Wednesday, January 25th, I was so fortunate to moderate the first Screendance  Club of 2023 highlighting Talia Koylass and her 2018 dance film, The Good Christian.  The film is a meditation on Black women, Black spirituality, and the church explored  through three vignettes performed by a trio of Black women dancers shot in a gorgeous  south side Chicago church. Each section of the film is distinct in its color,  cinematography, costume, and choreography to a mix of serene, pensive music and  punctuated Kendrick Lamar songs.

Bam! Garlic and onions. Whango! Coconut oil and cumin. Biff! Sharp, fresh ginger.

From the second you step into the 1700 Theater at Steppenwolf, you are hit with the pungent and pleasing aromas of ingredients cooking in two pans over hot plates, doted over by artist and creator of “Bangali Meye,” Tuli Bera, and guest performer Anita (Tithi) Bera. Early arrivals are invited to inspect the cooking area—two tables atop which sit herbs, spices, oils and vegetables indicative of Indian cuisine.

Protestors hoisting ragdoll ballerinas marched between the lyric opera house’s towering columns shouting, “Shame on you, shame on you!”

As the dimming foyer lights indicated that the show was about to begin, I snagged one of the protestors to ask what all the fuss was about.

“These artists are from Russia,” said a young woman, “They are going to take the money to Russia and those money [sic] are going to go to bomb Ukraine and kill our families.”

“The Joffrey Ballet?” I asked.